Made for the Streets

During the Iraq War of 2003 and the subsequent occupation, the M1 Abrams served as the main tank of the US military. While the M1A2 SEP was a highly modernized version including electronics improvements and so on, the US military found that it faced a new threat during the occupation from 2004 onwards, namely in close-quarters urban situations with weapons such as mines and hand-held weapons. Tank Urban Survival Kits (TUSK) were developed to counter such threats, and the original TUSK I added block-shaped reactive armor to the tank sides as well as an anti-mine underplate, additional M2 heavy machine gun above the main gun, and shields for the loader. The TUSK II upgrade further added shields for the commander and the distinctive tile-shaped reactive armor, although these were not fitted to all M1A2 SEPs.