I saw this video tonight of a tank crew bloody and barely able to climb out of the tank, one guy had to be helped out. But the tank was still working and all I could see is a small fire on the turret stowage, but the crew was really banged up. I was wondering what could do this. In other words, what can pierce the armor but not destroy the tank?
oh, the video was in falluja 03.
I always thought that almost everything these days either killed it completely or just bounced off. Man was I wrong!
Not much can actually kill an M1. Large IEDs have done so. An RPG to the rear can dissable it pretty badly. A mystery shot a while back actually hit in a once in a million shot that went up under the side skirt, through the hull and burried itself below the loader. It is still unclear what did it. Luckily, the crew was only shaken on that one with the loader’s vest being creased by the mystery round. They are tough, but not indestructable. I believe the number disabled is around 80 so far and about 10%, or 8 being totally destroyed beyond repair.
An A10 could do that to a M1
Anti-tanks weapons like Hellfire and TOW (and their counterparts all over the world) should be able to take out an M1.
Other main battle tanks of the same generation ( such a Challenger 2, Leopard 2A6 and Lecler) should also be able to take out an M1
Helfire or TOW maybe, not likely. Other 120mm tanks, no. A disabled M1A1 was fired upon by another 3 times to attempt to destroy it. No significant damage. It had to be destroyed by aircraft with 1000 lb bombs.
Eryx?
Doubtful. It is even smaller than a TOW. Looks equivelant to a Jevelin, or M47 Dragon. Neither can even puncture the hull, let alone destroy an M1.
Back to the original question. The crew may have been injured by the shock and banged around inside the turret as well. Likewise, if the hatches were open, flame and debris from the impact could have entered the turret that way as well. Lots of variables.
It is still unclear what did it
Consenscus is an RPG-7VL. Basically updated plain, old-fashioned RPG-7 that got rather lucky. Part of the problem was that too many people were believing their own propoganda that the M1 was all but invincible and didn’t think an archaic weapon like that could punch through. (Not that it did much when it did).
From the sides, rear, pretty much anything will mission-kill an Abrams. Frontal aspect is another aspect, though we did have a tank disabled by a front-aspect (i.e. front 90 degrees) shot that still got into the engine compartment. Minor damage, after the fight was over, they thew out the burning air filters, restarted the tank, and drove home anyway.
Looks equivelant to a Jevelin,
In open terrain, Javelin will quite probably ‘own’ an M1. Abrams is sadly deficient in roof armour, and Javelin attacks from the top, not the side. (Which is a similar happenstance to the event in the very initial post, which was an RPG from an upper aspect)
NTM
in the first war in a Blue on Blue a A10 fired on a M1 with its gatling gun, one of its DU rounds went through the drivers station missing the driver, it was on the news at the time
its good news to see our armys have great protection
The thing to remember here is this:
First, the obvious, there are many weapons available to our adversaries that will “mission kill” the Abrams. When I worked at General Dynamics, we didn’t sell the concept of the tank being impervious to destruction.
But, what we did take pride in was the fact that no matter what the threat, there is over a 90% chance that the crew will walk away to fight again. The equipment is secondary. The trained crew survivability was the emphasis. Both to maintain the integrity of our armored forces, and maintain moral with the men who fight the tank in battle.
Steve
Concur, on the Javelin vs. M1. I meant in size and weight, not same capabilities. Also meant for the Javelin being used in a direct shot to the hull/turret side, not in the overhead, top-down mode. Eryx is an optically guided direct fire system, it is not top-down capable.
I dont want to upset my american comrades in arms, but of course a Leo II can knock out an M1, cause in opposite way you would have the same result. And for me as an ex-medic the result is always the same.
greetz
Thomas, now down in the Balkans
Sorry, but the Leo II has the same 120mm gun as the M1A1. As posted above, another M1A1 can not take it out, therefore your Leo 2 can’t either. Thanks for trying to stir the pot with “my tank is better than yours” though.
Wow, listening to you guys, it’s like there is a one in a million chance that anything out there that anyone has can disable an M1.
Still, considering the last few armed conflicts, there hasn’t been anything remotely equivalent to the M1 that it’s had to face (tank to tank). Would be interesting to find out who’s the top dog though.
If properly handled, a T-55 can take out an M1.
The trick is to not hit it on the main armour. Good flank shot ought to do nicely.
NTM
take out an M1 hmmmm 1 word MAVERICK would be my consensus or its other nationality equivelants
OK Please note the M1 series is not hard to knock out… Like the panther tank do not engage from the front, end of discussion. The turret armor is about 3 foot thick from the front. Easy to figure out by looking at the weld lines. I am not sure how thick the front hull armor is but with the angle of the front glasious plate, it to would be very thick. This does not include the benifits from the special armors used. However, from the sides the crew compartment is about 6 inches thick and the roof is maybe an inch thick. The ammo compartment sides are, I’m trying to remember but I think about 1/2 inch to an inch. So most modern anti tank weapons would work from the flank or rear. The crew compartment does have a fire supression system which helps survivability. Again however the fire supression system does not protect the crew from the schrapnal effects of a KE round from the flank or rear. As demonstraited mines can over power the bottom hull armor with devistating effects. Greg
Gino, would that be true at really close ranges, those well below normal combat ranges? The type of scenario I’m thinking about would be like the street fighting in WWII whereby a Sherman might turn down a street an be facing the rear end of a Tiger at 50 yards. In such cases, a Sherman could gain an easy kill in spite of its normal gross inferiority to the Tiger in tank vs. tank combat.
Andy
I wager a 125mm guided Anti-tank missile from a T-90S would wipe the thing out.