Soldiers with two tank crews from the 3rd Armored Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, recently tested the Army’s newest 120mm tactical round.
The “Ivy Division” tank crews weathered 112 degrees Fahrenheit at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, with “full ready rack combat loads” of the XM-1147 Advanced Multi-Purpose round in the M1A2 Abrams tank.
The two tank crews shot 90 rounds at anti-tank guided missile teams, massed infantry fighting vehicles and bunker targets, while also running both real and simulated threats in the test, according to an Army statement.
RELATED
The round is a replacement for four legacy service rounds.
The XM-1147 is a “line-of-sight” tank round that is intended to replace the M830 High Explosive Anti-Tank Multipurpose with Tracer, the M830A1, the M1028 Canister rounds and the M908 Obstacle Reducing with Tracer round, according to a Defense Department testing and evaluation report.
The AMP puts all four previous round capabilities into one package.
The round is intended to breach with “greater standoff and fewer rounds,” the DoD testing and evaluation report reads. The AMP round has three defeat modes — point detonate, point detonate delay and airburst.
Live fire testing against armored targets is planned for mid-2022, according to the report.
Gunner Sgt. Spencer Vanderbilt, of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, said the round shouldn’t be taken lightly.
“Being able to see and then destroy anti-tank guided missile targets beyond 2,000 meters and then transition immediately to breaching walls or obstacles is an incredibly powerful feeling,” Vanderbilt said.
Vanderbilt was on Tank Crew 1, commanded by 2nd Lt. Jake Hall, along with loader Pvt. Dalton Diserio and driver Pvt. Justin Jones.
“We now know what it feels like to roll out in a fully combat loaded tank on operationally realistic combat missions and recognize how important the AMP round will be to U.S. Army ABCT fighting forces in the fights yet to be fought,” Hall said.
The XM-1147 brings a new airburst mode and the ability to breach reinforced concrete walls, according to the release.
Tank Crew 2 was commanded by Staff Sgt. Nicholas Smearman, with gunner Sgt. Juan Segura, loader Spc. Blake Phillips, and driver Pvt. Adam Allwine.
Master Sgt. Joel Ramirez, of the Fort Hood, Texas-based Operational Test Command said the performance data and soldier feedback from these tests will inform the procurement decisions for the AMP round.
“We do this by having the tank crews employ the tactical service round in a manner and in an environment that closely mimics combat conditions,” Ramirez said.
The two tank crews shot over eight complex modified tank gunnery combat scenarios during the four-day record test.
“Despite extreme desert heat, dust storms and rain squalls, the Crazy Horse crews really impressed me with their level of motivation and drive to test the AMP round,” said Kent Evans, the Maneuver Requirements Division Soldier and Capability representative from Fort Benning, Georgia.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
