NBC Capability of the Abrams MBT
- Thread starter Evander
- Start date
The interior of the crew compatment is positively pressurised and filtered against Nuclear Biological and Chemical attack - that has been the case in all western MBT's since the 60's.
But I have no idea what degree of radiation shielding the armour provides.
Kato was in a NBC-Unit (albeit a german one), maybe he knows. MBTs shouldn't differ much in this regard.
With the Leopard II they told us that we are safe as long as the bomb doesn't kills us directly or shatters the tank so much that the seals are broken. Just need to find a decon unit before one exits the tank.
I have no idea how much of this talking was just the usual "everything will be ok" stuff. We also didn't concentrate much on NBC in general during training compared to what units did during the cold war.
With the Leopard II they told us that we are safe as long as the bomb doesn't kills us directly or shatters the tank so much that the seals are broken. Just need to find a decon unit before one exits the tank.
I have no idea how much of this talking was just the usual "everything will be ok" stuff. We also didn't concentrate much on NBC in general during training compared to what units did during the cold war.
What they told you is correct.
Of course a nearby nuclear explosion may and likely will, depending on circumstances and weapon used either shatter your hatches, cook you in the tank or irradiate and kill you through the armour first.
Tests have proven that as far as only structural survivability is concerned, a regular tank can "survive" a 10 kt tactical nuclear explosion at 500 meters distance; one such tank used in tests at this distance, a Centurion Mk3, subsequently served for another 23 years in a British tank regiment. Estimates are that destruction of the tank would occur at 350 meters. The same tests showed that the crew won't survive that at either distance btw.
Low-yield neutron weapons (~1 kt) of the early 80s were calculated to reliably kill tank crews at 1200 meters distance, instantly at 700 meters - these low distances is why neutron bombs were criticized as not being effective at all on the battlefield at the time. 10 kt regular bombs would rely mostly on blast effects against tanks at such distances, blowing the hatches open and exposing the crew to the resulting firestorm and airborne isotopes.
Against radioactive isotopes in dust and dirt any post-WW2 MBT is armoured well enough. In Trinity a Sherman lined with an extra 50mm of lead all around was used to drive up to Ground Zero after the explosion.