Fort Irwin, Calif. -- The M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks changes it look to replicate the T-90 Main Battle Tank across Hawg Company, 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment at the National Training Center to better replicate the current threat in deployed environments. With the Regiment's goal to serve as the Army's sparring partner as a hybrid threat and help the United States Army regain its mastery over maneuver warfare, the 11th ACR chose to increase the pressure and challenge 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, from Fort Bliss, Texas, the unit for Rotation 15-08 at the NTC. In order to do this, Hawg Company was chosen to be the first unit to fight against the RTU in visually modified M1A1 MBT's meant to represent the Russian T-90 MBT.

The process to turn an M1A1 into a convincing T-90 MBT began in the latter half of May, close to a month before they would make a debut in battle. The process began with civilian crews at the Training Audiovisual Support Center installing mock Explosive Reactive Armor to the front of the tanks' turrets and black oil drums to the rear of the turrets. These additions aided in providing a method of both near and far recognition for both friendly and opposing forces. The pace of the modifications averaged one tank a day, though this tempo dramatically increased to five M1A1s in two and a half days, an easy process which was mainly due to the quality crews working at TASC.

Following the installation of these components, the Troopers of Hawg Company added other distinguishing features to the tanks to aid in recognition. These included a pair of red Donovian flags bearing crossed sabers and the iconic Blackhorse attached to each antenna atop the turrets and two panels displaying red stars attached to the sides of the turrets. The panels, prepared by 1st Lt. Clifford Toro, Hawg Company's executive officer.

The final visual modification only took place once the tanks were actually in the training area, or the Box, as NTC residents call it. The newly modified T-90s were staged during the third battle period of the 15-08 Decisive Action Rotation. In order to get them staged, Hawg Company had to transport the tanks in groups of five via Heavy Equipment Transport Systems from main post to the northern edge of the Box. Once staged, the tanks had the majority of their side skirts removed as the final effort in creating an illusion of a Russian MBT.

The time consuming process of preparing these tanks for use in the Box and maintaining them while in the field was a monumental task that took the coordination and hard work of many groups and units stationed here. Hawg used these T-90 MBT's to full effect, assaulting through breaches in Granite Pass, screaming across the central corridor and Strawberry Fields, and going to toe-to-toe with 1/1 AD SBCT.

With tensions rising in both the near East, Eastern Europe, and Asia, the need for the Army to be masters of fighting near-peer forces in maneuver warfare not seen in over a decade has never been more dire. Once again, the 11th ACR and the Troopers of Hawg Company stepped up to the challenge and made sure that the experiment to increase the combat power of the Donovian forces was successful, paving the way for further progression of T-90 equivalent tanks and proving them to be a formidable asset.

加利福尼亞州歐文堡——M1A1艾布拉姆斯主戰(zhàn)坦克改變了其外觀，在國(guó)家訓(xùn)練中心的第11裝甲騎兵團(tuán)第2中隊(duì)Hawg連復(fù)制T-90主戰(zhàn)坦克，以更好地在部署環(huán)境中復(fù)制當(dāng)前的威脅。

由于該團(tuán)的目標(biāo)是作為混合威脅的陸軍陪練伙伴，幫助美國(guó)陸軍重新掌握機(jī)動(dòng)戰(zhàn)，第11 ACR選擇增加壓力，挑戰(zhàn)來(lái)自德克薩斯州布利斯堡的第1裝甲師第1史崔克旅戰(zhàn)斗隊(duì)，該部隊(duì)是NTC 15-08輪換的部隊(duì)。為了做到這一點(diǎn)，Hawg公司被選為第一支在視覺(jué)上改裝的M1A1 MBT中對(duì)抗RTU的部隊(duì)，以代表俄羅斯的T-90 MBT。

將M1A1改裝成令人信服的T-90 MBT的過(guò)程始于5月下旬，距離它們首次亮相還有近一個(gè)月的時(shí)間。這一過(guò)程始于訓(xùn)練視聽(tīng)支持中心的文職人員在坦克炮塔前部安裝模擬爆炸反應(yīng)裝甲，在炮塔后部安裝黑色油桶。這些補(bǔ)充有助于為友軍和對(duì)方部隊(duì)提供一種近距離和遠(yuǎn)距離識(shí)別的方法。改裝的速度平均每天一輛坦克，盡管這一速度在兩天半內(nèi)急劇增加到五輛M1A1，這是一個(gè)容易的過(guò)程，主要是由于TASC的高素質(zhì)工作人員。

安裝這些部件后，Hawg連的士兵在坦克上添加了其他顯著特征，以幫助識(shí)別。其中包括掛在炮塔頂部每個(gè)天線上的一對(duì)帶有交叉軍刀和標(biāo)志性黑馬的多諾萬(wàn)紅旗，以及掛在炮塔兩側(cè)的兩塊顯示紅星的面板。這些小組由Hawg公司的執(zhí)行官Clifford Toro中尉準(zhǔn)備。

最后的視覺(jué)修改只有在坦克真正進(jìn)入訓(xùn)練區(qū)或NTC居民稱(chēng)之為“盒子”時(shí)才進(jìn)行。新修改的T-90在15-08決定性行動(dòng)輪換的第三個(gè)戰(zhàn)斗期間上演。為了讓它們就位，Hawg公司不得不通過(guò)重型設(shè)備運(yùn)輸系統(tǒng)將坦克五人一組從主哨所運(yùn)輸?shù)较渥拥谋辈窟吘?。一旦上演，坦克的大部分?cè)裙都被拆除了，這是制造俄羅斯MBT假象的最后一步。

準(zhǔn)備這些坦克在戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上使用并在戰(zhàn)場(chǎng)上進(jìn)行維護(hù)的過(guò)程非常耗時(shí)，這是一項(xiàng)艱巨的任務(wù)，需要駐扎在這里的許多小組和單位的協(xié)調(diào)和辛勤工作。Hawg充分利用了這些T-90 MBT，通過(guò)Granite Pass的缺口進(jìn)行攻擊，在中央走廊和草莓地尖叫，并與1/1 AD SBCT針?shù)h相對(duì)。

隨著近東、東歐和亞洲的緊張局勢(shì)加劇，軍隊(duì)需要成為十多年來(lái)從未見(jiàn)過(guò)的機(jī)動(dòng)戰(zhàn)中與同類(lèi)部隊(duì)作戰(zhàn)的大師，這一需求從未像現(xiàn)在這樣迫切。再次，第11裝甲師和Hawg連的士兵們迎接了挑戰(zhàn)，確保了提高多諾萬(wàn)部隊(duì)?wèi)?zhàn)斗力的實(shí)驗(yàn)取得了成功，為T(mén)-90等效坦克的進(jìn)一步發(fā)展鋪平了道路，并證明它們是一筆巨大的財(cái)富。