“Tanks, Mate!”
AUSTRALIA’S newly acquired $560 million fleet of Abrams tanks can be easily disabled by the latest generation shoulder-fired rocket launcher, a government-funded think tank has warned.
But the 59 refurbished M1A1 Abrams, bought from the US by the Howard government, still offer better protection than their ageing German Leopard-1 predecessors, says a paper from theAustralian Strategic Policy Institute.
Unlike the latest US M1A2 model, the Australian variant is protected by ceramic plate instead of superior depleted uranium armour, the ASPI says in its latest report on army capability.
“Although it provides good protection against early-model shoulder-fired anti-armour weapons now prevalent in the region, it is vulnerable to advanced Russian systems proliferating elsewhere, including the Middle East,” it says.
The paper singling out the 70-tonne behemoths emerged yesterday as Kevin Rudd lashed the former government for wasting taxpayers’ dollars on questionable defence purchases.
“There has been billions of dollars in defence waste - in one major project after another. This has got to stop,” he told the NSW Labor conference.
The Abrams was always a controversial purchase, with critics claiming the new-generation Leopard-2 tank was Australia’s best option.
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