World's deadliest vehicle

[MikeSun5]

This thread is intended for nothing but a good laugh. A friend of mine sent me an email saying the US Army wasn't about peace, but death, death, and more death. He even quoted Major Payne, "There's gotta be somebody that needs some killin'." :rolleyes:
Anyway, the catalyst that started his email was a picture of an instrument of doom called the M1-J10 Main Battle Tank, which is supposedly still under construction.

I had a hell of a knee-slapper looking at this nice bit of Photoshopping (http://www.shopmetrospy.com/cgi-bin/cNc/showPage.plx?db=shopmetro&pid=41). It's an M1 Abrams tank that's been blown up and inserted behind a normal platoon photo.

I mean how ridiculous is that? A 2-story tank that's 90 feet long? Really? To combat Iraqis driving around in Toyota pickup trucks? That's like hunting rabbits with a flamethrower. Look at the driver's hatch in the front. It's big enough for like 5 dudes. Why would you need 5 drivers? Craziness.

[volatile]

200mph? Shenanigans!

[quadraginta]

John Ringo "SheVa" tank?

I'm surprised they didn't call it "Bun-Bun".

[MikeSun5]

I'm surprised they didn't call it "Bun-Bun".

Wow, that's some reference. :) Nice work.

I thought "Jihad Slaughter" was funny. It's funny because it's racist.

[BobG]

A friend of mine sent me an email saying the US Army wasn't about peace, but death, death, and more death.

Of course!

We have almost 50% of the might of the world. This means that we could go to war against every other country on this planet and have a fair fight.

This is certainly much more than what is needed for defensive purposes. The threshold has definitely been crossed where the military is for offensive purposes; case in point-Iraq.

A massive military machine was needed when the Soviet Union was in existence. They went out of existence in 1990, I believe, and that was a golden opportunity to start scaling back our military. But we haven't.

The profit motive for the weapons manufacturers is very strong and they have a very strong lobby that drives our military requirements. In other words, our military requirements are not driven by need but by profits.

When you have something that is meant for a purpose, it tends to get used for that purpose whether or not that purpose makes sense. A massive military machine is meant for war so it will be used for war regardless of the need for war!

I could go on and elaborate why Iraq was unnecessary and then I could start trashing George Bush and company but I'll stop here except to make one true but contraversial statement: George Bush belongs in prison!

Bob

[MikeSun5]

We have almost 50% of the might of the world. This means that we could go to war against every other country on this planet and have a fair fight.

I think China could give us a run for our money...

I could go on and elaborate why Iraq was unnecessary and then I could start trashing George Bush and company but I'll stop here except to make one true but contraversial statement: George Bush belongs in prison!


I don't know if you'll find much opposition to that viewpoint. ;)

[lionking]

Of course!

We have almost 50% of the might of the world. This means that we could go to war against every other country on this planet and have a fair fight.

This is certainly much more than what is needed for defensive purposes. The threshold has definitely been crossed where the military is for offensive purposes; case in point-Iraq.

A massive military machine was needed when the Soviet Union was in existence. They went out of existence in 1990, I believe, and that was a golden opportunity to start scaling back our military. But we haven't.

The profit motive for the weapons manufacturers is very strong and they have a very strong lobby that drives our military requirements. In other words, our military requirements are not driven by need but by profits.

When you have something that is meant for a purpose, it tends to get used for that purpose whether or not that purpose makes sense. A massive military machine is meant for war so it will be used for war regardless of the need for war!

I could go on and elaborate why Iraq was unnecessary and then I could start trashing George Bush and company but I'll stop here except to make one true but contraversial statement: George Bush belongs in prison!

Bob
So this is on topic exactly how?

[quadraginta]

Wow, that's some reference. :) Nice work.

I thought "Jihad Slaughter" was funny. It's funny because it's racist.


Been a while since I read the books.

I think maybe "Bun-Bun" was bigger.

After it got nuked they fixed it and drove it home.

:D

[BobG]

I think China could give us a run for our money...





It depends on where the action takes place.

If we were to take China on in or near China, you are correct and my guess is that we would not succeed.

However, if China and we came to blows in some territory midway between our two countries, she wouldn't stand a chance. (IMHO of course)

[BobG]

So this is on topic exactly how?

It is not at all on topic but should that matter.

I used to belong to a book club in which we met once a month to discuss a particular book. If the meeting was at my house and a couple of people decided to talk about something else and did not disturb us, I left them alone. I did not insist that they stay with the book and I didn't kick them out.

Same here. I don't know how far the subject that I raised will go, but we will not interfere with anybody and nobody has to pay any attention to us.

[Ian Osborne]

1011.77 tons, top speed 213mph - yeah, sure.

[lionking]

It is not at all on topic but should that matter.

I used to belong to a book club in which we met once a month to discuss a particular book. If the meeting was at my house and a couple of people decided to talk about something else and did not disturb us, I left them alone. I did not insist that they stay with the book and I didn't kick them out.

Same here. I don't know how far the subject that I raised will go, but we will not interfere with anybody and nobody has to pay any attention to us.
Perhaps you should read the Membership Agreement.

