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Specific Information

The M3A1 is pretty much similar to the M1A2 except for the following.

Hybrid Electric Engine

The vehicle uses the same conventional diesel engine that is present on the M1 Abrams series of tanks. This engine, however, is used to power a very large Lithium Ion battery, which in turn is used to power the entire vehicle. Essentially the vehicle is a hybrid powered vehicle, essentially using it's engine as a generator to power the entire vehicle electrically. Producing electrical energy from the motor, rather than converting it straight to mechanical energy, as in most Hybrid vehicles, vastly increases it's energy output. The generator, essentially, produces roughly 9 times the amount of energy that it ordinarily would using the hybrid electric converter. However, only about a 1/3 of this is used for vehicle acceleration. The remaining two thirds are used to power the vehicles extensive electrical network, including communication applications, computers, wireless transmitters, and drone pods.

The Tank also uses it's generator to power it's main weapon and it's capacitor, which is a Magnetic Assisted Cannon. The capacitor in the tank is capable of storing enough energy for roughly 12 shots. It can only fire this in a period of a minute, however, due to overheating problems and problems with the magnetic coils carry latent electrical and magnetic energy (which interferes with the primary charge). It takes roughly three minutes to charge the capacitor to it's maximum level, however due to the cannons ability to use conventional ammunition and it's typically low about of target engagement, this isn't much of a problem.

Regenerative Braking
The electric motor applies resistance to the drivetrain causing the wheels to slow down. In return, the energy from the wheels turns the motor, which functions as a generator, converting energy normally wasted during coasting and braking into electricity, which is stored in a battery until needed by the electric motor.

Electric Motor Drive/Assist
The electric motor provides additional power to assist the engine in accelerating, passing, or hill climbing. This allows a smaller, more efficient engine to be used. In some vehicles, the motor alone provides power for low-speed driving conditions where internal combustion engines are least efficient.

Idling
As the Tank is idling, is it essentially taking this energy that its usually wasted and transforming it into electrical energy, in which it is stored more efficiently. The Battery is roughly capable of storing 10% of the energy of the motor; however, due to the extreme electrical requirements of the vehicle, most of the energy is not wasted. Obviously, if the battery is "Full" then idling still wastes energy that could otherwise have been generated by the motor.

Turret

The Turret, unlike the one on the M1 Abrams series, is completely electronically controlled and separate from the units inside. The turret can rotate on a 360 degree plane, and as well the tank can use reverse track "peddling" to change directions in a rather quick, and even stationary manner. The main gun, .50 caliber machine gun, 7.62mm x 51mm NATO machine gun, and 40mm Grenade launcher are on the turret and typically are mounted on a coaxial turret that is controlled internally, electrically. Typically however, the extra weaponry are pointed in the same direction as the main cannon.

The primary cannon contains an autoloader, and the machine guns are capable of using ordinary 500 rounds boxes or 3000 round internal boxes which are specifically made, loaded, and seated for the application. The automatic Grenade Launcher still uses 50 round externally placed boxes (due to dangers of having internal grenades) however due to the fact that it's link and belt fed, the amount of 40mm grenades capable of being attached are potentially limitless (as with all belt fed weapons, although extremely large quantities of ammunition are typically unreasonable).

The directions of the coaxial attached weapons of course, are controlled by electric information being fed to an electronic "Translator" that in turn tells the electric motor which direction to move. The coaxial mounts have 180 degrees of lateral movement and 120 degrees of vertical climb. While potentially higher, they are usually limited to these degrees so that the weapons don't collide with the turret or extend beyond their breaking point. The turret operates the same way, however, it has no actual vertical movement capabilities and can only move laterally with 360 degrees of movement (powered by electric motors).

The actual MAC gun is capable of roughly 30 degrees of vertical movement, however this is rather marginal, truthfully giving it roughly 15 degrees of movement up or down. Still, it allows for some degree and level of controllability.

The tank is capable of storing up to 30 rounds in it's turret; or autoloader. The tank is fully capable of storing 60 rounds in extraneous capacity areas, however, these need to be loaded after the first 30 rounds have been fired (or until enough rounds leave the loader for the desired amount to be loaded in). In this way, the weapon can fire 30 rounds in a predesignated autonomous fashion, but more rounds can be carried and even manual loading can occur. This brings the over-all maximum capacity for the rounds to roughly 90; although only 30 of these are capable of continuous autonomous fire. For this reason, in extremely strenuous or pressing conditions a predesignated or simply self appointed loader can replace the empty "Racks" with fresh rounds, which is a reason why the Tank requires at least four members even with an autoloader. As well, due to the 30 round cap size, a person need not load a round every time the weapon needs to fire, but rather can load them at a single, flat pace, while the actual firing may be somewhat erratic.

