Hot on the heels of Rheinmetall’s unveiling of their new KF51 Panther tank, General Dynamics Land Systems released a teaser for its next-generation Abrams Main Battle Tank. GDLS, the manufacturer of the M1 Abrams, also teased other next-generation vehicles on a dedicated website.
The Abrams NextGen, as GDLS calls it on the site, comes with very few details. Aside from a shadowy image and a mysterious teaser video, GDLS advertises the tank as, “Legend Mode. The Next Generation of Dominance.” GDLS also notes that the Abrams NextGen, and the rest of its Next Generation Battlefield Technology, will be revealed at the Association of the United States Army Convention in Washington, D.C. on October 10, 2022.
One detail that can be inferred about the Abrams NextGen is a drivetrain upgrade. In the description of GDLS’ YouTube teaser video for the tank, the company states, “Silent Strike: They’ll Never Hear Us Coming.” With increased demand from the military and congress for hybrid-electric vehicles, it’s possible that GDLS plans to evolve the Abrams with a hybrid drive. After all, defense manufacturer Oshkosh created a hybrid silent drive version of its Light Combat Tactical All-Terrain Vehicle which already won the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle competition.
In addition to the Abrams NextGen, GDLS also teased the Stryker NextGen with the tagline, “The Stryker Just Got Meaner.” Another platform that was a teased is the Leonidas, a variant of the Stryker designed to counter UAVs. GDLS teased the Leonidas with the lines, “Drone Killer. Threat Level Zero.” Three unmanned ground vehicles were also teased: the TRX Razorback, TRX Breacher, and the GDLS submission for the Army’s Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport.