U.S. Army’s Main Battle Tank Could Be Replaced With Ray Guns or Star Wars AT-ATs Guided by AI in Quantum Computers
ATTACK! The Latest Version of the M1 Abrams Tank Just Got Even Better
In brief…
+ The U.S. Army is on an intensive quest for an array of new technologies with which to design and build new armored fighting vehicles, particularly a replacement for the long-serving Bradley. However much it might yearn for a new tank, the Army lacks the critical technologies that would justify the time and expense pursuing such an objective. Moreover, it doesn’t need to make the effort. The Army’s current main battle tank, the Abrams, is the tank of the future.
Key point: The Pentagon has ensured many of its weapons systems stay updated and lethal through continuing upgrades.
+ The leadership of the U.S. Army is taken with the idea of transforming how and with what the Army fights. They particularly want new armored fighting vehicles. And not just another family of metal boxes with a turret and cannon. Technology enthusiasts, including any in the Army’s new Futures Command, wax eloquently about the potential for hover tanks that shoot laser beams and are autonomously guided by artificial intelligence housed in quantum computers.
+ As the poet Robert Browning once said, a man’s reach should exceed his grasp. This saying should apply, in general, to the development of a future tank. But there needs to be common sense in the modernization process. Until a revolution in materials is realized, the Army needs to exploit the potential resident in the Abrams.
Content may have been edited for style and clarity. AT-AT Image by mathies janssen, DE (CC)
