A-10 gun vs M1 Abrams tank

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P

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,155
59
91
The armor on an M1 is very strong.

There was once a comparison argument of a company of M1's vs. a Battleship over on Warships1.com.

General consensus was, the battleship's 16" AP shells would not penetrate the Abram's armor. They would flatten the tank, and the concussion would ruin it an everyone inside, but they said the armor would not yield to the 2700lb shell.
Then they said that the Abram's gun COULD penetrate the turrets on the BB. Even though they're around 18" thick.

I found it hard to believe, but if true, that means the M1 has some tough armor.

Oh, and this scenario was at a range the tanks would be able to reach the battleship.....obviously the BB would never get in close enough to expose itself to tank fire. But if it was, its shells would have a flat trajectory, therefore they'd have to defeat the Abrams' armor where it is the toughest.

So as far as the A10's gun, I don't think it would SHRED an M1, but it would penetrate enough to kill it. Only takes one round getting inside the tank and everyone in there is pulp.
 
D

Deleted member 4644

Not all of the 30mm rounds would penetrate. However, if the plane got a solid burst on the armor, I think enough of it would simply be "scraped off" so that the final rounds would get through.... At 4000 RPM, you are going to get multiple hits only a few mm apart if the pilot knows what he is doing.
 
glenn1

glenn1

Lifer
Sep 6, 2000
25,383
1,013
126
I used to direct CAS missions ocasionally, and trust me, if the pilot had any concerns about the guns not doing the trick, the alternative armament of four Mk-82 500 lb. gravity bombs would ease them. There wouldn't be enough of the Abrams left to pick up with a teaspoon if that was the Warthog's primary target.
 
EightySix Four

EightySix Four

Diamond Member
Jul 17, 2004
5,122
52
91
There was a picture of the actual gun, the full thing outside of an A-10, and it's larger than the old VW Bugs.
 
mooncancook

mooncancook

Platinum Member
May 28, 2003
2,874
50
91
Originally posted by: glenn1
I used to direct CAS missions ocasionally, and trust me, if the pilot had any concerns about the guns not doing the trick, the alternative armament of four Mk-82 500 lb. gravity bombs would ease them. There wouldn't be enough of the Abrams left to pick up with a teaspoon if that was the Warthog's primary target.
Click to expand...

Well A-10 is a tank killer like the AH-64 so what else do you expect, but without air superiority it has no chance.
 
K1052

K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
51,929
44,787
136
I'm sure the A-10 could disable an Abrams but I don't know about getting through the DU armor to the tank crew.
 
T

TRUMPHENT

Golden Member
Jan 20, 2001
1,414
0
0
Originally posted by: Mik3y
Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Depleted Uranium rounds are pyrophoric - they ignite on penetration and fragmentation

Firing tests of the GE Machine Cannon used on tha A-10 against tanks.
Click to expand...

holy mother of god. that's crazy. so they basically explode?
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They do not explode. The fragments that shear off during penetration ignite. Here is a picture of a penetrator from an M1 tank. It's taken at Doha after a spectacular accident following the First Gulf War.
DU penetrator projectile

The 30mm version is just a smaller bullet. The warhead projectile contains no explosives.

I read where the Bradley 25mm gun with DU ammo was killing T72's with singleshot hits on the front slope during the Iraq invasion.

There is a reason why this type of ammunition is referred to as Kinetic Energy munitions.
 
P

Pocatello

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,754
2
76
The M1A1 has a few vulnerable spots, like the top is less heavily armored than the front. The M1A1 is one of the most armored tank in the world, hence one of the heaviest, if not the heaviest, but it's also one of the fastest.
 
her209

her209

No Lifer
Oct 11, 2000
56,336
11
0
Originally posted by: Pocatello
The M1A1 has a few vulnerable spots, like the top is less heavily armored than the front. The M1A1 is one of the most armored tank in the world, hence one of the heaviest, if not the heaviest, but it's also one of the fastest.
Click to expand...
It should be since its powered by frickin' jet engine.
 
T

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
A10 ftw

I wish i could find the picture of the 30% destroyed A10 that was still flyable. Those things were built well.
 
thecoolnessrune

thecoolnessrune

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2005
9,673
583
126
Originally posted by: Proletariat
Originally posted by: BigJ
Originally posted by: Proletariat
http://www.jetpix.com/webfiles/a10.jpg

is that big hole under the cockpit the main gun?
Click to expand...

That "big hole" is the 30mm cannon.
Click to expand...

Captured Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters referred to it as 'the silent gun'. The rounds hit their target before the target can hear the report of the gunfire.

:Q
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AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWESOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

 
N

natto fire

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2000
7,117
10
76
Originally posted by: tranceport
The gun is named the Avenger.

The gun is so bad ass that when firing it the pilots experience what feels like "putting on the brakes". The barrels are spun by the planes hydrolics.

Here is some good reading. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GAU-8_Avenger

I first started to love it from playing desert combat on bf1942.
Click to expand...

