Posted on 11/02/2016 4:06:25 PM PDT by HogsBreath
The video that will chill the blood of every American tank crew: ISIS obliterates M1 Abrams tank with handheld Russian missile - showing just how vulnerable US armor is Clip shows Russian Kornet anti-tank guided missile home in on tank It hits the back of an Iraqi M1 Abrams tank which erupts into flames National security analyst says it shows US-made tanks are all but obsolete Incident makes an irrefutable case for the US Army to acquiring active protection systems, Dr Dan Goure says Turkey purchased 800 of the missiles in 2008 for $70m - delivery was completed before the current crisis in Syria That put the price for one missile at approximately $87,500 An American M1 Abrams tank is estimated to cost $5m per
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Worst POSSIBLE place it could have hit.
Great missile, but I’m not sure this video is completely representative of the average (and much more likely) hit type.
Similar results for the excellent Merkava:
More fatal hits than Israel predicted.
None to another main battle tank, they are like 2800-0.
Nothing made takes ATGM hits in the rear, but I’d bet the crew survived. All that flame is just fuel. Also, these are probably ones we left there...
Ironic that the Abrams A1 and the German Tiger tank have the same “weakness” The rear armor is weaker than the frontal and side armor and both tanks were vulnerable to rear attacks. Did the American and German designers make the same error? Actually no. The rear armor is designed to blow outward if the stored ammunition were suddenly to “cook off”. The force of the explosion would be directed away from the crew and they would be likely to survive the horrific explosion. An armor piercing device that would ignite within a tank who’s armor was equally strong throughout would almost certainly kill the entire crew.
Most of the Merkava losses were Mk2&3. The Mk4 lived up to its tough reputation.
My reading seems to indicate the Saudis have lost more than a couple Abrams Tanks at the hands of the Houthi. Kornets and perhaps the newer RPG-30 series.
The missile hit the lower rear turret, detonating the ammunition stored there. That's ammo propellent you see burning, not necessarily fuel. JP8 doesn't burn like that on it's own.
You can see the top ammo blow out panels flying away from the tank. If the interior blast doors held up, the turret crew may have survived. I'd suspect the driver did.
There are three fuel cells on the Abrams. Without saying where they are, only one is where you would think one would be.
The corkscrew flight path of the Kornet is unnerving.
The effectiveness of modern anti tank missiles and the proliferation of drones makes me question the future of tanks.
Maybe a smaller and less expensive unmanned “tank” could provide the same functionality without putting a crew at risk?
That’s supposed to blow that way though isn’t it?
The ammo propellent? Yeah, it is. Out the top and bottom of the compartment.
I’m pretty sure I saw this same attack video a few months ago. There was a fairly long “visual” of the crew preparing the missile for firing. This video “cut to the chase”.
All tanks are vulnerable in the ass end.
If the tank can be hit from the rear, you have to assume really poor tactics. It is VERY common for tanks to be vulnerable from the rear since the front is supposed to be toward the enemy, just like the friendly Claymore mine.
“All tanks are vulnerable in the ass end.”
Exactly. That’s why you have infantry.
5.56mm
All Abrams needs is a black diaper.
All ATGM`s are guided by reflected laser beams. A black cloth wrap-around beamstopper reflects close to 0% laser beams.
http://www.beamstopr.com/optional-safety-features.html
BEAMSTOP’R | LASER SAFETY PRODUCTS
Introduction | Laser Blocking Curtains | Laser Blocking Screens | Laser Cage Enclosures | Laser Safety Rooms
Laser Blocking Window Covers | Laser Enclosure Tent | Optional Safety Features
BEAMSTOP’R Laser Safety Barriers are constructed from a patented B-35 Laserguard fabric. The fabric is
black, has blackout capability, is flexible, flame retardant per NFPA 701, and it provides protection from
Class 3B (Class IIIb) and Class 4 (Class IV) lasers by confining stray laser plume, following ANSI Standards.
Pops was involved with legislative liaison back in the late 70’s early 80’s when this and the Bradley were being developed. I remember all the BS WaPo and other outlets stories on them. He’d driven them with congresscritters in TX, and he commented to me one morning “if the Russians believe all that crap and they come through the Fulda Gap, they are going to be in for a big f****** surprise...”
I watched a pretty good tank movie last night.
It’s titled WHITE TIGER.
It’s a Russian movie about WWII.
How do we know this wasn’t an abandoned vehicle, and this was staged? I mean, do you see the vehicle moving ...at all? Turret traversing? Exhaust smoke? Why were they just sitting there, skylined, with their arse pointed toward unsecured territory, waiting to get shot?
Not to mention, just because it’s American-made doesn’t mean it’s the same vehicle GI Joe would be riding in when he comes looking for someplace to stick his size-12 tanker’s boot.
Yeah, the missile flies pretty serpentine, but that’s characteristic of wire guidance (especially Sovietski wire guidance). TOWs and Dragons do the same thing, only less of it.
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