M1A2 TUSK

M1A2 TUSK
Faction	USMC U.S. Army
Type	Main Battle Tank
Seats	4 seats: 1× Driver 1× Gunner 1× Commander 1× Loader
Item capacity	Max: 10× Weapons 100× Magazines
Top speed	Normal: 62 km/h Turbo: 83 km/h Reverse: 62 km/h
Fuel capacity	1000 fuel units
Primary armament	Main: 1× M256 120 mm
Secondary armament	Secondary: 1× M2 .50 HMG 1× M240 GPMG 7.62 mm Coaxial: 1× M240 GPMG 7.62 mm Defensive: 1× Smoke Generator
Variants	M1A1
Games

The M1A2 TUSK is a variant of the U.S. Marine/U.S. Army M1A1 Main Battle Tank in ArmA 2.

Overview

• Role:
  • Direct fire and manoeuvre

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The M1A1, famous for its role in the Gulf Wars, is the United States’ primary Main Battle Tank. The M1A1 features an M256 smoothbore cannon capable of firing an armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) round with a depleted uranium penetrator. This one is upgraded with TUSK (Tank Urban Survival Kit) allowing for greater survivability in urban terrain. Armoury Description

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Design

Outwardly similar in appearance to the M1A1, the M1A2 is an upgraded model that features the Tank Urban Survival Kit (TUSK).

Armament
The standard loadout of the M1A2 gives it 20 rounds of armour-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot (APFSDS) and 20 rounds of high-explosive (HE) shells for the main 120 mm smoothbore gun.

The coaxial M240 is loaded with a single 1,200-round 7.62 mm belt with no spare belts left in reserve, while the loader's M240 is fed from 100-round belt boxes. The loader's M240 retains access to three more boxes in reserve for a combined total of 400 rounds.

Lastly, the .50 cal heavy machine gun mounted onto the CROWS turret is pre-loaded with a 100-round belt box and has another four boxes in reserve (also for a total of 500 rounds).

Features
Alongside the M1A1, the M1A2 TUSK is essentially one of the two, if not the most powerful ground vehicle in ArmA 2. It outclasses every other ground vehicle in-game not only in terms of firepower but when it comes to mobility and protection as well.

In terms of main armament, the M1A2 is mostly identical to the baseline M1A1. However, it sports an additional pintle-mounted medium machine gun fitted to a third crewman hatch on top of the turret. The commander's heavy machine gun mount has also been replaced with a CROWS turret that has improved optics and greater clearance.

Like the M1A1, the M1A2 also shares the same traits when it comes to handling. It accelerates very rapidly and can be driven faster than any other MBT while also being able to conduct pinpoint turns with ease.

Drawbacks
Unlike the T-90, the M1A2 does not have access to gun-launched ATGMs. Whereas T-90 crews can ambush their targets with a (relatively quiet) wire-guided missile from afar, the M1A2's crew will need to close in onto their targets if they cannot hit the enemy from their current position.

Crew Capacity
The M1A2 has a seating capacity of four personnel for a crew consisting of the driver, gunner, the commander, and a loader. No passengers can be carried either internally or externally.

Camouflage

• Desert
• Woodland

1/2

• Desert: Flat desert sand/desert tan paint scheme. Used by U.S. Army M1A2s.
• Woodland: Three-colour woodland paint scheme. Used by USMC M1A2s.

Protection

The M1A2 TUSK has a base armour value of 900.

Successful strikes to any of the following highlighted sections will inflict full damage to the component:

LEGEND
Green = Hull
Orange = Engine
Light blue = Treads
Maroon = Turret

The Explosive Reactive Armour blocks are not functional in regular gameplay and do not provide any enhanced protection against anti-tank weapons or AP-based projectiles.

Hull

The M1A2's hull can withstand up to 810 points of damage.

Engine

The M1A2's engine is able to take up to 450 points of damage. At least 20% of incoming damage is always shared with its main "health" pool.

A damaged engine will severely diminish power output and prevent the M1A2 from attaining its top speed. Disabling it will instantly immobilise the tank and result in a mobility kill.

Treads

The M1A2's treads are able to take up to 180 points of damage before they break.

Disabling either will impede (but not prevent) the M1A2's mobility. Destroying both will render the tank immobilised on rough terrain and make it almost impossible to turn; even if the engine remains functional.

Turret

The main turret can take up to 900 points of damage.

Disabling it will prevent the gunner from rotating it but does not stop them from firing its weapons.

Gun barrel

The turret's cannon can withstand up to 270 points of damage before its mechanisms fail. No amount of damage is transferred back onto the M1A2's "health" pool.

Disabling the gun barrel will automatically lock it and prevent the gunner from adjusting its depression/elevation.

Armament

NOTE: For specifics on the M256's munitions, see its related section listed here.

