Northrop Grumman has been awarded a five-year contract by the U.S. Army to produce the M1147 Advanced Multi-Purpose (AMP) 120mm tank ammunition round. AMP is designed to replace four legacy 120mm munitions currently in service with M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks.

What the AMP round is designed to do

The round weighs around 61 lbs (27.68 kg) and has a length of 919 mm. It houses a multipurpose high-explosive warhead containing tungsten spheres. The warhead provides blast, armor penetration, and fragmentation effects for defeating adversarial anti-tank guided missile teams, light armor, bunkers, massed infantry, and obstacles.

It can engage ATGM teams at ranges of 50 meters to 2,000 meters, and can defeat light armor targets to a maximum range of 2,000 meters. It is also highly effective in breaching Double Reinforced Concrete Walls up to 8 inches (20.3 cm) thick when fired from distances of 50 to 200 meters. 

AMP was formally designated as XM1147. It consolidates the roles of several existing 120mm rounds — including the M830A1 anti-personnel/anti-materiel round, the M1028 canister round, the M908 obstacle reduction round, and the M830 anti-tank round — into a single programmable munition. This consolidation reduces the logistical burden on crews who currently must carry and manage multiple round types for different engagement scenarios.

The round uses a multi-mode fuze with three selectable settings: point detonating, point detonating delay, and air burst. Air burst mode in particular extends the round’s utility against personnel (ATGM teams) in defilade or light structures, where a contact detonation would be less effective. The programmable fuze is set via a data link as the round is chambered.

Dave Fine, vice president, armament systems, Northrop Grumman said “with its enhanced functionality, the M1147 AMP meets the Army’s needs for efficiency and readiness, while enhancing the lethality of the Abrams Main Battle Tank. This capability enables unmatched mission flexibility by empowering forces to adapt instantly to any threat.”

The round went into full-rate production in 2024. It will complement the M829 series of armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot rounds used against heavy armor.

Production and industrial context

Northrop Grumman’s armaments systems division, operates production facilities in Plymouth, Minnesota, it has been involved in developing the AMP round through engineering and manufacturing phases. A multi-year contract structure, rather than annual procurement, generally allows for more stable production rates and can reduce per-unit costs through longer-horizon supply chain planning.

This contract will meet the needs of the US Army as well as international operators of the Abrams main battle tank. The AMP contract represents one piece of a wider effort to upgrade the lethality and crew effectiveness of the M1A2 Abrams main battle tank for countering near-peer threats.

The M1147 is part of the U.S. Army’s broader push to simplify ammunition inventories while increasing battlefield flexibility. By replacing four specialized rounds with a single programmable munition, Abrams crews can respond more quickly to changing combat conditions without switching ammunition types. The approach also streamlines logistics, reduces storage requirements, and supports sustained operations in high-intensity conflicts where rapid target engagement is critical.

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