Mystery behind Aug. 28 incident
puzzles Army officials
By John Roos
Special to the Times
Shortly before dawn on Aug. 28, an M1A1 Abrams tank on routine
patrol in Baghdad was hit by something that crippled the 69-ton
behemoth.
Army officials still are puzzling over what that something
was.
According to an unclassified Army report, the mystery projectile
punched through the vehicles skirt and drilled a pencil-sized hole
through the hull. The hole was so small that my little finger will
not go into it, the reports author noted.
The something continued into the crew compartment, where it
passed through the gunners seatback, grazed the kidney area of the
gunners flak jacket and finally came to rest after boring a hole
1½ to 2 inches deep in the hull on the far side of the tank.
As it passed through the interior, it hit enough critical
components to knock the tank out of action. That made the tank one
of only two Abrams disabled by enemy fire during the Iraq war and
one of only a handful of mobility kills since they first rumbled
onto the scene 20 years ago. The other Abrams knocked out this year
in Iraq was hit by an RPG-7, a rocket-propelled grenade.
Experts believe whatever it is that knocked out the tank in August
was not an RPG-7 but most likely something new and that worries
tank drivers.
To read more...click on the following link...
http://www.armytimes.com/print.php?f=1-292236-2336437.php
