# Are tanks of any use anymore on the modern battlefield?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tanks-of-any-use-anymore-on-the-modern-battlefield/961813
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [March 28, 2022, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tanks-of-any-use-anymore-on-the-modern-battlefield/961813 "2022-03-28T01:22:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 24

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### Author: ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [March 28, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tanks-of-any-use-anymore-on-the-modern-battlefield/961813/24 "2022-03-28T20:58:53Z")

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> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#):
>
> T-72 tank is not a very good main battle tank and has a number of inherent vulnerabilities,

One thing that most (all?) contemporary Russian tanks have is autoloaders, and as a result, their ammunition is stored in a carousel either in the turret or right below. This makes them hideously vulnerable to having the ammo go up on a penetrating hit, and is a big part of why so many Russian tanks exhibit the “jack-in-the-box effect” when hit (the turret blows up in the air as its ammo explodes).

[![](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-3efd323c833860980285e2c97b08c54a) ](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-3efd323c833860980285e2c97b08c54a)

Meanwhile most Western tanks still have a dedicated crewman who loads the main gun, and also store the ammunition in a protected part of the turret with specific blow-out panels on top. That way, if the ammo is hit, and the blast door isn’t open, it can blow up/cook off/catch fire and any blast/fire will be channeled up and out of the tank via the blow-off panels.

Here’s a test showing what I’m talking about:

[M1A1 & M1A2 tank blow out panels on ammunition stowage - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay7bOG2nD6k)

You can see the operation of the blast door in this shot of a Dutch Leopard 2 loader (who seems pretty old, IMO):

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bOg0AQeI_sw/maxresdefault.jpg "Tank Autoloader or Crewman Loader?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOg0AQeI_sw&t=167)

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