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From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: external gadgetry on tanks
Message-ID: <1991Apr13.015308.23824@amd.com>
Date: 12 Apr 91 18:35:05 GMT
References: <1991Apr12.055056.13916@amd.com>
Sender: military@amd.com
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
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From: henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer)


>From: Tony_Buckland@mtsg.ubc.ca
>... surprised at the amount of stuff attached to the outside of tanks...
> What are the tubes that look like truncated mortars for?

If you're thinking of the same tubes I know about, they're launchers for
smoke grenades.  When tanks don't have natural obstacles to hide behind,
one attractive option is laying down a smokescreen as an artificial one.

>Do tankers, like infantrymen, tend to work on the principle of taking
>anything along that could be useful, if it can be carried, and if so do
>they just tie it on outside?

Space within a tank is very limited, so anything reasonably robust gets
to ride outside.  Besides, every little bit of junk on the outside is
one more thing that can get in the way of an incoming shell.

-- 
And the bean-counter replied,           | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
"beans are more important".             |  henry@zoo.toronto.edu  utzoo!henry