Posted on 06/07/2004 9:36:51 AM PDT by mark502inf
The M1A1 Abrams tank to which Pfc. Nicholaus E. Zimmer was assigned was designed with the purpose of preserving the lives of crew members.
But Zimmer was killed when the tank came under attack Sunday from rocket-propelled grenades, which should not have been able to penetrate the tank's armor.
Details of the attack and how Zimmer, of southern Delaware County, died were sketchy yesterday.
"We know it was RPGs and he was assigned to a tank, and the tank came under attack," said Cathy Gramling, a Defense Department spokeswoman.
"But we don't know the circumstances."
Zimmer could have been struck if his body had been exposed, Gramling said. He also could have been inside the tank and died from a "percussion" injury when the grenade round hit the tank.
Zimmer's family said they were told by the Army that Zimmer likely was inside the tank when it was struck and that two others were injured.
"The No. 1 goal in designing that tank in the 1970s was survivability of the crew," said George F. Hofmann, military historian at the University of Cincinnati.
Hofmann wouldn't speculate on what caused Zimmer's death. He said an RPG7, which is typically used by Iraqi insurgents, is unlikely to penetrate an Abrams.
"If there was a penetration, then the terrorists we are dealing with have introduced a much more powerful RPG," Hofmann said. "But I am just speculating."
The tank's armor is composed of depleted uranium, which has a density 2 1/2 times greater than steel.
"It is supposed to even be able to repel any type of round that comes from another tank," said Hofmann, who served as an Army instructor and cadre in the Special Training Regiment at the U.S. Armor Training Center in Fort Knox, Ky.
He said the tank is "compartmentalized."
"If a round by chance penetrates, you have compartments that protect other crew members."
Now you're back to minimum-range issues. It takes much more to accelerate a rocket projectile to Vmax. In essence, you're trading minimum range against recoil forces.
Depending on the location of the tank, and whether it was sitting or moving...you can certinly obtain 100m LOS. ie. park one at an intersection.
LOS, of and by itself, isn't difficult.
LOS from a position of concealment (which is kind of necessary to survive firing): rather more difficult.
Our enemy doesn't care about survival after firing.
One tanker dead? Good enough.
They'ed would have preferred to get a news camera in place ahead of time to catch the firing on tape though.
At one point, they didn't.
Now, they do.
They're learning that there are fewer and fewer shaheen and fedayeen waiting in the wings after they martyr themselves.
Insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan routinely fire RPG's at high elevation angles so that they come down and explode like mortar rounds. By luck or by design, the 4.5 second timer on the RPG round kicks off just as gravity has pulled the round back down to Earth when fired thusly.
As to your last point, when you are deling with these Islamofascict Jihadists...that point is not as relevant. Their concern about surviving the engagement is not a given at all, therefore they only need to get the shot off.
Exactly.
The propellant's specific impulse and the projectile mass determine the MINIMUM range. Inside that range, the projectile will not penetrate--it's still traveling too slowly.
Rocket-boosted KE rounds have min-ranges more suited to fighting in open terrain than in urban warfare.
As to your last point, when you are deling with these Islamofascict Jihadists...that point is not as relevant. Their concern about surviving the engagement is not a given at all, therefore they only need to get the shot off.
Last month: true. This month: not-so-true.
It could be a variant of the RPG-7/14 with one of the new tandem top attack warheads. I believe this is why they created the armored vents for the M-1s engine last year as they were vulnerable to top attack warheads. This is the new trend for the rest of the world(we've been using TA warheads for awhile), so hopefully the U.S. Army will come up with a countermeasure.
If indeed and RPG-7 did it, it was probably something like this and I doubt they were being lobbed like a mortar round...probably direct fire from a location on a roof or some structure.
As to Jihadists being willing to commit suicide by Abrams...in Iraq, amongst Iraqis, the number has never been too high...it's the outsiders I believe, and we are reducing their numbers. conaiderably..but until we pacify the entire Mid East, including Palestine...they will keep finding those who will do so...ergo, there will be those for whom cover is not critial except to conceal them until they pop out and shoot.
Nope...that's an add-on. I do hear they offer the neat wrist watches as a free incentive though.
Which is a relative term to a main gun round, which is at Vmax when it leaves the muzzle.
Again, the ranges I've seen quoted on rocket-propelled KE rounds relegates them to the vanishing open battlefield.
If we have them opertional (and we do) then it is a safe bet with this type of technology that our adversaries are close...although probably not giving it to the Islamos yet. For most of the discussion you were focused on the wrong munition (30mm DU), and arguing, proving, foot-in-mouthing, regarding that as opposed to speaking to the technology I was discussing.
In addition, contrary to what you said earlier, the Kornet has plenty of minimum range capability to be a threat in the urban environment...100M. It has been reported that the Iraqis had some of these missiles and we have lost some tanks. They are a possibility.
The RPG-7, as you stated, is also a good possibility...and I have not discounted that or denied it. Particularly with the TA rounds.
'nuff said...time to stop beating a dead horse...at this point I'll just wait for the official report. Just refer back to this clause/paragraph for any further discussion on these points.
Try again. The figures I've seen on LOSAT (which is the best-of-breed in RPHVKEAP) are in the 500m+ range.
I say to the parents and loved ones of our WARRIORS TODAY, if you think you or THEY have it bad, think OMAHA BEACH on D-Day 1944.
As to...
500m+ range
IRMC for MER.
The Special Training Regiment is for special needs 1812's who used to ride the short bus to school.
ping
Read it, still not sure myself what to make of it.
Might have been a Kornet missile, or a newer RPG, or maybe someone is testing weaponry on our boys out there.
Railguns can be built, and the 'something' that breached the other tank might have been one of those deals, but this one is different, sounds like a missile of one type or another.
The guy in the photo looks more likely to be commanding a bar stool rather than an advanced weapon.
Perhaps so...but if he knows how to operate that weapon and fire it at the right moment...he can sure enough kill you. Best not to underestimate them.
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