Buttoned vs Unbuttoned AFVs

[Probus]

Is there any case in which an unbuttoned AFV will be worse at spotting than a buttoned up AFV?  Like an M1 Abrams or M2 Bradley for instance?

If so, how can you tell?

Edited August 24, 2021 by Probus

[Artkin]

Id imagine anything outside 600m for ww2 titles, anything outside 800m-1000m for cmcw. 

And probably outside 300m for cmbs Americans..

 

[Codreanu]

Anything with commander's thermals maybe? I'd imagine they'd be better able to pick up stuff at long range if they were buttoned up. Barring that I always keep commander's heads out unless infantry are taking pop shots at them. Besides that I'm not even sure if vehicles even have different values for spotting when they're buttoned up. Can a buttoned up Sherman commander actually find a target faster than a buttoned up T-34, or really any combination of vehicle if we're disregarding ones with thermals? What about gunner's sights with different magnifications and fields of view?

[Probus]

Excellent questions!

[Erwin]

This the info I have accumulated re modern titles:

BUTTONED SPOTS BETTER:

Here is a possibly incomplete list of vehicles that spot better while buttoned all the time (but only to the front of the vehicle).

M1A2 Abrams

T-90AM

BM Oplot

M2A3 Bradley

M3A3 Bradley

M7A3 B-FIST

Khrizantema

Tunguska

I don't know for certain, but I think it very unlikely that vehicle crews have night vision goggles, so nearly all vehicles should stay buttoned in low light conditions.

 

UNBUTTONED SPOTS BETTER:

Recon-specific M1127 Stryker with LRAS3

IIRC all WW2 vehicles spot better unbuttoned.

[SimpleSimon]

The Cold War stuff will require the most analysis now I think. There's a degree to which vehicles like the BMP are definitely only as good and perhaps worse than World War 2 tanks even just because of where the Commander sits and the Gunner taking up the whole turret. 

Russian tanks definitely have very little provision for fighting unbuttoned. I think it was heavily discouraged if not banned entirely. With only 3-4 crewman losing that TC hurts way more than in a western tank.