8,200 Foot Firing Range
In 1980, the M1 Abrams entered U.S. Army service, although it didn’t see combat for another 11 years until the Persian Gulf War. In 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, the U.S. sent 1,848 M1A1s to Saudi Arabia to help Kuwait liberate. They proved effective against the T-55, T-62 and T-72 tanks (carryover vehicles from the USSR). The M1A1 had night vision and an 8,200 ft range to destroy other tanks, which proved vital in combat. M1 Abrams would once again see action on the battlefield with the Iraq War beginning in 2003.