Something’ felled an M1A1 Abrams tank in Iraq – but what?
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Mystery behind Aug. 28 incident puzzles Army officials
By John Roos
Special to the Times
Shortly before dawn on Aug. 28, an M1A1 Abrams tank on routine patrol in Baghdad “was hit by something” that crippled the 69-ton behemoth.
Army officials still are puzzling over what that “something” was.
According to an unclassified Army report, the mystery projectile punched through the vehicle’s skirt and drilled a pencil-sized hole through the hull. The hole was so small that “my little finger will not go into it,” the report’s author noted.
The “something” continued into the crew compartment, where it passed through the gunner’s seatback, grazed the kidney area of the gunner’s flak jacket and finally came to rest after boring a hole 1½ to 2 inches deep in the hull on the far side of the tank.
As it passed through the interior, it hit enough critical components to knock the tank out of action. That made the tank one of only two Abrams disabled by enemy fire during the Iraq war and one of only a handful of “mobility kills” since they first rumbled onto the scene 20 years ago. The other Abrams knocked out this year in Iraq was hit by an RPG-7, a rocket-propelled grenade.
Experts believe whatever it is that knocked out the tank in August was not an RPG-7 but most likely something new — and that worries tank drivers.
To read more...click on the following link...
http://www.armytimes.com/print.php?f=1-292236-2336437.php -
this news is new to me
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Can someone tell me how the first Abrams was disabled by RPG in the war?
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It was hit in the lightly armoured underbelly when mounting a sand berm, punching a hole in the fuel tank and knocking the TIS primary sight out of alingment. The tank crew "jumped" tank and resumed the battle.
Typically, the Abrams shrugs off RPGs and most infantry small antitank HEAT watheads thrown at it.
It seems this newest projectile penetrated the Abrams from the side, but seems there was minimal spall damage and the like... prehaps it's one of the mythical malaysian 12.7mm AP antitank bullets?
My guess it however, it could just be a lucky shot. After all one 70 cent bullet from an AK-47 has been known to bring down multimillion dollar supersonic jets. -
haha... mythical malaysian 12.7mm AT round.... whatever it is, it must have quite awesome power to actually punch through that much of armour...
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maybe its chinese technology?
Russian? -
Modern man-portable AT rounds don't leave much of an external signature on their victim. I remember a TIME journalist describing in his article on his visit to the frontlines in Cambodia during the late 80s. He came across a Hun Sen regime T-55 knocked out by a Khmer Rouge Armbrust (described expressly as exported from Singapore).
He found no damage on the outside other than a small hole (no larger than a pencil) at the base of a turret. Yet on opening the hatch, everything (crew and equipment) was fried to a crisp. -
Heh, from the hit location described in the article, it seems whatever hit hit in a location that was largely devoid of chobham protection, boring through RHA steel to disable the tank. Armoured as they may be, it's impossible to completely protect the Abrams with chobham and there are areas where a HEAT warhead can be able to get through, if the shot is lucky enough.
Fortunately as we can see, this is not too common an occurance... -
hmm.....but heat would wont gaze the side of the soldier and just bore a hole....it'd have fried somethingOriginally posted by SingaporeTyrannosaur:Heh, from the hit location described in the article, it seems whatever hit hit in a location that was largely devoid of chobham protection, boring through RHA steel to disable the tank. Armoured as they may be, it's impossible to completely protect the Abrams with chobham and there are areas where a HEAT warhead can be able to get through, if the shot is lucky enough.
Fortunately as we can see, this is not too common an occurance... -
smacks of milan. The book "about face" describes the same findings of a tank killer weapon in kosovo.
But Milan can go thru clobham amour? -
Well, it looks like a HEAT round caused the damage...just a lucky(?) shot at the right place
http://www.strategypage.com/fyeo/howtomakewar/default.asp?target=HTARM.HTM -
sounds like a high intensity laser to me.....
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Originally posted by 21Alpha:Well, it looks like a HEAT round caused the damage...just a lucky(?) shot at the right place
http://www.strategypage.com/fyeo/howtomakewar/default.asp?target=HTARM.HTMOne major unknown is the large number of portable anti-tank weapons (especially Russian and Chinese models) that have not been tested against the M-1 tank. It's not unusual for new weapons to have unpredictable effects once they are first used in combat. Moreover, the thinner side and rear armor of the M-1 is known to be vulnerable to many portable anti-tank weapons. But until the army releases more information, if they have any, the mystery lingers.
interesting.. -
well, if it is laser, then it is a hell effective weapon.........no trace...........
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HEAT warheads consist of two primary effects: The blast of the focused explosion (explosive gas jet) and the following penetrator of molten metal from the liner.Originally posted by |-|05|:hmm.....but heat would wont gaze the side of the soldier and just bore a hole....it'd have fried something
In this case it appears all of the explosive gases had been dissapitated to a low enough level that only the penetrator entered the tank with minmal gas entry... hence the interior compartment took more damage from spall and frag then heat and overpressure.
If there is a full on HEAT penetration, the resulting overpressures will blow out the hatches and crush/burn everything inside. -
Laser?Originally posted by snk86:well, if it is laser, then it is a hell effective weapon.........no trace...........
How does laser fry anybody inside?
Recalling my anti-tank weapon lessons during old army days, the heat round when impact target first drills a small hole, closely behind that "drill" the explosive hot propellent follows to fry occupants inside target.
Could be this missle is the conventional type but modified to be tipped with small diamond or depleted unranium or something equivalent to defeat clobham.
If depleted uranium then ony few countries have. DPRK China, Russia and Iran mebbe iraq also.
If I remember correctly, an article from janes not quite recent had a few articles unvealed pictures about iranian anti-tank capability.
just my opnion. -
checkout what they say about the "nag" atgm
http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/MISSILES/Nag.html -
Could be a very lucky shot from an anti-material rifle. Saddam bought many exotic weapons, who's to say he didn't invest in amrs? Steyr and Denel were already producing these heavy calibre rifles since the late eighties; I won't discount the possibility that the Iraqis got them post-1991.
And there was the mercenary Gerald Bull... -
I know but i always thought the inside of a tank hit by a HEAT will be messed up.Some burn marks....coupled with alot of wires and stuff being thrown all over inside.i never expected a tiny hole.....with most things being normal apart frm the gazed BA of the crew and a tiny hole in the other side?Originally posted by SingaporeTyrannosaur:HEAT warheads consist of two primary effects: The blast of the focused explosion (explosive gas jet) and the following penetrator of molten metal from the liner.
In this case it appears all of the explosive gases had been dissapitated to a low enough level that only the penetrator entered the tank with minmal gas entry... hence the interior compartment took more damage from spall and frag then heat and overpressure.
If there is a full on HEAT penetration, the resulting overpressures will blow out the hatches and crush/burn everything inside. -
Energy, it's all about energy... if most of the warhead's energy was used up burrowing through to get inside the tank, the resultant inner effect will be very little. It's not simply about penetration, but about getting energy inside the tank.Originally posted by |-|05|:I know but i always thought the inside of a tank hit by a HEAT will be messed up.Some burn marks....coupled with alot of wires and stuff being thrown all over inside.i never expected a tiny hole.....with most things being normal apart frm the gazed BA of the crew and a tiny hole in the other side? -
M1A1 blown up my a mine? http://pub137.ezboard.com/ffighterplanesfrm9.showMessage?topicID=2297.topic
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Pictures here..
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Wah... looks like a very strange penetration indeed...
Golden RPG? Very lucky shot that hit the tank in a part not protected by chobham?