Take a look at this boys.

http://www.cheniere.org/misc/M1A1Tank11.pdf

h. Other Pertinent Information: The unit is very anxious to have this “SOMETHING” identified.
So what I wanna ask you all..

1. Is this document authentic? (the source maybe kinda flakey and it's the
only one I got)

2. If it is authentic then what's the weapon in play here?

Now I know we got a 'tanker' here on the board and Stokes is our resident spooktech maestro. So I'm expecting big things of you all people! :)

My tenpenn'th?
Whatever happened to those product improved TOWS Ollie North sold the Iranians?
Dee Cee

On first inspection it seems to be a hoax...I mean .50 cal rounds don't have that kind of penetration and they are larger. There are two basic factors to penetration: the weight of the bullet and how fast it is going. (Bullet shape and all that helps but this is basic) So we look at this and see this hole is miniscule in comparison to other rounds. Therefore we assume that if this is possible, then it will be an extremely high powered round. However it penetrated so far, supposedly, one would question why it did not shatter/disintegrate. It would need to be made of a very resilient material...which in general are heavier and would...need more energy to get up to speed. Therefore you see the little paradox of ballistics.
So, my personal call is hoax, but if anyone turns up info/other hypotheses, then let me know.

Hey dude, thanks for the shout-out. I'll try my best. :cool:

That source is 100% legit, because I've already read this AAR myself. There's no official word on it yet from the US Army but I have a hard time believing that this is anything other than a shaped charge warhead from an AT rocket or missile.

The bronze residue splattered against the breaker panel is one symptom. Shaped charge HEAT warheads use a conical wedge of explosive to compress a cone of bronze inward. The bronze reaches somewhere around 50,000 psi (345,000 kPa) before squirting out the front of the warhead in a very fine plasma jet about the thickness of a pencil. This is what lances through the armor, because it is hot, heavy, and fast-moving. See the scorching on the seat and the guy's body armor? A kinetic energy weapon wouldn't have done that.

The impact point is a very fine hole surrounded by some superficial carbon residue and heat markings. That is diagnostic of a shaped charge warhead because while the explosion takes place centimeters from the hull, it does little damage to the surrounding area due to its highly directional effect. Remember, the HEAT jet can cut through the armor because all the energy of the explosion is focused within it, NOT splattered all over the pretty desert camo paint job.

In summary, I don't think this is really anything new weapon-wise. We're seeing a lot of weaknesses in our various systems at the moment because they've never been in this sort of role before. The Abrams fought admirably (albeit briefly) in the first Gulf War and not one was lost due to enemy action. But remember, we were engaging the Iraqi armor, which was vastly inferior technologically, on the open desert where our tanks could engage at distances exceeding 3,000 meters, often before the Iraqis even knew they were there. Now, we're in an urban environment where they're being hit by all angles from man-portable AT weapons. The Abrams is a beautiful machine but it is hardly impervious. The glacis and bow areas are impenetrable by any known means, and that's wonderful for long-range engagements in open terrain, but during MOUT the enemy can hide behind terrain features and pop off hits from odd angles where the vehicle is vulnerable, like the air intake for the gas turbine, for instance. That's the Abrams's achilles heel and we're already working on a better ducting system to make it more resilient to RPG fire.

So think of this as superficially remarkable not because it's some amazing new weapon, but because the Abrams (and all other hardware) is performing in a role it never has before. If you never drive your convertible in the rain, you're never going to know the ragtop leaks.

Thanks for that Stokes.

I guess urban warfare is bad news for all concerned.
I never really suspected that this was something new but around here it's simply assumed that 'our' tech is indestructable.

Dee Cee

I saw an article that said it was a new type of round, with a finer jet than the older RPGs they've been using. They can really focus enough of the energy of the explosion that no one outside would see a big puff of smoke? While they focus the energy, I was under the impression that you still get a good bit of leakage.