I never saw anything incoming it just suddenly blew up. And who was the guy that ran away from near it later? I didn’t get that either, maybe there was an accident inside the tank and a shell exploded.
Another thing I don’t get is - where the heck was the supporting infantry?
Yep...it almost looks like a main gun round cooked off in the tube with the breech open, and the rest of the ammo in turret storage went up.
Here’s a frame by frame video. Looks like an external projectile ruined the tank’s day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKbfuwMc66E
Also, looks like the dude who ran away from it was crew that got blown out of the turret, which does happen occasionally.
The lack of people and activity around the tanks makes me wonder if they were abandoned after they ran out of diesel and then blown up by the rebels.
“I never saw anything incoming it just suddenly blew up. And who was the guy that ran away from near it later? I didn’t get that either, maybe there was an accident inside the tank and a shell exploded.”
There was a slight “woosh” of an incoming missile. It apparently hit the side of the tank dead center of the video screen. This means the camerawork and the missile were coordinated. I’m not familiar with that model tank, but perhaps there is an escape hatch. If the crewman was in the tank when it was hit he was badly burned. I’d guess what appears to be a sweater is actually burned flesh.
Tanks are not used in the Middle East the way they are used by the west. In the west you’d never send in a tank without infantry to protect it. In the ME tanks are mobile pill boxes primarily used in crowd control. Tactical thinking does not appear to be a strong point.
When Israel last went into Lebanon they lost a classified number of Murkava tanks. Every other Arab had a $10,000 Iranian supplied, wire-guided anti-tank missile. I read where the Israelis plan on taking all 1500 Murkava’s out of service as soon as they’re replaced. The replacement looks to be an RPV about the size of an old VW Beetle.
The US Army’s persistent attempts to rid itself of the Abrams and the Israeli decision indicate that the era of the MBT is drawing to a close. General Dynamics and their minions in the Senate have succeeded in gaining contracts and funding to keep Lima, Oh. (the tank facility) open and working to provide Egypt and others with tanks. All tanks, no matter how heavy, are vulnerable from the rear. The armor is focused for attack. If you retreat you run the tank backwards. But that presupposes a battle line where the enemy is in front of you; not above in an RPV or behind dressed as a civilian but with a wire-guided missile.