Electronics

Targeting System

The M3A1 is equipped with a ballistic fire-control computer that uses user and system-supplied data from a variety of sources, to compute, display, and incorporate the three components of a ballistic solution - lead angle, ammunition type, and range to the target, to accurately fire the tank (The same as in the M1A2). These three components are determined using a YAG rod laser rangefinder, crosswind sensor, a pendulum static cant sensor, data concerning performance and flight characteristics of each specific type of round, tank-specific boresight alignment data, ammunition temperature, air temperature, barometric pressure, a muzzle reference system (MRS) that determines and compensates for barrel droop at the muzzle due to gravitational pull and barrel heating due to firing or sunlight, and target speed determined by tracking rate tachometers in the Gunner's or Commander's Controls Handles. All of these factors are computed into a ballistic solution and updated 30 times per second. The updated solution is displayed in the Gunner's or Tank Commander's field of view in the form of a reticle in both day and Thermal modes. The ballistic computer manipulates the turret and a complex arrangement of mirrors so that all one has to do is keep the reticle on the target and fire to achieve a hit. Proper lead and gun tube elevation are applied to the turret by the computer, greatly simplifying the job of the Gunner.

The fire-control system uses these data to compute a firing solution for the gunner. The ballistic solution generated ensures a hit percentage greater than 95 percent at nominal ranges. Either the commander or gunner can fire the main gun. Additionally, the Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV) on the M3A1 can be used to locate targets and pass them on for the gunner to engage while the commander scans for new targets. In the event of a malfunction or damage to the primary sight system, the main and coaxial weapons can be manually aimed using a telescopic scope boresighted to the main gun known as the Gunner's Auxiliary Sight (GAS). The GAS has two interchangeable reticles; one for HEAT and MPAT (MultiPurpose AntiTank) rounds and one for APFSDS and STAFF (Smart Target-Activated Fire and Forget) ammunition. Turret traverse and main gun elevation can be accomplished with manual handles and cranks in the event of a Fire Control System or Hydraulic System failure. The commander's M2 .50 caliber machine gun uses either the machine gun's own iron sights, or a remote aiming system such as the CROWS system when used as part of the TUSK (Tank Urban Survival Kit). The loader's M240 machine gun is aimed either with the built-in iron sights or with a thermal scope mounted on the machine gun.

It also uses the Northrop Grumman millimetre-wave Longbow radar; or the same targeting system in the AH-64 Apache Helicopter. The Longbow fire control radar incorporates an integrated radar frequency interferometer for passive location and identification of radar-emitting threats. An advantage of millimetre wave is that it performs under poor-visibility conditions and is less sensitive to ground clutter. The short wavelength allows a very narrow beamwidth, which is resistant to countermeasures.

The Longbow allows the tank to effect an attack in 30 seconds. The radar dome is unmasked for a single radar scan and then remasked. The processors determine the location, speed and direction of travel of a maximum of 256 targets.

The target acquisition designation sight, TADS (AN/ASQ-170), and the pilot night vision sensor, PNVS (AN/AAQ-11), were developed by Lockheed Martin. The turret-mounted TADS provides direct-view optics, television and three-fields-of-view forward-looking infrared (FLIR) to carry out search, detection and recognition, and Litton laser rangefinder / designator. PNVS consists of a FLIR in a rotating turret located on the nose above the TADS. The image from the PNVS is displayed in the monocular eyepiece of the Honeywell integrated helmet And display sighting system, IHADSS, worn by the pilot and copilot / gunner.

Lockheed Martin has developed a new targeting and night vision system for the Apache, using second-generation long-wave infrared sensors with improved range and resolution. The new system is called Arrowhead and has a targeting FLIR with three fields of view, a dual field-of-view pilotage FLIR, a CCD TV camera, electronic zoom, target tracker and auto-boresight.


