[Lurker]

OK, I guess I'm really old. I never saw a tank that didn't have a telephone on the back.

Of course the ones I saw still could be fitted with Zippos. Most of them didn't work well, but we still had them.

L

[SandRat]

oooooOOOOO a ZIPPO Track!!!!

Most of the field telephones for the infantry went out when the Abrams was first introduced as it was supposed to SPEED across the battlefield and infantry walking just wasn't in the picture (bean counters at work again).

[USNBandit]

Hey, where's the flame thrower?

[endthematrix]

Here's a Marine Corps critique of the MIA1 back from 1989. It also lamented the lack of an infantry phone. Also of note it said that advancing infantry would have difficulty using the Abrams as cover due to the heat of the gas turbine exhaust from the rear.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1989/GKJ.htm

[Spktyr]

Telephone's been gone since the mid-life M60. The idea was that infantry would communicate via individual headset radio, but DoD never got around to getting that system deployed (a mistake, IMHO).