I’ve been browsing Globalsecurity researching possible tanks I’d like to build in 1/72 scale, and I find myself mystified by the idea of searchlights in battle. Granted, a tank would be more maneuverable than a battleship (which, if memory serves, also used searchlights to find one another during night battles). But why use a searchlight to find targets when that would just as well pinpoint your position? Does that just make it a matter of finding and shooting your enemy before he gets you?
And how would an infrared searchlight work? Do they operate on a similar principle to what happens when you put a white shirt under a UV lamp?
Where’s ExTank when you need him? Modern tanks do have radar, and are designed to minimize their radar profile. Searchlights would be handy if you’re trying to manover in less than optimum conditions. After all, no one wants to drive into their buddy’s tank, or drive their tank off a cliff.
IR searchlights are handy for seeing through fog and smoke (common on battlefields), and you need IR goggles to see anything illuminated with IR lights.
Modern main battle tanks have night vision gear built into the tank. I seriously doubt they’d use a search light in a battle (better to point you cannon at the bad guy than your light). That said there might be all sorts of reasons to have a light on board outside of a battle (illuminate the area while refueling as an example).
Not to mention when you’re driving around in a “friendly” area (like the base), after dark, the lights make it handy for folks to see you! Keeps the pedestrians from walking into the tank.
I do not think regular tanks have radar on board. Armored vehicles used as AA vehicles sure but not your “basic” tank. The M1A1 at least does not have one (or my link above makes no mention of it).
Not true; although they could shoot upwards of 15 miles, a whole lot of WWII battleship fights in the Pacific were point-blank slugfests under 5 miles. They had really powerful searchlights.
Searchlights made a life-or-death difference at Guadalcanal, where South Dakota sailed between Japanese battleships. Kirishima, one of the Japanese ships, used its searchlights to get a better aim at South Dakota, and was promptly hammered by Washington, who couldn’t tell the two apart on radar, but used the searchlights as an aiming point.
Also, there were quite a few night battles in WWI (pre-radar) where they probably used searchlights, although aiming at the muzzle flashes was more common.
In the movie Courage Under Fire , Denzel Washington used the lights on the tanks under his command to save the day. After a friendly-fire incident, he ordered all his tanks to turn on their lights. They then proceeded to blast all the Iraqi tanks who had their lights off.
One wonders why the Iraqis didn’t similarly turn their lights on once they realized what was happening.
I’m not claiming that this movie is a great reflection of real life army techniques.
Tanks are not merely anti-tank weapons; they are also anti-personnel and anti-fortification weapons. If facing an enemy that did not have anti-tank weaponry at night, a searchlight would be invaluable for illuminating targets.
Even in a tank-to-tank encounter, while a searchlight viewed from the side makes a good target, a searchlight viewed head on makes shooting extremely difficult (one has a target, but no idea of range).
(Searchlights are not necessary for maneuvering around friendly areas at night: tanks have standard headlights for that sort of movement.)
I think the last american tank that operated a search light , was the M-60 MBT , it was mounted on the main gun. Mainly I think it was a hold over from days when battles were strictly day affairs and night battles were accidental.
Modern tanks, in “first world” countries, do not have searchlights. The searchlight, when used operationally, had an IR filter over it, so that the beam was invisible to the naked eye. The gunner in the searchlight-equipped tank looked through a night-vision sight, allowing him to see what was illuminated. This was a stopgap measure that relied upon a less-sophisticated enemy not having night vision. If they had been eqipped with Night Vision Goggles/weapons sights, the searchlight would indeed stand out like a sore thumb.
I have been a crewmember on an M1A1 Abrams for 9 years. As far as I’m aware, no tank has radar.
Modern tanks no longer use searchlights. They use thermal sights. We “see” in heat. This is a MUCH better battlefield sight. It doesn’t give away the shooting tank’s position. It also allows for easier identification of vehicles. (gunner must know the position of “hot” components on friendly and enemy vehicles).
That scene in Courage Under Fire was pure Hollywood Baloney. In combat, tanks would have IR filters in place over their headlight. This would prevent a driver from accidentally turning on the headlights and giving away the tank’s position in VISIBLE LIGHT. Not really related; the tanks in that movie are really some smaller tracked vehicle with phony tank body and turret added on.