I was wondering if anyone was going to make this reference. This game lead me to do lots of research about the A-10 "Warthog". Any time I was in a tank in that game, if I heard those distinct turbofan engines flying by, and I was on a good server, I knew to GTFO and find cover, as my vehicle was about to become swiss cheese in a matter of seconds. Most of the time they didn't even need to drop the bombs, as the cannon was so immensly powerful. (and rightly so)

Sigh, there are so many things I miss about DC over BF2 (Howitzers and naval battles being at the top of my list). And now that EA bought out one of the best mod teams, coupled with the fact they STILL have not released a final mod tool (I believe it has only recently went to beta?), it is not looking good for BF2 mods.
 
F

fireontheway

Golden Member
Jul 8, 2003
1,480
0
0
The A-10 wins without a doubt.As for penetrating the M1's armor it will easily penetrate the top and rear portion of the tank.Shooting the tank in the front slope would be a different story i think,thats 3 something feet of armor.Regardless i would never want to be on the receiving end of neither gun.

Originally posted by: Proletariat
Doesn't the Abrams have any anti-air?
Click to expand...


Yes it does.The Abrams can carry MPAT rounds which is fired from the M256 120mm main gun(same gun used by the German Leo btw).It is mainly used against helicopters,good luck trying to shoot down fixed-wing aircraft.The loader's M240C machine gun is also considered anti-air but i would think the threat has to be flying very low to get positive results.
 
U

UpGrD

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
1,412
0
0
Having spent 5 yrs of my life inside an M1A1 and seen what A10's can do personally, I can say for a fact that an A10 would open a M1A1 like a tin can. The M1A1 top turret armor is at most 2" thick, rear deck armor maybe .5". Could be penetrated by a 50cal round without a problem at the right angle. If somehow the A10 attacked the M1A1 from the front it would not penetrate, almost nothing can penetrate the frontal armor of an M1A1. I personally saw the damage an Iraqi T72 125mm round did to the front turret slope of an M1A1 in our battalion. The DU plate Weld cracked a little. It was repaired (re-welded) by a General Dynamics team and returned to service in 24hrs.
 
J

jcovercash

Diamond Member
Apr 24, 2001
9,064
0
0
<----Wonders how many people are basing their information on this subject off video games that they have played, and not real life knowledge :p
 
GagHalfrunt

GagHalfrunt

Lifer
Apr 19, 2001
25,284
1,997
126
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
The armor on an M1 is very strong.

There was once a comparison argument of a company of M1's vs. a Battleship over on Warships1.com.

General consensus was, the battleship's 16" AP shells would not penetrate the Abram's armor. They would flatten the tank, and the concussion would ruin it an everyone inside, but they said the armor would not yield to the 2700lb shell.
Then they said that the Abram's gun COULD penetrate the turrets on the BB. Even though they're around 18" thick.

I found it hard to believe, but if true, that means the M1 has some tough armor.

Oh, and this scenario was at a range the tanks would be able to reach the battleship.....obviously the BB would never get in close enough to expose itself to tank fire. But if it was, its shells would have a flat trajectory, therefore they'd have to defeat the Abrams' armor where it is the toughest.

So as far as the A10's gun, I don't think it would SHRED an M1, but it would penetrate enough to kill it. Only takes one round getting inside the tank and everyone in there is pulp.
Click to expand...


Important info for the many exciting battleship vs tank tactical situations that every commander must face. In the real world high explosive rounds like those fired by the battleship are essentially useless against tanks. The problem with conventional explosives is that a huge majority of the explosive force is wasted. Far more of the power explodes away from the target than into it. That is exactly the reason why the A10 was even built. It's EXTREMELY difficult to knock out a tank with explosives. Modern tank killing weapons are mostly kintetic-energy penetrators like the depleted uranium slug or the sabot round. Even the best shaped charge explosives are fairly ineffective against modern tanks and can be defeated with reactive armor. The way to knock out a tank is to pierce the skin rather than blow it up, a pinprick rather than a punch.
 
G

Goosemaster

Lifer
Apr 10, 2001
48,775
3
81
Originally posted by: glenn1
I used to direct CAS missions ocasionally, and trust me, if the pilot had any concerns about the guns not doing the trick, the alternative armament of four Mk-82 500 lb. gravity bombs would ease them. There wouldn't be enough of the Abrams left to pick up with a teaspoon if that was the Warthog's primary target.
Click to expand...

I love that language.....

"...[gravity bombs] would ease them"



:laugh:
 
J

Jon855

Golden Member
Mar 24, 2005
1,214
0
0
Originally posted by: Proletariat
Originally posted by: BigJ
Originally posted by: Proletariat
http://www.jetpix.com/webfiles/a10.jpg

is that big hole under the cockpit the main gun?
Click to expand...

That "big hole" is the 30mm cannon.
Click to expand...

Captured Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters referred to it as 'the silent gun'. The rounds hit their target before the target can hear the report of the gunfire.

:Q
Click to expand...
this is to be expected as the bullet travels faster than sounds, not any shocking :)

 
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