Deep, deeper and deepest water fording with main battle tanks.

[Tanker]

A M1A1 Abrams tank can ford 1.22 meters without preparation and 2 meters with a deep water fording kit.

A T-72 can ford 1.2 meters without and 5 meters with preparation.

A T-62 can cross waters 5.5 meters deep with a snorkel.

A T-80 can dive . . . 12 meters with a BROD-M system. (See:
http://www.geocities.com/rohim94/interest/vehicle.html )

I wonder how all this stuff works. I understand that Russian tanks must prepare for about twenty minutes
before they can plunge five meters deep.
Knows anybody what exactly they do? Do they put a rubber seal around the turret-ring and a plug into the main
gun-barrel?
And what is precisely a BROD-M system?

[Thomas]

Why do the Russians design tanks to ford in such deep waters? Wouldn't the
use of ribbon bridges or landing crafts be more practical?

Do they intend to use tanks to capture oppossing shores straight away
without the use of landing crafts? Or are they meant for the first wave
where they would secure the beachead after it has been successfully
capptured by the amphious forces?

If their main gun-barrels are plugged, how do they intend to fight?

Tommy

Post by Tanker
A M1A1 Abrams tank can ford 1.22 meters without preparation and 2 meters

with a deep water fording kit.

Post by Tanker
A T-72 can ford 1.2 meters without and 5 meters with preparation.
A T-62 can cross waters 5.5 meters deep with a snorkel.
http://www.geocities.com/rohim94/interest/vehicle.html )
I wonder how all this stuff works. I understand that Russian tanks must

prepare for about twenty minutes

Post by Tanker
before they can plunge five meters deep.
Knows anybody what exactly they do? Do they put a rubber seal around the

turret-ring and a plug into the main

Post by Tanker
gun-barrel?
And what is precisely a BROD-M system?

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[Scott Ferrin]

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[Mike Miller]

Post by Scott Ferrin

Wouldn't the water do a really good job of defeating HEAT/RPG.
I don't think long-rods will do very well at penetrating water at
a shallow angle either.

Yep. Most liquids, like water and diesel, serve as RHA steel armor
about 1/10th to 1/5th the thickness of the liquid. IIRC. Maybe just
for HEAT attacks. But a meter or two of water should add up.

Post by Scott Ferrin
I saw a picture once of a long-rod impact on a tank that suggests it
would probably not even notice the water was there. The dart was on a
path almost parallel to the gun barrel of the enemy tank. There was a
*long* skidmark down the outside of the barrel that got progressively
deeper until the dart entered the barrel of the gun of the tank it was
fired at.

I think that was in a Time-Life book series on the military, in the
book on Armor. I've seen that picture, too.

Mike Miller, Materials Engineer

[BobMac]

Post by Tanker
I wonder how all this stuff works.

IIRC, badly.

rm