wbt@cbema.att.com (William B Thacker) (04/12/91)
From: wbt@cbema.att.com (William B Thacker) In article <1991Apr12.055056.13916@amd.com> Tony_Buckland@mtsg.ubc.ca writes: >4) A civilian observer like me can be surprised at the amount of stuff >attached to the outside of tanks. I guess some of it is reactive >armor. What are the tubes that look like truncated mortars for? I presume you're talking about the smoke grenade dischargers. They're mounted in groups at the forward sides of the turret, and set up so that when fired, they create a quick smokescreen in front of the tank. The first use I'm aware of was by the Germans in WWII, who employed it quite widely. >Do tankers, like infantrymen, tend to work on the principle of taking >anything along that could be useful, if it can be carried, and if so do >they just tie it on outside? Yes. Space inside a tank is very limited... the more volume you enclose, the heavier the armor has to be to cover it all, and the bigger of a target you are. So non-essential stuff gets strapped to the outside. This includes storage boxes for the crew's personal gear, tools, some spare parts, tarps and camo netting, tow cables... and many Soviet designs carry spare fuel tanks outside the armor. For an extreme, find some pictures of WWII tanks. In addition to the sort of stuff I list above, you'll frequently see field-improvised armor enhancements. Spare tracks were favored for this; many German tanks had a bracked allowing a length of spare track to be carried flush with the front lower hull plate, effectively adding armor while carrying a useful spare part. Spare tracks were often carried in other strategic spots, as well. American tankers often would strap boards or sandbags over their vehicles; I've seen one picture where concrete was cast over much of the front face of an assault gun. -- Bill Thacker AT&T Network Systems - Columbus wbt@cbnews.att.com