The Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) is the Army's primary armored force. It is designed around combined arms battalions (CABs) that contain both
M1 Abrams tanks and
M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs). Other vehicles, such as
HMMWVs and
M113 armored personnel carrier, operate in a supporting role. In the future, it will also contain vehicles from the
Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle and likely the
Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) programs. An Armored Brigade Combat Team consists of seven battalions: three combined arms battalions,
one cavalry (reconnaissance) squadron, one artillery battalion, one engineer battalion and one
brigade support battalion. As of 2014, the Armored Brigade Combat Team is the largest Brigade Combat Team formation with 4,743 soldiers. Prior to 2012, the Armored Brigade Combat Team was named the heavy Brigade Combat Team. The operational cost for these combat systems is $66,735 per mile. The range of the Abrams limits the brigade to 330 km (205 miles), requiring fuel every 12 hours. The brigade can self-transport 738,100 L (195,000 gallons) of fuel, which is transported by 15 19,000 L (5,000 gal) M969A1 tankers and 48 9,500 L (2,500 gal)
M978 tankers. Prior to 2016, the CAB contained two tank companies and two mechanized infantry companies. In 2016, the CAB was reorganized to have two variations: an "armored battalion" biased towards armor, with two tank companies and one mechanized infantry company; and a "mechanized infantry" battalion biased towards infantry, with two mechanized infantry companies and one tank company. The ABCTs thus adopted a "triangle" structure of two armored battalions and one mechanized infantry battalion. This resulted in an overall reduction of two mechanized infantry companies; the deleted armored company was reflagged to the cavalry squadron. In 2021 the US Army announced its Waypoint 2028 program which saw the force begin to shift its doctrinal and organizational focus towards what it called Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCO). The shift away from counter insurgency and to combat with a near peer threat meant a shift away from an organization focused on Brigade Combat Teams and back to one focused on the division echelon and above. Armored Brigade Combat Teams received some of the most sweeping changes to their organization as their parent divisions were reorganized to be the central component in any attack. In January 2022 the Army would rebrand from Waypoint 2028 to Army 2030 which would bring about refinements to the proposed organizational and doctrinal changes. In April 2023 the Army would release its newly formed divisional templates and BCT organizations. The new Armored Brigade Combat Teams would retain their three maneuver battalions in the post-2016 structure of two armor-heavy battalions and one infantry-heavy battalion. Armored brigades will lose their own organic cavalry squadron which will be passed up to the divisional level in a new cavalry regiment. In lieu of this brigade headquarters will receive a 6 Bradley recon platoon. Armored brigades will also have their organic artillery shifted up to the divisional level so that they can be more effective concentrated across the entire engagement front. Finally the organic engineering battalion will be shifted up to a division level engineering brigade so that it too can be more effectively concentrated to the main effort brigade when needed.
Post-2023 organizational restructure for combined armor/infantry assets Armored battalion (×2) • Headquarters and Headquarters Company •
Tank Company (×2) •
Mechanized Infantry Company
Mechanized infantry battalion • Headquarters and Headquarters Company •
Tank Company •
Mechanized Infantry Company (×2)
Cavalry squadron • Headquarters and Headquarters Troop •
Tank Troop (×1) •
Cavalry Troop (x3)
Field artillery battalion • Headquarters and headquarters battery •
Target acquisition platoon •
M109A7 Paladin 155 mm self propelled howitzer battery (×3)
Brigade engineer battalion • Headquarters and headquarters company •
Combat engineer company • Engineer support company •
Signal company •
Military intelligence company
Brigade Support Battalion • Headquarters and headquarters company • Distribution company • Field maintenance company • Medical company • Headquarters platoon • Treatment platoon •
Medical evacuation platoon • Forward support company (
cavalry) • Forward support company (
engineer) • Forward support company (
Field Artillery) • Forward support company (
Combined Arms) (×3) == Mobile Brigade Combat Team ==