TANK ROOFS
Carlton Meyer
Traditional anti-tank tactics are to sit tight and hope for a flank or rear shot into thinner armor. However, tanks also have thin armor overhead. Advanced munitions have made "top attack" the favorite option for modern anti-tank weaponry.
New TOW-2B, MPIM/SRAW "Predator", Bofors BILL and Javelin Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGMs), as well as advanced anti-tank main gun rounds are designed to overfly a tank and fire a submunition downward. U.S. Army 155mm SADARM munitions deploy a parachute and use an IR sensor to fire a anti-tank charge downward. Bofors of Sweden is selling 120mm Strix anti-tank mortar rounds with an IR sensor in the nose, and the British are selling a similiar 81mm Merlin round. Smaller weapons like Javelin (2,000 meter range) incorporate an IR sensor and a high arcing shot for "top attack". Long-range missiles can explode overhead and litter an area with anti-armor submunitions which explode through whatever they fall upon. High-flying aircraft can drop munitions which float downward until an IR sensor acquires a target, and the new Brilliant Anti-Tank (BAT) munitions seek out loud engines. Finally, a simple Russian RPG can be fired downward from tall buildings.
The front third of the M1A1 tank already has heavy armor to withstand anti-tank weaponry. The roofs may also have hinges to allow them to swing away from the rear area to allow engine replacement, or to blow away when struck by a tank's ammo blow off panels.
Turret mounted "kitchen table" tank roof: a simple design, but the rear area becomes exposed as the turret turns
One solution is to add armor to a tank's topside. However, this option is far too costly and would increase a tanks' weight by 30%. The ideal solution is to use the concept of "armor spacing" in a major way by adding armored roofs over tank turrets. A large plate of steel about a half inch thick could be added 3-feet above the top of the tank turret, like a canopy. It could be attached to the rear end and overhang the tank like a diving board, or it could resemble a large four-leg kitchen table welded to the turret.
Requires heavy support beams and does not allow the turret to rotate 360 degrees
Top attack munitions and 20-30 mm aircraft and helicopter cannon would penetrate the roof, but their explosive force would dissipate in the 3-foot space between the roof and the tank itself. If the roof extends four feet past the rear of the turret, it would shield the IR signature of the M1A1s extremely hot gas turbine engine. IR guided munitions from above would strike at the hot exhaust flowing out behind a moving tank. Tank roofs are an inexpensive and simple modification necessary to protect tanks from modern munitions.
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E-mail May 1998
