4 ms·

I thanked my good star that when I was drafted into the German army (1991, freshly reunified) I got to be a Leopard 1A5 electronicd and weapons systems mechanic

I thanked my good star that when I was drafted into the German army (1991, freshly reunified) I got to be a Leopard 1A5 electronicd and weapons systems mechanic (EloWaMech), instead of having to fight in one. Closer on topic, that tank had an additional no-holes layer of armor in front of the actual armored turret mostly on the two sides, and in the back with much more distance. Here is a model that nevertheless shows it pretty well: https://www.super-hobby.at/zdjecia/0/7/3/35478_rev03320-4.jpg https://www.super-hobby.at/zdjecia/0/7/3/35478_rev03320-4.jp... If "detonate at a distance" does not work I wonder what the function of that kind of add-on armor was, on the sides specifically? It should have worked fine against RPG from the back because as you can see it extended quite a bit there, creating external storage space and probably providing ample room that an RPG detonating there would not have done anything to the main unit. But on the sides it was just a few centimeters of space between the additional armor layer and the main armor. I do remember it was really good steel. We had to replace one of those armor plates, and the new ones had the holes slightly different than the tank we were working on. Getting a new hole drilled into the armor plate proved to be impossible with the drilling tools we had.

mrguyorama 5y ago
>If "detonate at a distance" does not work I wonder what the function of that kind of add-on armor was, on the sides specifically? It depends on the shell/threat you expect to come at you. I don't know if "capped" armor piercing shells were still a concept when those tanks were built. In that case, an initial, small amount of spaced armor is designed to "decap" the shell, because the shell under the cap has significantly less armor penetrating capability.

4 ms·

I thanked my good star that when I was drafted into the German army (1991, freshly reunified) I got to be a Leopard 1A5 electronicd and weapons systems mechanic

by nosianu 5y ago

mrguyorama 5y ago
>If "detonate at a distance" does not work I wonder what the function of that kind of add-on armor was, on the sides specifically? It depends on the shell/threat you expect to come at you. I don't know if "capped" armor piercing shells were still a concept when those tanks were built. In that case, an initial, small amount of spaced armor is designed to "decap" the shell, because the shell under the cap has significantly less armor penetrating capability.