Many people believe that if a 155mm shell hits a main battle tank, it will definitely blow tank into parts, and at the very least, kill and injure the crew in the turret. Actually, this may not be the case! Large-caliber high-explosive grenades are essentially unlikely to destroy modern main battle tanks.
If you go back to World War II or the 1950s and 1960s, a 152 or 155 mm grenade at that time could completely destroy a main battle tank. The main reason was that most main battle tanks at that time were steel armored. Low resistance to explosion shock waves. Hence the legend of the Soviet 152 Cult. At that time, the 152mm cannon could really kill a tank with one shot. But the era of 152 Theotypic Era’s one-shot hits and blowing tanks into pieces is over long ago, and can only be seen in the game.
Only old-fashioned tanks with pure steel armor are afraid of high-explosive grenades. Today's main battle tanks are different. Modern main battle tanks with composite armor are usually equipped with multiple layers of composite armor of different materials. They are not sensitive to the blast shock wave of high-explosive grenades and can effectively defend against large-caliber grenades. A direct hit and difficult to destroy.
(This is an Israeli Merkava 4 tank that was blown into parts by 50 kilograms of C4 plastic explosive in Gaza in 2002.)
Even the 155mm large-caliber high-explosive grenade fired by the artillery, When a direct hit is made on the frontal armor of a modern main battle tank, there is a high probability that the tank will not be destroyed, that is, the sighting equipment will be blown up, the barrel will be blown up, and the driver will be killed. It is unlikely that a single shot will destroy the tank as many netizens say. Tanks were blown into parts. In other words, if a large-caliber howitzer is used to launch a 155mm grenade, equipped with a quick-fire fuse, and directly hits the front armor of the turret of the US military M1A2 tank , there is a high probability that the tank will not be completely destroyed.
Relatively heavy main battle tanks with thick armor such as the American M1A2 Abrams tank and the Chinese 99A tank. The total thickness of the armor on the front of the turret is about 1 meter. It is made of steel + chromium corundum ceramic + steel. A rigid multi-layer stacked and constrained sandwich structure that is insensitive to blast shock waves. If a 155mm high-explosive grenade hits the front of the turret, there is a high probability that nothing will happen. If it happens, it can kill or injure the driver (because the armor on top of the driver is relatively weak), or knock out the commander with the hatch open, and shock the gunner into a concussion, so he can wipe his nosebleed and continue fighting. It may also cause the gun barrel to be damaged and scrapped, and the observation and sighting equipment to be damaged and withdraw from the battle, but it can return to the battlefield after repairs.
The battlefield situation in the past two or three decades shows that the destructive power of large-caliber high-explosive grenades against modern main battle tanks using composite armor is very weak. Of course, if the 155mm high-explosive grenade hits the top of the tank turret or the engine compartment cover at the rear of the vehicle, it will definitely destroy the tank, because the armor of the tank in these parts is extremely weak, even with a small-caliber rapid-fire gun , it is estimated that it can be easily penetrated.
In addition, on the battlefield in Iraq, everyone saw the scene of blowing up the 60-ton Abrams main battle tank of the United States with a dozen or even dozens of 155mm artillery shells bundled together. For an extremely strong heavy main battle tank, a single 155mm shell weighs 45 kilograms, but the charge is only 6 to 8 kilograms, and the rest is iron. The power of the explosion next to a tank is not great, not even as powerful as an old-fashioned iron-cased anti-tank mine.
The most important evidence of the poor effectiveness of large-caliber high-explosive grenades against composite armor is the rapid decline of the once brilliant armor-breaking shell . Due to the poor effectiveness against composite armor, armor-breaking projectiles are now getting closer and closer to elimination. Otherwise, armor-breaking shells can blow the tank into a pile of parts. Because the armor-breaking projectiles fired by the tank gun are equivalent to high-explosive grenades with a short delay fuse installed on the tail. However, in actual war use, armor-breaking bullets have little effect on modern main battle tanks equipped with composite armor. So much so that the American, European and Chinese armies now use armor-breaking bullets as grenades. A strong fortification used to attack the enemy.
(This M1A2 that was ambushed in Iraq had at least 50 kilograms of TNT explosives.)
Some people also say that Russia’s Red Earth laser-guided artillery shells also have high-explosive warheads. Wouldn’t they be used against tanks the same way? Let me correct you here. The main purpose of Red Earth laser-guided artillery shells is to hit fixed targets. Due to the artillery control system, Red Earth is very ineffective against moving targets. It can only track tanks with a speed of less than 30 kilometers per hour, so Red Earth is not suitable. Anti-tank combat. In the 1980s, the American Copperhead laser-guided artillery shells had the ability to attack tanks. Because the Copperhead projectiles can track moving targets at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour, the Copperhead uses the shaped energy armor-piercing warhead .
Actually, there is a very simple way to prove the above assertion. Let's think about it. If the 155mm high-explosive grenade can really blow modern tanks into parts, then there is no need for the modern army to continue to develop armor-piercing warheads. All anti-tank rocket launchers and anti-tank Wouldn't it be more delicious if the missile directly uses a high-explosive warhead?
Why do the warheads of heavy anti-tank missiles in various countries, such as the American Hellfire and the Chinese AFT-10, still insist on using armor-piercing warheads and completely ignore high-explosive grenade warheads?
However, the huge shock wave generated by the explosion of the 155mm shell can destroy the tank's sighting equipment, damage its barrel and machine gun and other weapons. In fact, when artillery hits a tank, it doesn't matter whether it can completely destroy the tank, as long as the tank loses its combat effectiveness!
