M88 recovery vehicle

Design The M60 tank, produced from 1959, was heavier than the existing M74 armored recovery vehicle was able to retrieve. The design of a new ARV was based on the chassis and parts of the automotive component of the M48 Patton and M60 tanks. The original M88 was introduced in 1961, M88A1 in 1977, and the current M88A2 introduced in 1997. Role The M88's primary role is to repair or replace damaged parts in fighting vehicles while under fire, as well as extricate vehicles that have become bogged down or entangled. The main winch on the M88A2 is capable of a 70-ton, single line recovery, and a 140-ton 2:1 recovery when used with the 140 ton pulley. The A-frame boom of the A2 can lift 35 tons when used in conjunction with the spade down. The spade can be used for light earth moving, and can be used to anchor the vehicle when using the main winch. The M88 employs an Auxiliary power unit (APU) to provide auxiliary electrical and hydraulic power when the main engine is not in operation. It can be used to slave-start other vehicles, provide power for the hydraulic impact wrench, as well as a means to refuel or de-fuel vehicles as required. The M88 series of vehicles can refuel M1 tanks from its own fuel tanks, but this is a last resort due to the possibility of clogging the AGT-1500's fuel filters. The fuel pump draws fuel from the bottom of the fuel cell, and with it, all of the sediment that has accumulated with time. ==Variants==

• M88 – 1961 • M88A1 – 1977 • M88A2 HERCULES – 1991 • M88A3 HERCULES – future All variants have a 12.7 mm, M2 Browning (.50 caliber machine gun), 432 mm ground clearance, 2.6 m fording depth, 1.1 m wall climb and 2.6 m trench crossing capabilities. There has been no major deviation in battlefield role through the M88 series. The later models are merely able to lift heavier loads. The M88A1 was designed around the now obsolete M60 Patton tanks, so it was in light of the fact that two M88A1s were required to tow the new M1 Abrams tank that the decision was made to upgrade to the M88A2 in 1991. The M88A1 was powered by the Continental AVDS-1790-2DR Diesel engine and had a Diesel APU. The upgrades include a modernized powertrain that boosts horsepower and torque, a seventh road wheel for enhanced stability, and hydro-pneumatic suspension units that improve cross-country mobility and recovery operations. By increasing the towing capacity from to , it eliminates the need for two vehicles for raising and moving the newer, heavier M1 Abrams tanks, effectively bridging the single-vehicle recovery gap. File:Aau m88.jpg|In Operation Iraqi Freedom, the M88 saw great use lifting and placing heavy concrete barriers during combat engineering missions. File:Commander Having Fun.jpg|M88 recovery vehicle at recovery range in Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, 2015 File:M88 pulling M1 engine.jpg|U.S. Marines use an M88A1 to load a Honeywell AGT1500 gas turbine engine back into an M1A1 Abrams at Camp Coyote, Kuwait, February 2003. File:Aau m88 2.jpg|A U.S. M88A1 out on a mission in March 2007, during the Iraq War File:M88 Track Recovery Vehicle.jpg|A U.S. Army M88A2 Hercules at a facility in Fort Polk, Louisiana, June 2006 ==Criticism==

, California. During the Gulf War, the U.S. Army recognized the M88A1's insufficient power, weight, mobility, and hoist-winch capabilities, making it unable to effectively recover M1 Abrams. The M88A1's speed, when towing an Abrams, could not exceed . Even at this speed, M88A1s often suffered from engine or transmission problems. The U.S. Army had already identified these problems and searched for an improvement vehicle as early as 1981. One of the main issues afflicting the M88A2 is a high rate of winch failures. The leading cause of these failures is operation of the winch without tension on the cable. This leads to "birdnesting" loose wrapping and bunching up of the cable. There is also concern with loss of traction when an M88A2 tows a heavy M1 Abrams on a slope in wet, muddy conditions. The M88A2 was extensively tested at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and in August 1998, was officially approved for the towing of 70-ton combat vehicles such as the M1 Abrams. ==Combat history==

About 8 M88s were sent to Ukraine during Russo-Ukrainian War as a part of a US aid package. They were used extensively in the 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive. According to Oryx, at least 2 M88A1s were destroyed by Russian troops, while another one was captured, and 2 M88A2s were abandoned. ==Operators==

Current operators • : 13× M88A2 in service with the Australian Army. Another 6 ordered. • : 10× M88A1 still in service with the Austrian Armed Forces. • : 17x M88A1 in service with the Brazilian Army • : 221× M88A1 + 87× M88A2 in service with the Egyptian Army. • : 25× M88A1 in service with the Israeli Army. • : 8× M88A1 in service with the Portuguese Army. • : 1× M88A1 in service with the Spanish Navy Marines. • : 22× M88A1 + 6 M88A2 in service with the Royal Thai Army. • • United States Army: 360 M88A1; 933 M88A2 (estimated 1000 more M88A1 in storage) as of January 2025 • United States Marine Corps: total 69 procured. As of 2020, the USMC is divesting the M88 as part of Force Design 2030. • : 8x are in use by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, procured as part of a military aid package from the United States. Former operators • / : 125× M88A1 (local designation: Bergepanzer 1) in service from 1962 to 2000 with the German Army, • • Republic of Sudan (1985–2019) Future operators • : 4xM88A2 will be received alongside the M1A2R tanks ==See also==