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Single 125mm sabot round takes out 2 Bradleys


apd1004

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I never thought I would see this happen, but it did. Years ago I used to joke about sabot rounds passing through multiple vehicles.
 
In the first photo, the round hits the front of the Bradley furthest from the camera. There is only one incoming main gun round from the tank in the distance, the rest of the tracers are outgoing 25mm.

 

16507784415_2f7389a044_o.jpg

 

In the second photo, the same round passes through the first Bradley and penetrates the right side of the Bradley behind the first one. Note the time - 34:53 in both photos.

 

15887620193_aa02dbef0f_o.jpg

 
Unbelievable, but true.
 
In the third photo, you can see how the round took out one of the reactive armor blocks and then you can see the hole in the side of the hull on the other Bradley (in blue circle).

 

16320048008_51a7b64688_o.jpg
 
Kudos to the design team for that much attention to detail and realism.

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apd1004,

 

Though I can't speak to the panoply of things that happen to a thick long rod du penetrator when it hits ERA, detonates that, passes through unknown Bradley components and people, exits, then goes through much the same exercise with the side of the other Bradley. The odds of that happening have a lot to do with what effect the ERA has on the hard charging KE projectile, whether it "J"s when striking armor, other deflections generated, effects of projectile impact on a range of target materials. Could it happen? Perhaps. What I do know is that it's vastly more credible than a CMBN shot from a Panther in which no less than three Shermans died from one successively penetrating shot. I seriously doubt dud PzGr 39 could do that. If it wasn't a dud, then it would've detonated in the first tank. For sure, the Panther wouldn't have used PzGr 40 (if it had any) on Shermans.

 

Regards,

 

John Kettler

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I encountered this kind of situation several times already, I must say that imho it's realistic.

All considered, even the heavier IFVs have just a thin aluminium armor layer to oppose to penetrator rounds specifically designed to pierce the fronts of modern tanks.

 

I also have the impression (but didn't read nothing technical about it so is just an assumption), that being aluminium rather flammable, the penetrated armor would also become a cloud of melted shards expanding inside the fighting compartment at supersonic velocities - after being subjected to the attrition of the penetrator making way through it. Maybe somebody more prepared than me on this technicalities could shed some light. But it's not difficult to imagine the effect of said fragmentation effect on the occupants bodies, ammunition and equipment inside the IFV

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The base armor on the A3 version of the BFV is supposed to be able to withstand 30mm fire from the front. That's without ERA. There is laminated steel & aluminum armor pretty much all around, and even some titanium on the turret. A 125mm sabot round definitely has the ability to go through one Bradley and into another, and the ERA blocks aren't a sure thing for defeating a round like that. A few years ago in Iraq there was an M1A1 that got struck in the side skirt by a .50 cal SLAP round and the round penetrated the skirt and the side of the hull and went into the crew compartment and hit the back of the gunner's seat. Bullets can do strange things.

 

I have no doubt it could happen in RL, I'm more surprised and impressed that the game can simulate such an event occurring. I shouldn't have had my Bradleys in a parking lot like that anyway.

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May I surmise that the phenomenon the op described happens with light weapons and infantry too? I remember several games in Normandy and Italy where my infantry was jogging in column formation and an MG-42 on their front dropped two or three men istantly. I don't understand though, if it was a single bullet passing through a soldier and hit the one standing behind him, or they were just invested by different bullets of the same volley

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May I surmise that the phenomenon the op described happens with light weapons and infantry too? I remember several games in Normandy and Italy where my infantry was jogging in column formation and an MG-42 on their front dropped two or three men istantly. I don't understand though, if it was a single bullet passing through a soldier and hit the one standing behind him, or they were just invested by different bullets of the same volley

 

No reason why it wouldn't be the same bullet. Hitting two or more people with the same round has been with us since firearms were invented. Oswald killing Kennedy and nearly killing Connally with one round is a famous example from history.

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In a CMSF scenario, I witnessed one of my snipers fire a single shot at an enemy 2 man RPG team moving towards by my forces at between 400 and 500 metres.  One was right behind the other when the fateful shot was fired and both went down as casualties immediately on the one shot.  So 'punch through' on soldiers does appear to be simulated in the game.

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The base armor on the A3 version of the BFV is supposed to be able to withstand 30mm fire from the front. That's without ERA. There is laminated steel & aluminum armor pretty much all around, and even some titanium on the turret. A 125mm sabot round definitely has the ability to go through one Bradley and into another, and the ERA blocks aren't a sure thing for defeating a round like that. A few years ago in Iraq there was an M1A1 that got struck in the side skirt by a .50 cal SLAP round and the round penetrated the skirt and the side of the hull and went into the crew compartment and hit the back of the gunner's seat. Bullets can do strange things.

 

I have no doubt it could happen in RL, I'm more surprised and impressed that the game can simulate such an event occurring. I shouldn't have had my Bradleys in a parking lot like that anyway.

Wow!  I know .50cal SLAP rounds are badass but I didn't know they were capable of that kind of penetration.

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I never thought I would see this happen, but it did. Years ago I used to joke about sabot rounds passing through multiple vehicles.

 

In the first photo, the round hits the front of the Bradley furthest from the camera. There is only one incoming main gun round from the tank in the distance, the rest of the tracers are outgoing 25mm.

 

16507784415_2f7389a044_o.jpg

 

In the second photo, the same round passes through the first Bradley and penetrates the right side of the Bradley behind the first one. Note the time - 34:53 in both photos.

 

15887620193_aa02dbef0f_o.jpg

 

Unbelievable, but true.

 

In the third photo, you can see how the round took out one of the reactive armor blocks and then you can see the hole in the side of the hull on the other Bradley (in blue circle).

 

16320048008_51a7b64688_o.jpg

 

Kudos to the design team for that much attention to detail and realism.

Welcome to Combat Mission  ;)

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