As you can see in the link this is one of the M1A1 Abrams tanks. I still cant figure this out. Goes against all I know about physics. In fact the US army doesnt know what hit this tank. Let me know if you have any ideas? Youll probably draw a blank but should be fun to talk about. 
To be honest I dont know why this would be unusual. So why does it go against physics? :?:
Well ill explain You can see that is was a pretty small hole. This can be caused by small arms fire…hence the purpose of having a tank. Its not an RPG bescause you would see sometype of blast area. What ever hit this had to be traveling with and extreme speed and the particle???(bullet, uh alien death ray) would need to be extremely extremely dense to penetrate that far in the tank. Also these tanks were made designed to withstand a nuclear blast (general area of blast NOT a direct hit or ground zero). It doesnt really look like the holes are melted either because “whatever it is” appears to break up a bit before it logges in the other side of the hull. Plus if it had been from heat im sure the guy wearing the flak jacket would have caught fire.
The only thing that comes to me would be a rail gun. But even then you would need a projectile that i dont think exist yet.
Intereting… 
(new weapon of mass destruction) :lol:
But to answer you question you would have seen a huge blast area on the tank as well as a much larger whole. The RPG is designed to penitrate the hull and explode killing the crew. The RPG hits the out side hull then a secondary explosion sets off to go thru the hull. But you also have to remember there is a Skirt on the outside of the tank to help prevent against an RPG attack. One would be better of using an RPG against the tracks of the tank in an attempt to disable it.
I honestly have no idea what hit the tank…but I can tell you that the hull of the tank is mixed with depleted uranium to make it very strong. So if the shot came from an anti tank gun the bullet would need to be extremly dense to hold together. You can see it doesnt fragment untill it almost reaches the other side. Also the bullet would probably need to be traveling much faster than any WW2 tank gun or anything I know of. My guess is that the Americans much have some new secret weapon and accidently shot ourselves with it. I doubt the Iraqis had anything that could have done this.
I honestly have no idea what hit the tank…but I can tell you that the hull of the tank is mixed with depleted uranium to make it very strong. So if the shot came from an anti tank gun the bullet would need to be extremly dense to hold together. You can see it doesnt fragment untill it almost reaches the other side. Also the bullet would probably need to be traveling much faster than any WW2 tank gun or anything I know of. My guess is that the Americans much have some new secret weapon and accidently shot ourselves with it. I doubt the Iraqis had anything that could have done this.[/quote]
I didnt mean that they were using a WW2 gun, but I was just proving that there was that kind of gun. BTW, the Americans have a tendacy to always hit their own units and their allies.
Do you know what the difference between an Allied unit and an Iraqi unit is on an American radar screen???
NO???
Neither do we!!! 
Maybe it was “Malyutka” (NATO name: AT-3 SAGGER)
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/row/at3sagger.htm
Quoted for proliferation: “At least 45 countries, including: Former Soviet Republics, Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hungary, Iraq, India, North Korea, Libya, Mozambique, Poland, Romania, Syria, Uganda, Vietnam, Yugoslavia, Zambia.”
End quote.
I think with this you will still see sometype of blast area.
I think with this you will still see sometype of blast area.[/quote]
Possible. I noticed that you just edited your post. They says that RPG could be the cause. Also possible… :lol: :lol:
K RPG possible but however unlikely. Still do think an RPG could penetrate that far and hold togeter as well as it did. But who knows???
Here’s my guess: a .50 caliber rifle round with a phosphorous-ignited magnesium warhead capped by depleted uranium. Magnesium burns at a very high temperature, and depleted uranium will penetrate anything. Phosphorous burns until deprived of oxygen.
Here’s my guess: a .50 caliber rifle round with a phosphorous-ignited magnesium warhead capped by depleted uranium. Magnesium burns at a very high temperature, and depleted uranium will penetrate anything. Phosphorous burns until deprived of oxygen.[/quote]
A good possiblity but you still need a bullet that will hold together extremely well and as you can see a .50 cal round is to big. Something like that could be it. Maybe we will find out soon.
I think it’s just a freakish occurance of physics. An RPG hit the tank, and as it happened, very hot metal was forced into a concentrated area, producing extreme pressure on a very small area of the tank, cuasing a small portion of the shell to be forced through the tank as if it were a bullet made of unimaginable density. It’s just a quirk. I’ve seen strange things in my life time. That’s just one more.
Maybe Maybe but again you would still see some kind of blast area on the tank. But im sure is was some kind of freakish occurence.
Here’s my guess: a .50 caliber rifle round with a phosphorous-ignited magnesium warhead capped by depleted uranium. Magnesium burns at a very high temperature, and depleted uranium will penetrate anything. Phosphorous burns until deprived of oxygen.[/quote]
A good possiblity but you still need a bullet that will hold together extremely well and as you can see a .50 cal round is to big. Something like that could be it. Maybe we will find out soon.[/quote]
Possibly some sort of SLAP* fifty cal ?
I’ve used the original 7.7 tungsten SLAP quite extensively, (interestingly always loaded 1BIT,) and the effect that had on the targets was impressive.
Not sure that it would do the damage that was exhibited in the pics mind, as there seem to be impacts from secondary projectiles in the photos - unless some of the pieces have received penetration tests too.
- SLAP: Saboted Light Armour Piercing.
A sabot is a light, generally plastic outer which grips the rifling in a bbl.
On exiting the bbl, the pre cut sabot falls away and the AP core continues towards it’s tgt at a much higher velocity than would a full cal projectile.
See also APFSDS.
I would exclude a shaped charge due to several reasons:
a) the entrance hole on the outside of the tank doesn’t show the typical “sandblasting” marks of a shaped charge explosion (I’ve seen quite a few)
b) the inside of the hole is usually plated with the material the liner of the shaped charge is made of, mostly copper (I still have one of the steel plates of the old AFN transmission mast in Berlin, which I cut with a shaped charge).
c) The jet of a shaped charge dissipates quickly once it passed through the material. It would have left bigger damage inside thecrew compartment of the tank, especially the shockwave.
I wonder if the US Army didn’t cut out the armour on the far side, where the projectile got stuck. They could cut it into two halves and recover the remains of the projectile and at least let it undergo a chemical analysis.
Jan