Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!usc!jarthur!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!cbnews!cbnews!military From: wmartin@STL-06SIMA.ARMY.MIL (Will Martin) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Effects inside tank Message-ID: <1991Feb26.011553.5289@cbnews.att.com> Date: 26 Feb 91 01:15:53 GMT Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 44 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Will Martin Not too far back, someone posted a question regarding the effects on a tank crew of *non-lethal* hits, and what happens inside a tank bearing reactive armor when it works and goes off and successfully defeats an anti-tank munition. I never saw any responses. Please, if anyone out there knows, post! This seems to be widely ignored, and I think it is worth far more attention than it gets. After all, if a tank crew is completely deafened, or suffering from concussions and bleeding from ruptured eardrums, etc., that tank is just about as out-of-commission as if the enemy round had succeeded in killing the crew or disabling the tank. Even if the crew eventually recovers in a matter of hours or days, that tank is out of the current battle until the personnel are replaced, and I don't recall ever hearing of any procedures for carrying along and getting spare/replacement crews into other tanks in the midst of a battle! In peacetime training, are there *ever* intentionally people inside a tank when it is hit by live fire? Somehow I doubt it -- even if there were volunteers, there are so many safety rules and liability considerations tht I just can't imagine such a situation being approved. Sure, the target tank may be heavily instrumented, but it seems like the only way we'll ever get any real idea of what goes on inside a successfully-defended tank is combat. We're getting that data for ourselves now, but have we accumulated any such info from the Israelis or other allies who use the same equipment we use? (And that still won't cover our own current tanks not yet sold to others.) Do we have any ideas of whether the crew just hears a loud CLANG and gets a headache, or if there are severe disabling effects (temporary or permanent), or something in-between? As a start, surely some of the experienced armor people on this list have been inside a tank or APC when it was hit with small-arms fire that didn't penetrate. What was it like? Of no consequence, like being in a car during a light hailstorm? Or was it deafening and frightening/disturbing? If your hand was on the inner surface of an armor plate when the outer side was hit by a rifle round, say, what happens? Is it just a vibration and maybe a stinging, or is there a severe shockwave sent through your hand, maybe damaging it? Or some intermediate effect? Anyone experienced some explosive going off on the other side of armor plate you were near or touching? If the impact/effect isn't enough to cause spalling inside, what else may happen? Regards, Will wmartin@stl-06sima.army.mil Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com