US Marine M1 with retracted armor plough advancing thru Iraqi earthen fortifications. Tank commander and gunner perched on roof hatches, black chevrons and dots are unit markings, camouflage netting draped on side rack. US Marines M1 tanks - www.marinecorps.com/tools/land/m1

Rollover : M1 with armor plough at beach landing exercise, note reflective waves in background, distant ships on left side. Barrel evacuator section wrapped in black to prevent water seepage.

Current military research is analyzing use of powerful magnets as part of tank defenses to fuse or melt incoming enemy artillery. These magnets would be encased in Smart Armor plates : armor with built-in sensors to detect incoming rounds and auto-project streams of electromagnetic pulses. Via this solution, heavy armor plating would not be required, thus significantly reducing its tonnage for aerial transport, while preserving its firepower and protection. M1A1 / M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank, USA - www.army-technology.com/projects/abrams/index.html

Smart Armor would be built in sandwich-format with polymer plastics, fiber optics, and metal coils. Since enemy missiles or shells can travel up to 5 times the speed of sound (circa 3,000 mph), mechanical defenses could not react fast enough. Tomorrow's Smart Tank Munitions - www.knox.army.mil/center/ocoa/ArmorMag/ma95/2smartmunitions95.pdf

This magnetic defense system would entail the following: 1) Enemy round impacts against tank and severs fiber optic cables, 2) In the split-second before shell detonation, severed cables activate electrical capacitors, 3) Capacitors project energy via metal coils, 4) Metal coils project electromagnetic field inside the armor and instantaneously envelope the tank, 5) Copper material inside enemy warhead are destabilized by this field, 6) Instability would prevent warhead from forming a shaped charge (concentrated blast funnel), thereby dissipating explosive concussion in all directions. In theory, ordnance would still hit the tank, but its lethal impact would be greatly reduced. Some have called this the Star Trek tank shield. Magnetic defense is currently being test for anti-magnetic mine defense. A more high-tech and vastly expensive variant of magnetic defense is 1980s US Strategic Defense Initiative. On-Board Anti-Magnetic Mine Actuating System - www.defense-update.com/products/o/obammas.htm

• Strategic Defense Initiative - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Defense_Initiative

Russians have already developed high-tech tank defense by mounting miniature radar systems coupled with tube-fired missiles. Its radar continuously scans the surroundings, upon detection of incoming ordnance, a missile is auto-fired and detonates a short distance from the tank. Explosion expels a wall of metal bearings and fragments, the enemy ordnance would prematurely denote on this debris before reaching the tank.

During the Balkan deployment of late-1990s, US Clinton Administration attempted a transformation of armor personnel. One exercise was to dismount from their vehicles and walk the neighborhood to form closer relationships with local populations. In was an attempt to alter the military mindset from one of combat to peace-keeping police action. This met resistance from US military culture, for military and police concepts are incompatible. Military personnel are trained to run-and-gun and shoot to kill. Police personnel are trained to fire on last resort and preserve public safety. Presidency of Bill Clinton - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_Administration

Note : Almost 100 US servicemen died during the 4 months buildup in Fall 1990, from desert traffic accidents, transport plane crash in Germany, and drowning at Tel Aviv harbor in Israeli. These deaths were integrated into overall Gulf War casualty figures.