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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian tank brews up in Darya district of Damascus after being hit
2013-01-31
The impact is from some kind of anti-tank weapon. Can't tell if it's been doctored, but the footage is pretty dramatic:
Posted by:Zhang Fei

#21  Maybe he was taking care of the effects of too much falafel and decided to light up a smoke.
Posted by: gorb   2013-01-31 22:58  

#20  The tank is hit from the rear by an antitank round - coming in horizontally. I think the running man was ejected or climbed out the top. I see him fall on the ground after the turret fireball. His trousers are burnt off him. I don't think he came out the of the front hatch. Could be wrong - maybe he did during all the smoke and ran around the back and fell. He runs around the back in the direction of the incoming fire and then away from it. He is under fire. A round impacts one of the pillars of the building he runs under right at the end of the video. He likely has serious burns. May also have a dislocated or broken right arm.
Posted by: bushman   2013-01-31 20:45  

#19  Worst thing you can do with armor is stop and sit without supporting infantry.

A Russian version of CROWS might have helped. But I think there's no substitute for infantry eyes, because of the 360 degree perspective they get. And these tanks had all kinds of buildings in close proximity, including the one from which the video was shot. What the heck were they thinking? Instead of using tanks as mobile artillery to support infantry assaults, they're using them as mobile pill boxes. Unfortunately for these guys, they're nowhere near as survivable as real pill boxes. This was a serious waste of good hardware.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2013-01-31 20:38  

#18  I set the video in HD mode, 1080p, full screen. Then I went to the 5 sec mark on the video. Then rapid double click, got a short advance each double click. The fellow under the tank was moving around a bit before the explosion. Then in the later part of the 5 second time, I saw the antitank round heading in. Then big smoke and boooooosh flame. What a way to die.....
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2013-01-31 20:00  

#17  The super-slow video I saw had a red circle around the anti-tank round. The guy came out from under the tank and his pants were in tatters.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2013-01-31 19:46  

#16  If this is their armor crews, Assad need a new end-game plan. His armor is going to be taken out piece-meal.
Posted by: Charles   2013-01-31 18:33  

#15  "Situational awarity not seem too good."

I thinks they gots Insha'allah awareness too, Ship. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara   2013-01-31 18:12  

#14  "Even tank barrels need maintenance via cleaning."

I'm sure they depend on Insh'allah maintenance.
Posted by: Barbara   2013-01-31 18:01  

#13  Tank in the foreground reacts very slowly. Situational awarity not seem too good.
Posted by: Shipman   2013-01-31 17:46  

#12  Worst thing you can do with armor is stop and sit without supporting infantry. Second worst thing is park them with the sides exposed in clusters of two or more. Reactive armor is on the front for a reason.
Posted by: Besoeker   2013-01-31 16:23  

#11  I thought the same dscott, but following a few viewings the vid slowed down for some reason to reveal a flash on this side of the turrent and what appear to reveal the main gun firing.

View it at 1080p/hi-def format. A lot of details become clearer. It's clear that the video camera operator set up the shot on a tripod just before the attack. The footage is just beautiful. Too bad about the tank crew.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2013-01-31 15:55  

#10  I see somebody "working" in the back end of the tank, did that guy set some sort of IED and it went off a little early?
Posted by: PJO, a twins with twins   2013-01-31 13:59  

#9  Interesting that the term "brew up" has survived since ww2.
Posted by: Grunter   2013-01-31 12:34  

#8  I changed to full-screen mode and it gos very slow motion I could plainly see an anti-tank round comming in from the left. The runner's pants were blown off.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2013-01-31 12:13  

#7  The main gun breach could have been open causing the fire to shoot out of the barrel.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2013-01-31 12:09  

#6  Char-B-Q, now THAT'S how to tailgate!
Posted by: Rex Mundi   2013-01-31 11:13  

#5  I thought the same dscott, but following a few viewings the vid slowed down for some reason to reveal a flash on this side of the turrent and what appear to reveal the main gun firing. The other possibility could be a premature electrical detonation of the propellant charge, which would be more in line with your thesis. In any event, we know who the luckiest soldier in Syria is. We don't know his name, but we certainly know his MOS.
Posted by: Besoeker   2013-01-31 08:46  

#4  It looks more like a misfire of the tank gun. Look at the 5 sec mark, a plume first comes out of the gun barrel before the explosion. Even tank barrels need maintenance via cleaning.
Posted by: dscott   2013-01-31 08:35  

#3  Propellant charges in the carrousel or hull storage going off. Appears running man (driver) went out the bottom hatch. Gunner and TC, not so lucky.
Posted by: Besoeker   2013-01-31 02:23  

#2  Did "running man" get blown out of the thing?
Posted by: tu3031   2013-01-31 01:23  

#1  "Just one spritz of Tank-B-Gone..."
Posted by: SteveS   2013-01-31 01:17  

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