Selection of Turbine for Abrams-Crusader Both Praised and Criticized.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 November 2000
• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.

The U.S. Army's decision to install a new turbine engine on both the Abrams tank and the Crusader artillery platform was "a bold step" that will prove beneficial for both vehicles, said Maj. Gen. John S. Caldwell Jr., head of the Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM).

The announcement in mid-September that the Army had selected a Honeywell-General Electric turbine system for the Abrams-Crusader common engine program re-ignited a decades-old debate about the merits of turbines versus diesel engines.

"Honeywell got the contract for the new engine for the Abrams and Crusader, because it was the best value for the Army," Caldwell told National Defense during the 2000 Combat Vehicles Conference, at Fort Knox, Ky.

He stressed that he had not been personally involved in the contractor selection process and, thus, felt free to provide his opinion. "The Abrams basically was designed to mount a turbine package," he said. "You can't get that kind of horse power from diesel."

Back in the early days of the Abrams, Caldwell said, the argument of turbine versus diesel "raged for years." Diesel has been "looked at many, many times," he said. "Every time there is a foreign sale [of the Abrams], questions are raised about diesel engines."

The choice of the turbine, he said, "was a bold step." The turbine "buys you a lot of horsepower in a small engine."

The Crusader--which Caldwell noted is not one of his programs--had been designed with a diesel engine originally. Replacing the 12-cylinder diesel engine with a turbine, he ventured "will take a lot of weight off the Crusader."

The Abrams currently has an older turbine, called the AG-1500.

The contract awarded to Honeywell's engine division, in Phoenix, is a...