M1 Abrams blowout panels save tank crew

M1 abrams hit by a anti tank missile, in Ramadi Iraq.

[GOD]

1. The tank is an Iraqi M1A1SA export Abrams
2. This happened in Ramadi, Iraq. in 2016
3. It was a Metis-M ATGM that hit the tank. Not a RPG.
4. The tank backs up and stops after the commander bails. Driver is still controlling the tank.
5. This video is a response to another edited video, to make it seem like the crew died.

[DH]

Notice how the turret doesn’t wind up landing on top of a five story building.

[viktort]

russian engineering is way better, they have a whole blow off turret. It vents the ammo much faster. And the crew gets ejected with it as well so they don't have to struggle to get out of tank.

[mylesgone]

I can attest to how the M1A1 Abrams is safe. I served on one, and even though it looks bad in the video, if hit, the turret is basically sealed for crew survivability. Inside the turret behind the loader are heavy sliding blast doors that seal and protects the crew from the blast. The blast doors on top of the turret are designed to blast off if the tank is hit. And whatever hasn't cooked off is ejected from the hull, therefore increasing the survivability of the crew. This crew was poorly trained, the tank commander should've swung the gun over the side so the driver could get out. That's all part of crew evacuation drills. We had to button up the tank (close all the hatches) and when give the command by the tank commander, we would un botton and get out as fast as possible and re consolidate somewhere far away from the vehicle. We practiced this drill religiously.

[gfield]

Love how the commander is like “screw you boys I’m outta here!”

[chaosXPRT]

Tanks are expensive, but they can be repaired or replaced.
An experienced and dedicated crew is invaluable. It also goes along way to prove soldier morale when you treat them like their lives matter

[creaturedanaaaaa]

Crew survivability is so insanely underrated, a T-72 gets hit and their crew is dead, an Abrams crew gets hit and chances are, they can get back out there smarter than the first time

[anonanonovch]

It's hard to see from this angle. But there is a very good design solution in the abrams, namely, the ammunition rack is located behind the turret, in a special compartment, isolated by a partition, which allows, when the ammunition is detonated, to save the life of the crew. An explosion or fire occurs in the ammo rack, but since the partition is stronger than the other walls of this compartment, the release of combustion products occurs upward and to the sides.

[IrishCaesar]

This is the engineering that comes from a military that values it's personnel more than it's equipment

[moistmike]

Late in the Iraq war another Abrams was hit by an RPG-7 in the ammo stowage at the rear of the tank. At the time, the 3-man Iraqi turret crew were outside of the tank when it was hit, but the driver was still inside the tank with his hatch closed. Because the turret hatches were open, fire eventually got into the turret and the tank started burning. The turret crew spent several frantic minutes trying to open the driver's hatch, but it would not open. While the tank burned, they heard the driver knocking on the inside of the hull for several minutes until the banging finally stopped. After the hull fire died down somewhat, they were able to approach the tank and sadly began working with some other soldiers to remove the driver's body, but when they started working around the hatch, the heard the driver yelling for them to get him out. When they finally got the driver's hatch open, the driver climbed out without a burn on his body. Initially, he'd stayed inside the tank because the driver's compartment is isolated from the rest of the tank, but when the interior of the turret area brewed up, the heat in the hull apparently froze the driver's hatch and it couldn't be opened until the hull had cooled off a bit. The driver stated that, aside from feeling like he was in slow cooker and not being able to touch anything metal, he was unhurt and rather impatiently bided his time while waiting for rescue. Lucky for him he was in an Abrams. If he was in a Russian-made T-72, he would've been roasted alive.

[Maxcraft]

Rebulding a tank takes months, retraining the crew takes years.

[zetareticuli]

T-72 is better. It has an automatic evacuation system. The crew leaves the tank together with the turret.

[nmspy]

Against kinetic rounds, the wild m1 feels most inclined to pop smoke, however against the rarer heat species it pops flames instead as a means to protect the crew

[ucbaolamlu]

He protec, He attac, but most importantly he has blow out ammo rack

[knockrotter]

this is what, in the business, they call a "significant emotional event"

[cantstandidiots]

As a Recon Marine, I always said it would take 3 men and a welder to get me into a tank - and keep me there. Don't like BIG targets.

[adamhope]

The Abrams was not shot by a rocket. It was shot by an ATGM, missile. Probably a Metis ATGM based on how the missile moves.

Rocket is unguided, like an RPG. Missile is guided.

[zakzwijn]

This. Regular folks often mistake this for a crew kill. Understandably, because there's a lot of violent fire, but it's designed that way.

[kiwihame]

Wow, that's pretty amazing! Better than trying to put a turret in space!

[rayotoxi]

before the atgm hit the turret the tank shot in the real footage might explain why the commander bailed out the tank might have been in the loading process as the atgm hit