[Careyp74]

How could anyone believe that photo? Those C Bags on the side are bigger than the men in front!

[BobG]

Perhaps you should read the Membership Agreement.

I didn't try to change the topic. I merely commented on what one of our members said and, admittedly, I got somewhat verbose.

[Horatius]

How could anyone believe that photo? Those C Bags on the side are bigger than the men in front!



It's probably a function of most people not knowing what a "C Bag" is, I'd expect.

[rwguinn]

Bolo Restartus MK 1 lives!

[MG1962]

1011.77 tons, top speed 213mph - yeah, sure.

Meh...nothing special, standard NASCAR configuration :p

[IMST]

Man, I came here to see pictures of the Chevy Corvair. Misleading title.

[plumjam]

Of course!

We have almost 50% of the might of the world. This means that we could go to war against every other country on this planet and have a fair fight.


Only if Vietnam doesn't turn up.

[shawmutt]

200 mph...for about 1 mile before it's out of gas.

[Jimbo07]

Even if the photo were legit (and I believe it is. Don't most units paint www.shopmetrospy.com on their vehicles? :D), that wouldn't make it the world's deadliest vehicle.

I'd probably give that number to a ballistic missile submarine for potential, or the humble automobile for actual annual kills.

In another context... what In My Spare Time said... ;).

[Dr. Imago]

Man, I came here to see pictures of the Chevy Corvair. Misleading title.

Yeah, ditto that. My grandmother almost killed herself in the late 1960's in one of those.

~Dr. Imago

P.S. She died in the 1980's of separate non-vehicle related causes, BTW.

[zooterkin]

1011.77 tons, top speed 213mph - yeah, sure.

Not to mention the 478mm cannon.

[ugot2bekidding]

Untill it runs over a Chinese guy holding groceries, I'm not impressed. :D

[Dr. Trintignant]

1011.77 tons, top speed 213mph - yeah, sure.

Not a problem. There's lots of room in there for a few big turbines.

The real problem is the ground pressure. The vehicle weight went up by more than 16x, while the surface area only went up by about 8x. This thing would sink as soon as it went off-road. Cube-square scaling laws and all that.

- Dr. Trintignant

[Thunderchief]

Here's the real deal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_VIII_Maus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-28_Super_Heavy_Tank


doesn't do 200 mph though.

[DC]

World's deadliest vehicle

this one?
g5SRyG6UR2A

[NoZed Avenger]

I am going to vote for a rocket. Manned by a velociraptor. With a machine gun.

[Ziggurat]

Well, it would have been the dragon tank, but Obama axed spending:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obama_axes_pentagon_plan_to_build

[a_unique_person]

The "Mouse" put an end to the monster tank. Even the M1-A1 is pushing the limits. Australia has bought some second hand ones, and we are wondering what use they are going to be. Getting them anywhere is going to be a major logistics problem for a small country, (in terms of population and wealth), for a start. Plus we are a huge country for such a small population, we can't get them around inside that easily for a start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panzer_VIII_Maus

Old technology, but the lessons from then had been learned, physics is going to set your limits. The Tiger I had already pushed the limits, the Tiger II reached those limits, and the Panther was the best all round tank.

[Ziggurat]

World's deadliest vehicle

this one?
g5SRyG6UR2A

I think this one is even more impressively bad:

BOFIt9iw1Fs

Edit: some of the comments on youtube suggest that the car in this clip is not Chinese but has been modified specifically to fail catastrophically, and that it's a test of the facility rather than the car. Still wouldn't want to be in it.

[foxholeatheist]

I drive M1A1's every day and I wish they got up to 200MPH. The fastest I've gotten mine to go is about 30. I was told they take 30 gallons of fuel to start. Hard to believe until you have fueler detail.

http://forums.randi.org/imagehosting/thum_320584a8b32e12b5ea.jpg (http://forums.randi.org/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=17348)

I was in the loader's seat when someone decided to take some pot shots at our tank. I didn't even know it happened until we got back. Funny, most of that day I rode open hatch too so I could take in the sights and smoke so I guess I was pretty lucky. That's not a bad grouping either. Too bad they didn't understand that even if those shots had penetrated the glass that it's a mirror off-set system and they would have still been a few inches away from me.

The Abrams is a damn deadly vehicle. It's a hell of a thing to see a HEAT round turn a jeep inside out from 900 yards away while both vehicles are moving or to see a canister round (basically 120mm shotgun round, tens of thousands of ball bearings) make a building disappear.

The Chinese and Russians have technically better tanks but not the numbers. The Bradley's are even retrofitted with TOW missiles that could pose a serious risk to most MBTs.

[DogB]

The "Mouse" put an end to the monster tank. Even the M1-A1 is pushing the limits. Australia has bought some second hand ones, and we are wondering what use they are going to be. Getting them anywhere is going to be a major logistics problem for a small country, (in terms of population and wealth), for a start. Plus we are a huge country for such a small population, we can't get them around inside that easily for a start.

