Abrams hull ammo vents through the bottom. But yeah, if that detonates chances of crew survival is nil anyway. Hull floor blowout notwithstanding.
Nah, they HAD actually tested it and determined that the crew would likely survive in case the ammo in hull stowage cooks off assuming the blow-off panels work as intended.
But never the less, it was standard practice among the crews to leave the hull racks empty anyway. In fact, in many cases, the crew would remove the ammo storage bins and then use that space to store their personal belongings like weapons and stuff, if Nicholas 'Nick The Chieftain' Moran is to be believed.
The reason other tanks like Leopard 2 and Arjuns do not have blow-off panels installed in their hull ammo compartment is due to the simple fact that unlike in the Abrams, where the hull racks are located behind the crew compartment (
thereby eliminating the dilemma of having to compromise frontal protection), these tanks have got them right in the front.
This means, as
@Okabe Rintarou , had said earlier, you can neither add the panels on the hull roof without compromising the armor protection of the upper glacis nor you can place them in the floor without leaving yourself vulnerable to anti-tank mines.
The reason why no tank has a solution for this is because you cannot create a foolproof armour scheme without shooting through 80 tonnes of weight,
True but the Abrams actually comes the closest to a full-proof system and they achieved it by shifting the entire ammo stowage to that isolated turret bustle, thereby giving the crew the maximum possibility to survive a catastrophic kill.
you have to compromise somewhere, and hull seems to be the default choice.
Yes, which is a flawed logic and is completely unnecessary as has been shown by the Americans!!
in a shooting match, the tank and crew with better situational awareness will win,
Not always. For example, let's say you are in a T-90S and spot an Abrams ~1500 meters out but you've only been supplied with BM-42 Mango rounds, in which case, there's practically nothing you can do about it unless the Abrams gives its broadside to you. But I do get your point.
regardless of whether he is in merkava or t72. After all no tank can survive a side shot.
Exactly. Well, actually, the Merkava MkIV has got really thick armor on the sides of their turrets as well, so it may in fact, survive a side hit from older generation rounds.
www.thedrive.com
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