Editing M1 Abrams (section)

===Iraq War===
[[File:Fallujah 2004 M1A1 Abrams.jpg|thumb|left|An U.S. Marine Corps M1A1 Abrams fires its main gun into a building during the [[Second Battle of Fallujah]], 2004.]]
Further combat was seen during 2003 when U.S. forces invaded Iraq and deposed Iraqi President [[Saddam Hussein]] in the [[Iraq War]]'s Operation Iraqi Freedom. One achievement of the M1A1s was the destruction of seven T-72s in a point-blank skirmish (less than {{convert|50|yd}}) near Mahmoudiyah, about {{convert|18|mi|km|0}} south of Baghdad, with no U.S. losses.<ref>Conroy, Jason & Martz, Ron. ''Heavy Metal: A Tank Company's Battle To Baghdad''. Potomac Books, 2005, p. 158.</ref> This was in the face of inadequately trained Iraqi tank crews, most of whom had not fired live ammunition in the previous year due to the sanctions then in operation and made no hits at point-blank range.<ref name="biddle">{{cite report |last=Biddle |first=Stephen |url= https://archive.org/details/operationiraqifr00unit |title=Statement By Dr. Stepehen Biddle, Associate Professor of National Security Studies, U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute Before the Committee on Armed Services, United States House of Representatives, First Session, 108th Congress, on Operation Iraqi Freedom: Outside Perspectives |date=21 October 2003 |pages=544–570 |publisher=Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, 108th Session |work=Operation Iraqi Freedom: Operations and Reconstruction}}</ref>

Following lessons learned in Desert Storm, the Abrams and many other U.S. combat vehicles used in the conflict were fitted with [[Combat Identification Panel]]s to reduce friendly fire incidents.{{sfn|Zaloga|2019|p=18}}

Several Abrams tanks that were irrecoverable due to loss of mobility or other circumstances were destroyed by friendly forces, usually by other Abrams tanks, to prevent their capture.<ref>Zucchino, David: ''Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad''. Grove Press, 2004, pp. 20–30, 73.</ref> Some Abrams tanks were disabled by Iraqi infantrymen in ambushes during the invasion. Some troops employed short-range anti-tank rockets and fired at the tracks, rear and top. Other tanks were put out of action by engine fires when flammable fuel stored externally in turret racks was hit by small arms fire and spilled into the engine compartment.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.wlhoward.com/id554.htm#prof |title=Technical Intelligence Bulletins |publisher=WL Howard |date=May–June 2003 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070312185039/http://www.wlhoward.com/id554.htm |archive-date=12 March 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first= John P. |last=Conway |title=Abrams Tank Systems: Lessons Learned Operation Iraqi Freedom |url= http://www.fprado.com/armorsite/US-Field-Manuals/abrams-oif.pdf#prof |date=7 January 2004 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060905050811/http://fprado.com/armorsite/US-Field-Manuals/abrams-oif.pdf#prof |archive-date=5 September 2006}}</ref> By March 2005, approximately 80 Abrams tanks had been forced out of action by enemy attacks;<ref name="casualties">Komarow, Steven. [https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-03-29-abrams-tank-a_x.htm "Tanks take a beating in Iraq"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318030456/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-03-29-abrams-tank-a_x.htm|date=18 March 2012}}. USA Today, 29 March 2005.</ref> 63 were shipped back to the U.S. for repairs, while 17 were damaged beyond repair{{sfn|Green|Stewart|2005|p=99}} with 3 of them at the beginning of 2003.<ref>{{cite news |date=26 March 2003 |title=Najaf fighting "heaviest so far" |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2888633.stm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161125052725/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2888633.stm |archive-date=25 November 2016 |access-date=23 May 2020 |via=news.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

[[File:U.S. Army M1A2 Abrams Iraq 2005 retouched.jpg|thumb|Two U.S. Army M1A2 Abrams in Iraq, 2005]]
Vulnerabilities exposed during urban combat in the Iraq War were addressed with the [[#Tank Urban Survival Kit|Tank Urban Survival Kit]] (TUSK) modifications, including armor upgrades and a gun shield, issued to some M1 Abrams tanks. It added protection in the rear and side of the tank and improved fighting ability and survival ability in urban environments.<ref name="USA_Today_TUSK">Komarow, Steven. [https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-03-29-tank-inside_x.htm "Tanks adapted for urban fights they once avoided"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110822063215/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-03-29-tank-inside_x.htm |date=22 August 2011}}. ''USA Today'', 29 March 2005.</ref> By December 2006 more than 530 Abrams tanks had been shipped back to the U.S. for repairs.<ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. Army Battling To Save Equipment |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401347.html |url-status=live |access-date=11 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006084444/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/04/AR2006120401347.html |archive-date=6 October 2014}}</ref>

In May 2008, it was reported that a U.S. M1 tank had also been damaged in Iraq by insurgent fire of a Soviet-made [[RPG-29]] "Vampir", which uses a [[tandem-charge]] [[High-explosive anti-tank|HEAT]] warhead to penetrate [[explosive reactive armor]] (ERA) as well as [[Composite armour|composite armor]] behind it.<ref>{{cite news |title=Operation in Sadr City Is an Iraqi Success, So Far |author=Michael R. Gordon |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=21 May 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/world/middleeast/21sadr.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170623214243/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/world/middleeast/21sadr.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin |archive-date=23 June 2017}}</ref> The U.S. considered the RPG-29 a high threat to armor and refused to allow the newly formed Iraqi Army to buy it, fearing that it would fall into the insurgents' hands.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.armytimes.com/legacy/new/0-ARMYPAPER-1722465.php |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719055905/http://www.armytimes.com/legacy/new/0-ARMYPAPER-1722465.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 July 2012 |work=ArmyTimes |title=Super RPG threat, Army passes on system that could defeat RPG-29, DoD officials say}}</ref>