The urge to remain militarily strong has long been a driver of
technological advancement. This interplay between strength and
technology, so evident in America's global military reach, has for
decades prompted U.S. defense planners to engage in technology
forecasting. Analysis of emerging technologies was, and is, vital
to making wise defense investments. Among the preeminent examples
of such analysis are the studies undertaken by Theodore von Karman
just after the Second World War. The von Karman reports represent
an exhaustive review of science and technology related to the
military services. His analysis projected the importance of
unmanned aircraft, advanced jet propulsion, allweather sensors, and
target seeking missiles. While it is important to assess the needs
and challenges of the future, understanding past military
technological successes can be equally important to defense science
and technology (S&T) investment and management. To complement
the above efforts and the many other technology forecasts too
numerous to mention, this study is the first in a series that will
examine some of the key factors that have led to meaningful
technology generation and ultimate incorporation into the U.S.
weapons systems we see in the field today. Included here are such
factors as where the technical work was performed, funding
source(s) for the effort, collaboration between government and
non-government laboratories, and management style. This series of
studies will focus only on Army weapons systems, beginning with the
mainstay of the Army's armor force, the Abrams tank. Analysis of
other Army systems, such as the Apache helicopter and the Javelin
and Stinger missiles, will follow. The results of all studies will
be compiled in a wrap-up report that will focus on the implications
of the findings for today's S&T environment. We begin the paper
by briefly reviewing a project that served as a source of
inspiration for this study: Project Hindsight, a 1969 Defense
Department (DOD) report. Hindsight was an in-depth study sponsored
by the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E)
that provided some insights into the development of approximately
20 weapons systems across the DOD spectrum. Following the review of
Hindsight, we present a short history of U.S. battle tanks as well
as a summary of events leading up to the Army decision to replace
the M60 Patton tank with the Abrams tank. This is followed by a
description of the methodology used to gather key data on the
development of the Abrams. The information is broken out by topic
area (armament related subjects; armor and other survivability
related subjects; engine and drive system; vetronics, C4ISR and
fire control) and presented in terms of critical technology events
(CTEs). CTEs are ideas, concepts, models, and analyses, including
key technical and managerial decisions that have had a major impact
on the development of a specific weapons system. CTEs can occur at
any point in the system's life cycle, from basic research, to
advanced development, to testing and evaluation, to product
improvements. The final portion of the paper presents the
concluding remarks and findings based on the CTEs that characterize
the Abrams tank's development. The CTEs are noted in the left
margin throughout the report. They are summarized in Appendix B.
CTEs are numbered only for ease of reference; there is no
hierarchical or chronological significance to their order. While
the link between high-tech weapons systems and battlefield success
is often readily apparent, the geneses of and processes associated
with CTEs often are not. CTEs depend on several important factors,
including effective management, adequate funding, establishment of
clear priorities, fostering of proper technical competencies, and
leveraging of the resources of the private sector and academia.
General
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