Because, they didn’t have “top secret” printer all over their speedometers, but on the other hand the government could possibly get a good little bonus if their tanks where able to get from point A to point B 50% faster then expected and all it took to surprise the enemy was knocking a few tens off of the officaly reported speed.
Also how do we know 1500hp is accurate then?
Boy, has this thread ever become a train wreck.
I will second Sam; I do not believe for one instant that an M1 can attain a speed of 100mph, and I’d like to see objective evidence that it can. “Well, the military says 45mph but they don’t tell you everything!” is the lamest thing you could possibly say. Let’s see evidence. I can certainly believe 55-60 MPH on level ground or a road. 100 is ridiculous.
beefyman, I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you drove Bradleys. or else you have some limited experience and you’re trying to parlay it into expertise you don’t have. You should have known there was no such thing as an M-60 tank in World War II; your “we won’t even take our M16s into combat” bit doesn’t make sense, you didn’t know the horsepower of an M1 where Sam Stone did, and the “vehicles we use in training aren’t the ones we use in combat, we have ones stashed away we pull out” bit is nonsense. Actual combat units DO train with mostly the same vehicles and weapons they would use in combat - why wouldn’t they? The U.S. Army does not have two entirely separate fleets of tanks, trucks, and APCs lying around.
But I’m willing to be proven wrong. Someone show me that an M-1 can do 100mph. A cite, please.
Knowing a bit about how the military works, I’ll chime in with galen ubal. Ungoverned, my uneducated guess is upwards of 60. I seriously doubt 100, but you never know. If I see beefyman around the boards more and come to trust that he’s actually been in the military and in a tank, I’d even buy 85. (No offense! I just don’t know anything about you)
Also, to address the OP… while I don’t know much about tanks, I do know a bit about turbine engines. Speaking for the Navy, even starting an APU (auxillary power unit, which is a very small jet engine) in a plane requires a checklist, to include an initial walk-around, then throwing some switches and guage checks inside the cockpit, step by step. Five minutes sounds reasonable to me for a tank with what sounds like the rough equivalent of an APU. Once you step up to a more complex machine like a P-3 aircraft, multiply this time by about ten.
One more thing. All those cites, including the manufacturer’s site, give the Bradley’s horsepower as 600, not 900 as beefyman says. I don’t think this is a “secret” from our potential enemies.
I don’t think removing the governor would multiply the speed by a cator of 2.5.
And I don’t think tracked vehicles would be allowed on the German Autobahn, let alone at the speeds mentioned. It would destroy the pavement. This I have a little personal experience with. I was in DC for the post-Desert Storm victory parade, and the streets were pretty torn up by the tanks, and I doubt they ever exceeded 5 mph.
I know nothing about tank operations, but I can tell you “it takes five minutes” to start a piston helicopter. Pre-ignition checklist (quick), start the engine, check gauges in the green, warm it up, engage rotors part way, stabilize RPM, engage rotors part way, stabilize RPM, engage rotors, raise RPM, check both magnetos, check carb heat, check Sprague clutch, check controls…
I too have read that the top speed of the M1-A1 is 45mph. I can believe 60mph (88kph).
beefyman: You’ll find that people on this board require verification for most things.
The M1 tank runs about 60 mph without any restrictor. The big tip off the his 100 mph figure is pure fantasy is the story about taking them on the Autobahn. In peace time you never take a tank down an asphalt road. It would just tear the road to pieces. I spent 8 years on the 29 Palms Marine base. All the roads on base had special concrete sections added so that the tanks could cross the road without doing massive amounts of damage. My radar unit was right beside the tank unit that field tested the M1’s before the Marines bought any. I walked down many times to take a look and talk with the guys getting to play with them. Those guys were very impressed with an unrestricted top speed in the high 50’s, and I never ever heard a claim of anything approaching 100 mph.
The 1500hp is acurate. The M1 series tank is equipped with a 1500 horsepower Lycoming Textron gas turbine engine coupled to an Allison hydrokenetic transmission with four forward and two reverse gears.
And the statement that the equipment we train with is not what we go to war with? That may be true with some minor equipment like gas masks or such, but when it comes to tanks, planes, and trucks, it is pure crap.
Un-governed speed for an M-1 is only a few MPH above goverened speed. Above that, the transmission fails miserably, and the tank comes to a grinding halt.
M-1 engines are made in public factories, and the information on those engines are public. 1500HP it is. Some configs of the M-1 weight closer to 70 tons.
Where’s ExTank…?
Tranq
Who’s father helped design the armor of the M-1
I think most tanks worldwide are diesel - US tanks are an exception.
Maybe beefyman was dreaming?
Just for the record, he only said he took a Bradley on the Autobahn. Not a tank.
Ooops, you are quite right on that one.
I mentally combined that with the M1’s blowing past while doing 85 mph. With the 85mph on the autobahn.
None the less, I know the M1 does not do anything like 100 mph.
It’s got a little bit of everything, doesn’t it.
Thanks for getting back to the OP (Not that I mind the speed hijack, mind you, it’s kind of interesting, especially the visual of an Abrams flying down the autobahn in broad daylight), but to clarify the question a bit-- in the special I saw, the tank was an older one. It was newer than the one’s I’ve seen during the Korean war and whatnot, but older than the newest one’s that I keep seening (M1?). If that helps any.
I guess the consensus so far is that five minutes isn’t that far out of line?
It would likely be an M-48, M-60, or M-551, then.
Slow starters, all.
<hijack> Do tanks require keys to start them? </hijack>
I am pretty sure they don’t need a key to start.
About 5 years ago a former tank driver stole a tank in Calif. and went on a rampage on the local streets. He smashed up a bunch of cars. The police eventually cornered him and he would not get out of the tank. He was shot to death in the tank.
And that incident was in a thread here within the last two weeks or so.
Tank Speed-
I was a M113 / M577 driver. These armored coffins could go about 45 pmh downhill (dangerous as hell becauses they go all over the road) and about 30-35 on flat ground. Anyhow the Bradley and the Abrahms go about 60 mph on flat ground and possibly 70mph downhill.
They all run diesel fuel standard, although the turbine can run anything from Jet Fuel (JP4) to moonshine. The m1 has a hell of a ride. You can hit a hole at 40mph and barley feel it, while a m113 will just about throw everyone out of the track. I used to be an evil driver and look for big holes to toture my Tank Commander / crew with…(WHAM…whoops…evil snicker)
All of these vehicles can start quick. They don’t use a checklist (except during maintence.) and they can all be moving in under a minute. Tanks don’t fall out of the sky if the turbine dies unlike a plane.
I was wondering how a tracked vehicle handled at high speed. Always thought it would be pretty strange.
I have driven some bulldozers and track-hoes. They make one hell of a racket. I can’t imagine how much noise a tank moving 50 miles an hour would make.
Are we through bashing beefyman’s posts? 'Cause I wanted to point out that he is also wrong about the weaponry of the Bradley. He said 35mm cannon, actually it is a 25mm. Where do these people come from?