Both the M256 cannon and coaxial M240 medium machine gun are controlled by the gunner position, while the commander handles the remotely-operated M2HB heavy machine gun. The auxiliary M240 (with a gunshield) is always controlled by the loader position. The commander does not have the ability to fire the M2HB while they are buttoned up. Only the commander has the ability to fire their M240 even if they are not turned out.

For optics, the gunner's sight can switch between two fields of view and can toggle a day, night or green-/black-hot thermal vision mode. On the other hand, the commander's CROWS turret has variable magnification capability and can switch between day, night or orange-/black-hot thermal vision modes.

Lastly, the loader (when buttoned up) has access to day and night vision modes only. They rely solely on the M240's ironsights for aiming while unbuttoned:

M256

120 mm smoothbore cannon. Can load either HE or AP-type munitions.

It can attain a fire rate of 10 RPM (6 second delay) but only requires 2 seconds to swap between shell types or to fully rearm from a logistics truck. It features an integrated laser rangefinder.

Manual zeroing is available, starting from a minimum of 100 m up to a maximum of 3000 m. Adjustments are made with increments/decrements of 100 m.

M240

Base damage value	Aerodynamic friction	Initial velocity (m/s)
12	-0.0009324	834

7.62 mm medium machine gun, mounted either as a coaxial weapon (controlled by the gunner) or above the loader position's hatch as a standalone turret (it is fireable from within the tank's interior).

Both can attain fire rates of up to 800 RPM and have muzzle velocities of 834 m/s. Accuracy-wise, they both share the same dispersion of 0.0012 rad. It takes 5 seconds for the gunner and loader to reload fresh linked belts/belt boxes or to fully rearm.

Zeroing limits (or access to do so) depends on crew position. For the gunner, the limits are identical to those used for the M256 cannon. The loader's M240 on the other hand, is limited to a maximum zeroing of just 800 m. For both M240s, adjustments are always made with increments/decrements of 100 m regardless of how they are mounted.

M2HB

Base damage value	Aerodynamic friction	Initial velocity (m/s)
26	-0.00068	930

General-purpose .50 cal heavy machine gun mounted onto the turret roof's CROWS turret.

It can attain a fire rate of ~ 545 RPM and has a muzzle velocity of 930 m/s. It takes 6 seconds to reload a fresh belt box. Accuracy-wise, the gun itself has a dispersion of 0.001 rad.

The M2HB can be zeroed starting at a minimum of 100 m up to a maximum of 2000 m (adjustments are made with 100 m increments/decrements). It also features an integrated laser rangefinder.

Trivia

Prior to Patch 1.08 for ArmA 2 (pre-Operation Arrowhead), a bug would cause the M1A1 to slide on some terrain surface types if it was turning at high speeds. When ArmA 2 was first released, the M1A2's loader position was notorious for not allowing them to turn in even during combat. While they were still protected from small arms fire due to the gunshield, it only covered the front (assuming the loader is facing towards the direction of the incoming fire) and were still rendered vulnerable to larger calibre weapons and explosions which can bypass the gunshield. As per the latest Steam version patches (as part of the Community Configuration Project), the M1A2's loader can finally button up their hatch and take cover inside the tank. Both the M1A2 TUSK and the M1A1's gunner and commander optics were "upgraded" with the ability to use thermal optics after the release of the Operation Arrowhead expansion pack. However, the loader would remain unable to switch to night vision optics (while turned in) until the release of the Community Configuration Project updates. The latest Steam version patches introduced many bugfixes and gameplay overhauls to the M1A2 TUSK: The M1A2's driver could not turn out properly even though the tank's model clearly had an animated hatch (CCP). The commander's M2HB was limited to a maximum zeroing of only 800 m rather than 2000 m (CorePatch). Zeroing limits on the M256 gun were raised to 3000 m (CorePatch). The loader originally had the ability to toggle thermal vision after changes introduced with the CCP but these were reverted by CorePatch. In reality at the time of ArmA 2's release, the U.S. Marine Corps did not (and does not as of 2020, pre-Force Design 2030) utilise the M1A2. It only operates the M1A1 variant of the Abrams family; specifically both the older "M1A1HC" (Heavy Common) and newer "M1A1FEP" (Firepower Enhancement Package) models. Only the U.S. Army and certain foreign countries allied to the United States actually have the M1A2 commissioned in service. The information below details unused, pre-release or removed content. Interestingly, leftover text strings (String name: str_dn_m1a2mk19) and unused model definitions in the game's source files suggest that there was originally meant to be different variants of the M1A2 to be included on release. Along with the standard M2/M240 loadout, this variant was presumably meant to be armed with a MK19 automatic grenade launcher either in the loader's pintle or mounted onto the CROWS turret. However, neither the models nor config references exist in the game files anymore.

Gallery

External links

• Wikipedia: M1A2

See also

Variants

• M1A1

Vehicles of comparable role and configuration

• T-90 (Russian Armed Forces counterpart)
• M2A4 Slammer UP (NATO successor, ArmA 3 only)