Comment on Estonia is digging a 40 km trench to stop Russian tanks — and 600 bunkers are next
Warl0k3@lemmy.world 15 hours agoAt the very least you have to slow and turn your turret away from the place you want to go
You don’t, though, not in this case - because this isn’t an anti-tank ditch. You might have to elevate to prevent sticking your snoot in the berm, but (and not to go all war-thunder here) it’s two button presses and at most a second’s delay in motion to get back on sight, and thanks to the stabilization the turret is still tracking the entire time you’re doing that. And that’s just if you don’t blast the berm out of the way. And this doesn’t apply to most AFV’s, since they don’t have protruding barrels that might foul while crossing this.
There’s lots more here about the way static defenses factor into defense in depth and how modern improvements to the strategy incorporate information warfare to improve the cost/effect ratio, but I’m lazy - if you want to learn more look up Ukraine and Russia’s current anti-tank policy or Russia’s counter-counter-strike preparations from last year. At the very least though it’ll give you some photos of what a legit anti-tank barrier looks like, which isn’t this goofy thing designed just to deter the so horrible “migration offensive”.
Madison420@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
Yes you do physics exists and gun barrels aren’t super into impacts or being filled with mud.
You’re article supports me not you. It never says it is or isn’t a anti tank ditch, it does imply it’s anti vehicle though with tanks being a vehicle.
Warl0k3@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
… Right, which is why I said you’d need to elevate the barrel, my point being that such a maneuver is not a tactical disadvantage.
A small stone wall will stop a Cupra and this ditch sure would be annoying to cross with a bicycle, but while all ditches could be anti-vehicle ditches, very few ditches are anti-tank ditches.
Really though, I’m trying to figure out how to phrase ‘how does physics factor into this’ in a more useful way, because obviously molecules stay together and gravity works, but do you have anything more than that? You can poke a tank barrel through a cinderblock wall without taking it out of battery, it’s a massive tempered steel bar, and barrel obstructions are extremely difficult to get In modern modern tanks, tho iirc not on the T-72, soft barrel obstructions like dirt/mud/water/gravel/etc. can be cleared automatically from the breach controls by diverting pressure from the pneumatics. IIRC the T-72 had to use a squib to achieve the same result, which was stupid dangerous for russian-engineering reasons.
::: spoiler Ps
Buddy that was only evidence for not having to slow, not having to turn the turret. This is starting to feel like you’re just lashing out because your preconceptions are being challenged, not you having a genuine intellectual objection to what I’m saying. You’re clearly unfamiliar with the topic, and you’re butting up against the big dunning-kruger trench (which ironically would make a much more effective tank defense than what’s picture in the OP).
Please just go do a little bit of your own research instead of lashing out with random objections like this, then come back. Even on it’s own it’s a potentially important topic to be familiar with, what with the rise of far right nationalism the world over, and it’s getting clear you don’t have much theoretical (let alone practical) familiarity with the capabilities of AFVs.
Madison420@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Except that’s again not how physics works, they’re not anti air guns bud. Hull go down = barrel go down and no MBT has 90° of elevation so you turn your turret round just like your own video shows.
Again nothing is going to stop a tank group who wants to get through history has taught us this again and again, all you do is slow them down.
AFVs aren’t tanks btw, if you’re gonna be weirdly tedious about strange stuff you might want to be correct.
Warl0k3@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Correct: AFVs aren’t tanks, but tanks are AFVs. Using the supercategory in this case is just a nod to actual tanks being pretty rare on a modern battlefield vs. the vast number of tracked armored vehicles.
And also yeah, no argument about gun elevation. Which is why you just go fast over a trench like this, and rely on it being < 1/2 the length of your vehicle (ex: the T-72 has a ground support length of around 9m for this roughly 4m trench) for added stability while crossing. Which totally ignores that you’d only get to where a 90° elevation would be relevant if you go so slow you’re pointing directly down into the trench, which wouldn’t happen if you impacted the angled far wall (which is why real tank ditches are shaped like the dunning kruger graph or the trench in the vid I linked - a sharp vertical wall to prevent climbing combined with an angled ramp to direct the bulk of the tank downwards before it’s feasible for the gap to be jumped)
Keep in mind that tanks initially existed for the sole reason of crossing tanks like this. While warfare has evolved and tanks no longer have WWI / Warhammer style gigantic climbing tracks, the basic use of a tank as an obstacle-crossing fire support vehicle has not changed.