Army general says foreign militaries are breaking even with the capabilities of the M1 Abrams tank

Army Lt. Gen. John M. Murray told the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Airland subcommittee that other militaries — including some potential adversaries — have produced tanks that could match the US’s marquee battle tank, the M1 Abrams.

“I think for the very near term, the Abrams is still near the very top of its class,” Murray, deputy chief of staff for financial management, told the Senate, according to Defense Tech.

“I think we have parity,” he said of the Abrams, which entered service in 1980, in response to a question from Alaska Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan, who was a Marine in Afghanistan.

“I think there is parity out there,” Murray added. “I don’t think we have over match.”

Later, when asked about peer or near-peer tanks by Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton, Murray named several models.

“I would say that the Israelis’ — the Merkava — would be one,” he said.

 

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Featured image courtesy of the US Army.