Computer

Each Tank comes with four computers, each with a 24 inch flat, four split screen. Each computer houses the capability to store roughly 600 giga bytes however, the internal server it uses it easily capable of storing up to 4.1 Terabytes of information. Tanks which operate in groups of course, use radio connection and wireless LAN operations and if necessary, make "Use" another tanks storage capacity for extra information.

The computers have 4 gigs of ram and a "2 Megabyte" video video cards, and as well have lan and wireless connection capabilities, although a predetermined password can and usually is already set in place.

They also contain web cameras, speakers, areas for headphones, and microphones for communication. "COM Channels", very similar to those on Ventrilo, can be opened in order to communicate directly with other Tanks using the computers and wireless connection. In this fashion, web-cam information may also be shared within the channels.

They feature both touch screen, pad, and mouse control, as well as keyboards of multiple types and "Laser Keyboards" which essentially project an image of a keyboard onto a surface. The computers can be used from everything to make word documents and serf the web to playing halo or scrabble. Typically, however, the computers are used to process and understand (as well as display) the information sent to them by the drones.

It should be noted that the key innovation of the computers are that they are Microsoft based with Microsoft programs, and are very explicitly not macs.


UAV Sentry Drones

The Drones are equipped with Ultrasonar, Infrared, Thermal Cameras, MICRODAR, and GPS'es which actively survey and relay information of the ground around them back to the Tank, essentially recording the Topography of the land around them and sending this information back to the Tanks- or really, to the Network of Tanks. All the information received by the Drones are transferred to every tank, and a slow "Topograhic" build-up of the surrounding environment occurs. Of course, this provides many views, including movement detection with Sonar, Geographical Relay and Weather pattern understanding, Sonar with the ability to "Look through" certain objects, 3D rendering of the environment, and straight pictures and videos of the environment. The Drones give a constant update of all the information and relay the information to the Tanks, whom relay the information to other Tanks and Central Command Stations.

The drones essentially give an extended, quickly updated view of the surrounding world in many viewpoints which is seen by every Tank, Central Command Controllers, and any unit with access to the information; this being updated roughly 1/24 times a second in the Camera, and once a second for the rest of the applications. The Drones have a maximum observation radius of 250 miles and can sustain flight for roughly 8 hours before they need recharging. They also are directly compatible with other tanks, easily being "Shared" by various tanks so that the 8 hours flight time doesn't require a trip "Back". They have a maximum altitude of roughly 30,000 feet, although they are usually stationed at 10,000 feet.

The drones give a constant update and feed of all the surrounding territories and can provide information such as troop movement, position, and attack method. This, coupled with the Tanks own sensors, give the all the Tanks an enormous amount of time to respond to threats, and provide constant update of enemy movements and actions for all units.

Each Tank possess six drones, four of which are usually active, and two of which that are usually recharging (except in rare cases in which when they are first deployed and only two Drones have been recharged). Each Drone requires roughly 6 hours of charging, which is 75% of their flight time; this mostly due to the fact that each drone carries an enormous amount of logistical survey equipment. Each Drone is cross compatible with all the other Tank drone ports, and can even be compatible with Command Station ports. They plot their own flight paths and recharging sessions accordingly with the position of Tanks, however this can be manually controlled is and is usually actively monitored out of combat Situations; as well as can be reprogrammed if the chosen Tank moves too far out of range of the Coordinated flight path. Usually, at least two drones are present and flying during every time of the day for each Tank present.

The drones can also be used to locate specific units, if so desired. These drones can be used to relay information (usually Thermal Camera) information of troops in an area, say as a City. Should units be hiding behind a building, a Drone could fly into place and record and relay their movements, allowing the Tank units to fire upon their position from a distance without technically seeing them from their own position; or, extraneous methods, such as Infantry incursions or Areal bombing can be exploited, using the Drones.

Armor

The armor is essentially a Chobham Armor Composite with a Rolled Homogeneous Steel covering mixed with depleted uranium mesh plating.

Steel for armour plate must be strong, hard, and tough (does not shatter when struck with a fast, hard blow). Steel with these characteristics is produced by processing cast steel billets of appropriate size and then rolling them into plates of required thickness. Rolling and forging (hammering the steel when it is red hot) irons out the grain structure in the steel, removing imperfections which would reduce the strength of the steel. Rolling also elongates the grain structure in the steel to form long lines, which enable the stress the steel is placed under when loaded to flow throughout the metal, and not be concentrated in one area.

