Development began in 2002 when DARPA awarded four contracts to different designers to oversee the development of common air-transportable vehicles that could be transported on a C-130 fully assembled.īy the mid-2000s development had shifted to General Dynamics and BAE Systems, resulting in the Common Chassis that formed the basis for the XM1201 Reconnaissance and Surveillance Vehicle, XM1202 MCS XM1203 non-line-of-sight cannon, XM1204 non-line-of-sight mortar, XM1205 Field Recovery, and Maintenance Vehicle, XM1206 Infantry Carrier Vehicle, XM1207/8 Medical Vehicle, and XM1209 Command and Control Vehicle. Shinseki set in motion the Manned Ground Vehicles (MGV) program, which in turn was part of the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The XM1202 traces its roots to 1999 when then-Army Chief of Staff General Eric K. However, in spite of the $18.1 billion spent on its development, the MCS failed to make the final cut. JADC2 Leaders of the Air Force, Navy, Army and Marines are converging on a vision of the future military: connecting every asset on the global battlefield. Time marches on, however, and the XM1202 Mounted Combat System (MCS) was proposed as a successor to the M1. The Abrams’ combat superiority over the vaunted Soviet-designed T-72 MBT was starkly demonstrated during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, especially the Battle of 73 Easting, which is often described as “the last great tank battle of the 20th century.”

Army’s M1 Abrams main battle tank has served faithfully since 1980 and proved itself to be the premier MBT in the 1990s and early 200s.

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