"Mystery Missile" Puts a nice hole in an M-1

[Space05us]

The U.S. Army is not saying much about the "mystery projectile" that went through the side skirts and side armor of an M-1A1 tank last August 28th. Whatever it was just barely missed the tanks gunner (it went through the back of his seat and grazed part of his flak jacket) and put a pencil size hole nearly 50mm deep into the four inch thick armor on the other side of the tank. The damage may have been done by a projectile, not a shaped charge (which uses a jet of super-hot plasma to burn a hole in armor and put a quantity of plasma and molten metal inside the tank.) No known RPG would do that kind of damage. But some Western anti-tank rockets generate a different kind of plasma jet that might create the kind of damage done. A U.S. 25mm armor piercing shell (fired from the gun mounted on the M-2 Bradley armored vehicle) uses a small penetrator, but that penetrator is of depleted uranium, which burns like a flare once it is inside its target. One major unknown is the large number of portable anti-tank weapons (especially Russian and Chinese models) that have not been tested against the M-1 tank. It's not unusual for new weapons to have unpredictable effects once they are first used in combat. Until the army releases more information, if they have any, the mystery lingers.

http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/default.asp?target=missile_mystery.htm

[Az]

The Iraqi army had more than just RPGs as anti-tank weapons.

[Urban Ranger]

That's a nice potent AT weapon.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Actually, it sucks, or it's a nice job of the Chobham armor and anti-spalling liners that prevented a fully penetrating hit from being lethal.

[Mr. Harley]

Obviously not a an old style shaped charge, the gunner would have been cooked. Unless it is one of the self-forging HEAT/penetrator rounds, a cross that has been used for combination anti-personnel/vehicle combo bombs in cluster munitions. Supposedly western HEAT rounds produce a more concentrated high-temperature jet, but I still have trouble believing the crewman was not seriously burned if one passed through the back of the seat he was in (we are talking a couple of thousand degrees here).

It could have been some kind of squeeze/high velocity penetrator, one link to the site mentions "yellow molten metal". Problem is, they state a penetrator-type hit does more damage on the inside of the tank armor, producing telltale damage of a type not shown by this hit. They were speculations the Swiss are selling a new warhead for the RPG-7, and there is a new RPG-22. We'll get the facts in between five and ten years from now, if we're lucky. The self-forging HEAT/penetrator rounds were the new superround several years back. Maybe other people are making them now.

[Dis]

err, I can't see it, ther's a piece of paper in the way. how do we know this actually happened?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by shawnmmcc
Supposedly western HEAT rounds produce a more concentrated high-temperature jet, but I still have trouble believing the crewman was not seriously burned if one passed through the back of the seat he was in (we are talking a couple of thousand degrees here).

Not to mention the kinetic energy shock transferred to the seat - if he was in the seat and in contact to that part of it, the shockwave transfer should have caused massive capillary bruising, if not a broken back or ribs and internal injuries as well.

[KrazyHorse]

Heat transfer woldn't have time to happen if the round was going at a significant velocity. I'd be more interested in how he managed to avoid MtG's shockwave. Unless it just took a piece out of the padding of the seat or something. If the round actually struck metal that was up against gunner's body, then there should have been some injury.

[Mr. Harley]

Dissident, check the linked images. It really did get hit. I think that is just so you can see the general impact area.

[The Mad Monk]

They used a phasor rifle stolen from The Future.

[MichaeltheGreat]

At that temperature and the kind of velocity to still stick in the off side interior armor, it should be splopping off a spray of molten droplets as it goes by - that would be the source of the heat injuries - nasty little heavy metal pepper burns.

[KrazyHorse]

Ahh. Good point.