RHA is called homogeneous armour because its structure and composition is uniform throughout its section. The opposite of homogeneous steel plate is face-hardened steel plate, where the face of the steel is composed differently to the substrate. The face of the steel, which starts as an RHA plate, is hardened by a heat-treatment process.

The type of Steel used is that of which is roughly 1.5% carbon, 10.5% Chrome, and 3% Vanadium, Producing roughly an HRC of 60; comparable to to that which is found in a surgical instrument or a "very good knife". The external Rolled Armor has roughly a thicknesses of 250mm, or 5 inches. The Armor garners a sloped Armor effect, shaped or bent much like the kind of armor found in "Knight Armor"; that is, the shape of the steel provides extra benefit to the armor by being shaped in a particular pattern which diffuses more of the force or energy opposed upon it through the entirety of the structure, rather than just the point of impact.

Behind the First layer of steel is Chobham Armor. Although the exact construction details of the Chobham Common Armour remain a secret, it essentially armor being composed of ceramic tiles encased within a metal matrix and bonded to a backing plate and several elastic layers. Due to the extreme hardness of the ceramics used, they offer superior resistance against shaped charges such as high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds and they shatter kinetic energy penetrators.

The armor uses Silicon Carbide ceramic tiles which are roughly four by four inches wide and rounded in shape to fit the production of the over-all armor. These Ceramic Tiles are suspended in a metal Matrix of the same type of Steel used by the external Rolled Armor, that increases the stiffness, strength, and resistance of the Ceramic Tiles. Becuase the weight of the Armor is not a logistical problem for a heavy Tank, the matrix used does not require weight efficiency and the type of Ceramic used does not need to be light weight either; although Silicon Carbide is typically the best kind of armor used in the application of Tanks. The Metal Matrix also allows the Ceramic Tiles to be "Separated", that is they do not touch each other, this being important due to Ceramics typical brittle nature. While each Tile can withstand repeated attacks from most threats, including Anti-Tank munitions and in some cases even Kinetic Energy penetrators (which have been known to "Shatter" on impact"), they are in effect at some point expected to be broken and expected to be replaced when broken. They are also, in effect, capable of pulverizing Kinetic Energy Penetrators should they "Shatter" a tile, this pulverized ceramic being extremely hard and abrasive eroding most of the projectile rather quickly. While extremely resistant against most types of attacks, and capable of stopping all known Tank Ammunition, their usefulness lacks in the term that it is essentially "Breakable" Armor. Large, elastic rubber inserts behind the tiles have demonstrated superior qualities in allowing the armor to withstand repeated attacks and to resist against cracking, this ability known as "crack deflection". Still, the armor provides unprecedented protection against most Munitions, and due to it's likelihood to suffer quick destruction, the tiles are placed behind Rolled Steel that is capable of stopping most minute threats.

Behind this Ceramic Metal Matrix Armor is more Rolled Steel, roughly 2.5 inches. This again is to serve as material to keep the Ceramic rigid, and to provide a decent "Base" for the Ceramics to work off of. It also serves as the next material to act as a large buffer area to store large quantities of depleted uranium armor; all of course, in the same sloped shape as to provide increase armor and protection effects.

Rather than use straight Perforated Armor, or armor with space between the sheets to increase their ability at resisting projectiles, instead the Armor uses and utilizes extraordinarily resilient materials as a spacer for the two pieces of armor; although this material tends to be stronger than the armor slabs themselves, in many respects. This material is known as Depleted Uranium. It is primarily composed of Uranium 238, a very low radioactive by product as a result of "Farming" Uranium 235. Becuase of the excessive by products of Uranium 238, the application of Depleted Uranium becomes something that is relatively inexpensive to do. Uranium is mostly useful becuase of it's extraordinarily high density, being 19.1 grams per cubic cm, or 1.67 times a dense as lead and 2.45 times as dense as steel. Becuase of it's extreme density, it is an extremely hard and resilient material, that provides many protective properties (such as being hard, large, and heavy). Sandwiched between high hardness Vanadium Steel, the composite Depleted Uranium mesh serves as a very effective means of support for all the previous sheets of armor, and acts a very protective piece of armor itself. The Entire piece of Depleted Uranium armor is roughly 10 inches thick, or 254mm.

On the very back of the Depleted Uranium is again, Rolled Homogeneous high Carbon Vanadium Stainless Steel. This provides as much protection as the outside layer, being the same shape and 5 inches (125mm) thick.