Barring successfully fielding exotic technologies to make the FCS work, the Army must consider how it will defeat future heavy systems if fighting actual enemies and not merely suppressing disorder becomes its mission once again. The tentative assumptions of 2001 will change by 2025. When they do, the Army will rue its failure today to accept that the wonder tank will not be built.
Apparently, we've made great advances in expanding the capabilities of the wonder tank we would like to field:
Could there be a lightweight armored attack vehicle able to speed across bridges, deploy quickly from the air, detect enemies at very long ranges, control nearby robots and fire the most advanced weapons in the world - all while maintaining the unprecedented protection and survivability of an Abrams tank?
That ... would ... be ... friggin' ... AWESOME!
And back in the real world, the still-awesome Abrams tank gets older and older, approaching the time when updates just aren't possible on the old girls.
And as an aside, if the wonder tank is in reach, why are we looking for a "light tank" as a separate program? The wonder tank will be able to do everything for everyone! Even the Marines will want some.
But even in the cited article it is admitted that the lethality and protection of the Abrams can't be replicated by a wonder tank:
[The] combat-tested Abrams weapons, armor and attack technology will be extremely difficult to replicate or match in a new platform.
Yes, there is no such thing as the wonder tank. So just what is the point of the project's more fanciful desires?
Just build a new damn tank.
