OTD: Name day for M1 Abrams

In March and April 1979, the Army system acquisition review council (ASARC) III and the Defense system acquisition review council (DSARC) III, respectively, recommended the XMl for a low-rate initial production (LRIP) of 110 vehicles, to be assembled at LATP. This recommendation wasapproved by the secretary of defense on 7 May, 1979, and the first two production tanks were delivered at a special acceptance ceremony on 28 February, 1980, at which the tank was formally named in honor of the late Gen. Creighton W. Abrams, Army chief of staff and a renowned armor commander in World War II. The LRIP vehicles underwent DT/OT phase three testing with troop units from September 1980 to May 1982. In January 1981, the XMl achieved initial operational capability (IOC) at Ft. Hood, Tex. A special ASARC in February 1981 approved production of 7,058 tanks at a rate of 30 per month. The tank was type classified standard as the Ml Abrams tank on 17 February, 1981. Production of 60 tanks per month—30 each at both the LATP and DATP—was authorized in September 1981. Production deliveries began at DATP in March 1982. A peak production of a combined total of 103 M1A1 tanks from both plants was achieved in October 1986.

Source - magazine "ARMY", September 1988