Gas Turbine Power Systems for Military Tracked Vehicles

The gas turbine engine has been examined as a power plant for military tracked vehicles for over 30 years. Advocates have stressed the potentially high power density and high reliability as factors in favor of the turbine. Several turbine engines have been evaluated experimentally in military tracked vehicles resulting in a better understanding of such aspects as response characteristics and air inlet filtration requirements. Moreover, although the small volume and light weight of aircraft derivative gas turbines have certain virtues, it generally has been concluded that some form of waste heat recuperation is essential to achieve an acceptable level of fuel consumption, despite the increased weight and volume incurred. The selection of the AVCO Lycoming AGT1500 recuperated gas turbine as the power unit for the U.S. Army new M1 “Abrams” main battle tank was a major milestone in the evolution of gas turbine engines for tank propulsion.