Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!bu.edu!att!cbnews!cbnews!military From: MEDELMA@CMS.CC.WAYNE.EDU (Michael Edelman) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Dr. Tsipis and the M1 Message-ID: <1990Nov1.025300.12582@cbnews.att.com> Date: 1 Nov 90 02:53:00 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 28 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Michael Edelman Regarding Dr. Tsipis' comments on the M1: There is an excellent book, recommended to me by a friend who does some subcontract work on these. The book is called "King of the Killing Ground" (author's name escapes me) and is a detailed history of the development of the M1 Abrahams. Basically, the kinds of problems that Tsipis and other have alleged are problems dealt with in development, and which have been addressed in production and in the improved models. Some of the purported problems have been exaggerations, or ideas based on faulty understanding of tanks, or just out-and-out fabrications, not unlike the rumor that a recently-canceled ground defense system "locked onto a lavatory fan". (Remember that one?) One story that was often repeated was that M1 tank drivers had a high incidence of falling asleep due to the comfortable reclining driver's seat. This seems to have come from somewhere between zero and 1 incident... --mike edelman medelma@cms.cc.wayne.edu [mod.note: The legend about the Abrams driver's seat may be linked with something I was told by an engineer from the Lima (OH) tank plant. She claimed that when the workers at the plant turn up missing, they can usually be found asleep in the driver's seat. Possibly this led to some concerns about the crewmen, or perhaps it's an exaggeration, too. - Bill ]