The 72-ton, 40-foot-long Shredder sports a dozer blade at its bow and retains a powered turret but lacks the main gun armament of the Abrams combat version. It is modestly armed through 1 x 12.7mm Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) for local defense and can generate its own smoke screen by way of smoke grenades. Over the turret is fitted the M56 MICLIC (MIne Clearing LIne Charges) system which showcases explosives-tipped rockets for clearing soft obstacles (as well as detonating enemy explosives and mines at range).
The design of The Shredder is largely influenced by American actions in the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars of the 2000s where obstacles, mines, and hidden Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) were the norm faced by infantry and vehicle crews. Development and funding of the ABV was headed by the USMC after the M1 Grizzly program was lost.
The vehicle retains much of the form and function of the Abrams combat tank but obviously lacks its full combat functionality. It utilizes the Honeywell 1,500 horsepower gas turbine of the Abrams and features the same rear-mounted drive-sprocket, front-mounted track idler and seven double-tired road wheels to a hull side. Its operating crew numbers two.
At this writing, the Army has planned for 187 of the type with the USMC standing to acquire a total of 52 units. They have been used actively in Afghanistan and are present in South Korea as of 2013.
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