Zaphael

Would like to ask a questions to any guys who have dealt with tank main rounds. Are APFSDS rounds on higher calibre guns (75mm above), have tracers? Or are those streaks we see from photos of night firing exercises inherent from the nature of the APFSDS rounds?

lemontree

Tracers are not required for tank rounds, you would give out your position with tracer rounds.

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Cheers!...on the rocks!!

leib10

Remember, tracers work both ways!

I remember reading that somewhere.

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"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. So wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes." G-Man

Anon

The 105mm APFSDSDU definitely had tracers(seem them go down range first hand more than once), not sure about the 120mm rounds, but i would think so.

Anon

The funny thing about tracers is that the operator of the weapon typically can't even see them at all.

They are useful for directing the fire of friendly elements though. And yes, they definitely work both ways, and so do the PE-1Q(and other) laser sights and laser rangefinders out there.

Bluesman

I used to go out to Tank Table Eight (right on Motor Pool Road) on Fort Hood. The Army would let ANYbody on post back then (1984-1985), and you could seriously drive over to a set of bleachers beside the road, dismount, and watch the M-1s come out of parking, right past you on the road, and down into the revetments to fire two each HE, and some flavor of AP.

You could track the rounds with the naked eye...due to the 'tracer' or whatever in the tail of the round.

Cool. Loved doin' that.

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"The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it, and if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory."
- George Orwell

Anon

Sill was great for the free shows too. Nothing like a Bn level ripple fire of MLRS rockets at night.

Bluesman

Oh, COOL. I'd like to see THAT.

Bluesman

My favorite of the Ft. Hood events was the Horse Platoon's charges at the end of any change-of-command in a cav unit.

Forty-plus mounted troopers goin' hell-for-leather across the parade field, with the bugler sounding the charge, sabres out, standing in the stirrups and yelling like fiends from the Inferno.

THAT was wicked-cool, too.

Anon

Lyrics to the Iron Maiden song, THE TROOPER:

"You'll take my life but I'll take yours too
You'll fire your musket but I'll run you through
So when you're waiting for the next attack
You'd better stand there's no turning back.
The bugle sounds and the charge begins
But on this battlefield no one wins
The smell of acrid smoke and horses breath
As I plunge on into certain death.
The horse he sweats with fear we break to run
The mighty roar of the Russian guns
And as we race towards the human wall
The screams of pain as my comrades fall
We hurdle bodies that lay on the ground
And the Russians fire another round
We get so near yet so far away
We won't live to fight another day.
We get so close near enough to fight
When a Russian gets me in his sights
He pulls the trigger and I feel the blow
A burst of rounds take my horse below.
And as I lay there gazing at the sky
My body's numb and my throat is dry
And as I lay forgotten and alone
Without a tear I draw my parting groan"

It's no wonder Cav troops are usually big Iron Maiden fans.

Bluesman

Made the hair stand up on my neck...

lemontree

I stand corrected, maybe I have not seen an AFPDS round being fired, just plan old HEAT.

Anon

It's also possible that Russian ammo(or indeed Indian ammo) is not the same.

I've only ever seen US 105mm tank guns fired live, and those had tracers.

Bluesman

Same here. Those were the 105-armed M-1s.

RustyBattleship

In the old days of M-41 tanks with the 76 mm gun and M-47 tanks with the 90 mm gun, certain rounds had tracer "Pills" in their base. Usually the shot (inert practice) rounds did not but some versions did. I believe all HE rounds had tracers. The tracer cartridge was well placed deep into the thick base of the shell casing and could NOT be seen well from the side or definitely not at all from in front. Unfortunately due to heat distortion in the air and a cloud of dust kicked up from the muzzle blast the gunner and TC usually could not track the tracer. Especially during bright sun light (it was just a dark red spot zinging downrange). Sometimes the dust was so thick (even with the blast deflectors we used in those days) we couldn't even see the round hit the target. However, spotters off to the side just 15 or 20 feet away could track it very well and report in corrections.

As I recall (going back quite a few years now), AP rounds did not have tracers but HEAT rounds did. WP and Cannister had no need for tracers for obvious reasons.