Two Manually Operated Machine Guns
Machine gun fire on M1A2’s is often reserved for attacking infantry soldiers rather than tank battles. The two machine guns must be operated manually, requiring a hatch to open for soldiers to get to the tank’s exterior. Some come equipped with a Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (Crows), which allows the soldier to use a display, switches, and a joystick to remote control the machine guns without leaving the tank.