The M1 Abrams is a main battle tank produced in the United States. The M1 is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. The M1 Abrams tank is well armed, heavily armored, and highly mobile — designed for modern armored ground warfare. Features of the M1 Abrams include the use of a powerful gas turbine engine, the adoption of sophisticated composite armor, and separate ammunition storage in a blow-out compartment for crew safety. It is one of the heaviest tanks in service, weighing in at close to 68 short tons (almost 62 metric tons).
Members of the 1st Armored Division drive an M1A1 Abrams tank through the Taunus Mountains north of Frankfurt during Exercise Ready Crucible. This was the largest movement of American armored vehicles through German roads and farmland since the REFORGER exercises of the 1980s.