Army developing advanced ammo for Abrams tank.

• Author: Pappalardo, Joe
• Position: UPFRONT

To be more useful in urban battlefields, the Army's main battle tank needs to be armed with advanced multipurpose rounds that can be adapted for use against different types of targets, officials said.

"Overall, that is where we need to be going," said Army Col. Mark Rider, project manager for maneuver ammunition systems.

"Kinetic-energy rounds are being sent to the rear," Rider noted. "From a logistics and operational standpoint, our tankers have to have the ability to ... make them multipurpose. There will be fewer specialty rounds."

As the war in Iraq shifted from limited armor engagements to counter-insurgency, tank units rediscovered their roles in urban combat. Current ammunition, however, is better suited to defeat hordes of Cold War-era Soviet tanks, rather than insurgent guerillas dug into houses and bunkers. A multipurpose round would offer tankers flexibility to target not only armored vehicles but also foot soldiers or light trucks, even if they are shielded by a rock wall or within a fortified concrete shelter.

The Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., is developing line-of-sight multipurpose (LOS-MP) munitions that would replace four rounds currently used in Army and Marine Corps tanks.

The new round uses a fragmenting war-bead and programmable fuses that can be set for either point-detonation against hard targets or for airburst, to strike soft targets. The fuse settings are controlled via datalink and operated by the tank crew with a mouse click.

"One size fits all--that's the best way to put it," said Ernie Logsdon, division chief of the Munitions Systems & Technology Directorate at Picatinny.

The LOS-MP program started in 2004. "I think the urban tank experience in Iraq emphasizes the need for this round, especially for the Abrams tank, although the request did nor start this way," Logsdon said, explaining that the program was designated originally for the Future Combat System's mounted combat vehicle, which is not scheduled to enter service until at least 2014. The Army decided to accelerate the development of LOS-MR so it can be fired from Abrams tanks.

If funded to completion, the LOS-MP would replace the M830, M830A1 and M908, as well as the just-released M1028 canister round.

The M830A1 is a high explosive shot with a limited antipersonnel component, and tank crews must flick a switch manually for the round to be used against enemy helicopters. All the other current Abrams...