Anti-Tank Mines Destroy M1A1 in Iraq - Photos

StrategyPage.com ^ | 8 Nov 03 | StrategyPage.com

[11B3]

I hadn't seen these posted, and I hadn't even heard about this incident until finding these photos. In Iraq, a US 4th Infantry Division tank was destroyed (and two of the four man crew killed) when they rolled over three anti-tank mines, buried in the road, one on top of another. It sounds to me just like the method the Palis used to knock out a Merkava - so either the Palis have come to Iraq, or they have trained someone who is there.

These photos are a little hard to look at, but unfortunately it needs to be done. I can only hope that the two KIA died instantly, and that the other two crewmen will recover fully. (Plus I hope that the rest of the company/platoon gets some payback.) Anyway, here's the photos.

Turret upside down, some distance from the hull.

The remains of the hull.

More detail of the hull.

Yes, that looks like a kevlar helmet.

Turret being recovered.

[11B3]

Seeing these photos makes me more than a little angry. There has to be a way to get the locals to give more assistance in avoiding these traps. Being 'nice' hasn't done it, maybe it's time for a rerun of the old 'Shock and Awe" again - but this time with MOABs.

[mikegi]

How did ANYONE survive that explosion??? I hate to think of the injuries of the survivors...

[timpad]

My thoughts also. I'm surprised anyone but the driver even had a chance. Looks like it detonated just forward of the gunner's station.

Prayers for the brave crew and their families, and God bless those who march on.

[toddst]

There has to be a way to get the locals to give more assistance in avoiding these traps.

Thanks for posting these photos. Actually, I believe we are seeing a great deal of cooperation from Iraqi's throughout their country - other than in Sadam's "hometown" area. Obviously some terrorist and Sadam loyalist types are still causing problems but IMO theirs is near to being a "short, exciting life."

Ongoing support and prayers for our brave troops fighting the terrorist threat in Iraq rather than on American soil.

[A Simple Soldier]

Three Kill Rings on the bore evacuator.

[John H K]

It sounds to me just like the method the Palis used to knock out a Merkava - so either the Palis have come to Iraq, or they have trained someone who is there.

The concept of the anti-tank mine is neither new or unique.

[A Simple Soldier]

Actually, this incident was caused by a modified 155mm artillery round with additional explosives placed around it to serve as a booster.

Common boobytrap in Vietnam. Used in the Intifada with some success.

[ChadGore]

*WHEN* were these pictures taken ?

[Mr.Atos]

They get better at what they do! We get better at what we do! We learn extremely fast and very well when the motivation exists. And these new fascists gave us an image burned into the mind and nearly three thousand motivations.

Unfortunately these images will keep coming, because that is the real weapon our enemy is deploying. They cannot and do not hope to win tit-for-tat and tank for carbomb. If that were the case then we could sit back and simply play this game for two years and let the enemy make cannon fodder of an entire generation of maniacal adolescents. Problem solved! Our weapon is patience. Attrition is our friend, not theirs. The enemy's networks are exposed, their funding is being cut off, the leaders killed, their parent nations facing world pressure. They are running out of weapons almost as fast as they are running out of men (as they begin to use woman and children). Meantime, our Men and our Weapons get better. Sympathizers cheer when the fascist knock out one tank or shoot down a chopper. We are saddened at a single loss, and the pictures touch us deeply because, unlike our enemy, we are Men... we are Human. And we are so much stronger. Our resources are limitless, our power infinite and our resolve is concrete. We can wait with the patience of a thousand cows staring at the highway, if only to watch the extinction of our enemy at hand.

The enemy will never amount to anything more than maggots on a rock. Scrape'em off.

[joesnuffy]

Just the kind of thing you learn in muslim summer camp...
glad we are letting them build all they want
right her at home...

[11B3]

Stacking anti-tank mines in a manner to get the shaped charges to act as amplifiers isn't something you get out of this article - or the Anarchist's Cookbook either for that matter. If you look at the sand that they were placed in, that soft material doesn't like to transmit shock waves very well - so it took some expertise. So in that sense, it is 'new or unique' John.

Abrams have rolled over lots of anti-tank mines since their inception, especially in Iraq the first time around. This is the first one to be destroyed by them. Yes, they've been disabled in the past, but not destroyed.

As for when the photos were taken, Strategy Page.com's discussion page on this stated that they were taken on the 8th of this month.

[11B3]

Your analysis is correct - 100%.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Two Gi's Killed When Tank Attacked in Iraq

Wednesday October 29, 2003

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Treadhead Ping

[VOA]

bump

[AmericanInTokyo]

These photos, while generating extreme anger and sadness, eerily seem to me like a cross of photos from Pearl Harbour and from the surface of Mars. We better win it, and our country better get the collective balls and united national psyche together to support the guys there (as it is clear our enemy is engaged in sophisticated psy war to wear impatient, short-term, big victory-minded Americans down), otherwise I fear another loss which USA history and prestige cannot well afford.

"Wars are generally won or lost based on public opinion." -- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

[John H K]

If the VC were doing it in Nam, it's not very new, or unique, is it?

[archy]

Stacking anti-tank mines in a manner to get the shaped charges to act as amplifiers isn't something you get out of this article - or the Anarchist's Cookbook either for that matter. If you look at the sand that they were placed in, that soft material doesn't like to transmit shock waves very well - so it took some expertise. So in that sense, it is 'new or unique' John.

So is the use of a delay fuze with the 13-pound charge Soviet TM46 AT mine so as to detonate the mine/s when the center of the hull or powerpack with fuel tanks receives the full effect of the blast instead of the driver's compartment. Apparantly, the new delay fuzes, also meant as a countermeasure to chain flail or weighted roller mine clearance tools, work as advertised. And if a derivitive of the MVSh-46 tilt rod fuze was used, the vehicle's tracks don't even need to have passed over the mine/s themselves; contact with any of the bottom of the vehicle's hull would do.

Anyone care to guess on how far that blast would have thrown a Stryker and what would have happened to the 11 soldiers inside?

Well, somebody just made an easy thousand dollars....

[Lazamataz]

Well said.