This was all a bit of a media beat up to be perfectly honest. The M1's aren't significantly bigger or heavier than competing MBT. As for moving them around we'll do exactly the same as every other country does, air, rail and road transport. Sure there's the odd bridge that won't take the weight but that's the same everywhere.

Lets face it, any country that relies as much on mining as we do is going to know how to move big equipment around. Compare an M1 to a D11 bulldozer or better yet a dragline excavator and you’ll see what I mean.

http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/2008/nov/20081105/20081028raaf8494074_0094_lo.jpg

[shadron]

John Ringo "SheVa" tank?

I'm surprised they didn't call it "Bun-Bun".

I'll raise you Keith Laumer's bolos.

[shadron]

Lets face it, any country that relies as much on mining as we do is going to know how to move big equipment around. Compare an M1 to a D11 bulldozer or better yet a dragline excavator and you’ll see what I mean.[/URL]

We can even cross the road in them, but you can't ask why.

[url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/metaphorge/20857986/ (http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/2008/nov/20081105/20081028raaf8494074_0094_lo.jpg)

[quadraginta]

I'll raise you Keith Laumer's bolos.


Those too.

Laumer writes much funnier dialogue, though.

[MikeSun5]

I drive M1A1's every day and I wish they got up to 200MPH. The fastest I've gotten mine to go is about 30. I was told they take 30 gallons of fuel to start. Hard to believe until you have fueler detail.

A buddy of mine just got back from driving M1s in the Sandbox and he claims they ran over a parked car at 40mph. Is he lying or just exaggerating? :)

The Abrams is a damn deadly vehicle. It's a hell of a thing to see a HEAT round turn a jeep inside out from 900 yards away while both vehicles are moving or to see a canister round (basically 120mm shotgun round, tens of thousands of ball bearings) make a building disappear.

Yea, and in the OP they claim a 478mm cannon on the fake tank. Awesome. Apparently, military leaders have been making huge caliber guns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_cannon_by_caliber) for a long time. Maybe they're trying to compensate for something.

[Just thinking]

That's Duke Nukem's tank.

http://vgtribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/duke-nukem.jpg

[Just thinking]

We can even cross the road in them, but you can't ask why.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/metaphorge/20857986/

Is that thing eligible for Cash for Clunkers?

[Just thinking]

Not a problem. There's lots of room in there for a few big turbines.

The real problem is the ground pressure. The vehicle weight went up by more than 16x, while the surface area only went up by about 8x. This thing would sink as soon as it went off-road. Cube-square scaling laws and all that.

- Dr. Trintignant

Doesn't that mean that ground pressure only doubled? Not that a tank doesn't exert tremendous pressure, but is a factor of 2 that much?

[Ian Osborne]

That's Duke Nukem's tank.

http://vgtribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/duke-nukem.jpg

VERY clever use of the pic there. A tank that doesn't exist associated with a game that doesn't exist... :D

[DC]

I think this one is even more impressively bad:

BOFIt9iw1Fs

Edit: some of the comments on youtube suggest that the car in this clip is not Chinese but has been modified specifically to fail catastrophically, and that it's a test of the facility rather than the car. Still wouldn't want to be in it.

wow, no indeed, i also wouldnt want to be in it or even near it :)

ETA: dont put to much weight on comments on youtube , been reading comments on Creationism videos, im pretty sure some comments werent really factual :S j/k.
i guess in this case it might be true.

[foxholeatheist]

A buddy of mine just got back from driving M1s in the Sandbox and he claims they ran over a parked car at 40mph. Is he lying or just exaggerating? :)



Yea, and in the OP they claim a 478mm cannon on the fake tank. Awesome. Apparently, military leaders have been making huge caliber guns (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_cannon_by_caliber) for a long time. Maybe they're trying to compensate for something.

The very first night route patrol I was on we were hit by a VBIED. The Larry Moe and Curley of explosives set it up because it didn't go off. The tank commander was riding out and then just dove into the tank nearly under the gunner. I didn't know what happened. I didn't even know we had been hit by a car. All the tank commander said when he dove in was "**** **** **** ****". Writing the SIGACT was fun because of that. We got out and I even treated the driver for some head wounds he got from the windshield. The crumpled hood gave away the white chalky stuff that was all taped up under there.

Good thing it didn't go off, there was a large amount of Hexamine (sp?) under the hood.

I am pretty sure tanks can get up to 40mph on improved roads but I've personally never seen it. I'm not a tanker, just attached to a tanker platoon. Patrols and route over-watch we're usually stationary or hardly crawling along. I've also never ran over a car, just hit by one. We've run over concrete barriers with ease so I reckon that a car would be nothing.

We bust enough torsion bars and throw enough track keeping it under 25 on roughish terrain. With the kind of range the tank has it don't need to be going that fast anyway.

478mm huh? They should have stepped it up further, it wouldn't be in proportion with the rest of the tank considering the real gun is 120mm. I wonder what kind of coax it would have. 11 crew? I can't even imagine what they would do really. And I just know that even with a huge tank like that the inside is still stuffy and hot like a metal grave. I hate it.