Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: sun!Central!uokmax!jkmedcal@uunet.UU.NET (Jeff K Medcalf) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: MBT Tank Turrets - (question) Message-ID: <7481@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 15 Jun 89 03:53:33 GMT References: <7405@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: No, it isn't really. Lines: 52 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Jeff K Medcalf >From: cindi%bucsb.BU.EDU@bu-it.bu.edu (Cynthia Fong) > >[MBT's for '90's] have their gun turrets located in the middle of the >hull; that is between the driver and the tank power-pack. This has always >puzzled me as one would think the more logical location for the turret would >be at the back of the tank, behind the driver and it's power-pack (a-la >Israeli Merkava). In an almost purely defensive tank, such as the Merkava, mobility is sacrificed for armor and firepower. Putting the engine at the front both protects it when the tank is hull-down, and since the engine is less important than in a tank designed for mobility, means less detriment if the engine is disabled. However, a hit on the armor over the engine can disable the engine. Fuel lines may rupture under the impact shock, seals can be breached, the engine can vibrate off of its mounting. In fact, Soviet-made tanks in the desert wars had a tendency to explode when the hull was hit near the fuel tanks because the fuel would sometimes leak onto the hot engine... When you count mobility into suvivability, as the Germans especially do, then losing the engine means losing a great deal of your ability to survive. So you protect the engine. Also, the engine-in-back scheme has the advantage of making internal arrangements more comfortable. With the engine in front, spare ammo is almost literally under foot unless specially designed racks are used, which cut down on internal space (as opposed to many tanks having bins for ammo not stored in the turret). > b) Fast evacuation for the crew in case of emergencies through the back > exit, an option not available for the "middle turret" tank crews. > This, I'm sure saves a lot of lives as a lot of tank crews were > killed whilst exiting through top hatches in face of enemy fire. > (of course this assuming that it is knocked out) A bottom hatch solves this problem. > a) Reduced tank gun depression. Although this could be overcome by digging Merkava in, facing away from the enemy, so that the gun, rotated aft, has full depression, but the tank can sprint (well, as much as a Merkava can) away without first reversing. -- I dream I'm safe jkmedcal@uokmax.UUCP In my hotel womb Jeff Medcalf Soft and so nice It's a wonderful womb <-The Church, "Hotel Womb"