When Armor Fails: Why no TAFV firefighting?
In the honest places of aviation, like fighter aircraft and civilian aerobatics, pilots and all aircrew have the humility to admit their aircraft could be disabled and have ejection seats or bail-out parachutes. In ground combat, even the narcissistic light infantry has medics, doctors and ambulances to try to save their lives when they fail to be bullet-proof. So why do we in the mobile, armored warfare community refuse to admit the fact that some of our vehicles WILL BE HIT AND SET ON FIRE?
You can say that every ounce of our energy can/should be spent towards preventing our tracked armored fighting vehicles (TAFVs = tanks) from being hit and penetrated. We concur totally---except that when ALL of these efforts have been exhausted---we do not squander away 28% of possible armor protection using wheeled trucks like Stryker/Humvees, we employ the latest multiple armor layers and hit avoidance stealth--hybrid-electric drives, band tracks, infared camouflage etc. the fact remains some vehicles will still have their armor penetrated and be set on fire. Now we can deny this reality that a wounded TAFV needs "first aid" to prevent its loss and the men inside's death/maiming and we will suffer tactical and operational failures.
During the 3rd ID's first "thunder run" into Baghdad a lucky RPG hit into the rear grill area of a M1 Abrams heavy tank resulted in the entire column being stopped trying to put the fire out with hand fire extinguishers and absurd use of precious drinking water; exposing the entire force to enemy fires that could now concentrate on a static target of TAFVs in a long row. Later on, this abandoned heavy tank became center of a cat & mouse struggle between us and the enemy to prevent it from being captured and sold to the Russians for technology secrets. This individual vehicle debacle process is not isolated to major nation-state wars: during the current rebellion in Iraq, a Bradley medium TAFV was set on fire by a car bomb and because we couldn't put the fire out and did not want it to fall into enemy hands, we lost both the vehicle and had to kill Iraqi civilians, adding fuel to the rebellion's moral level of war fire.
http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2004/09/12/baghdad-inside.jpg
The day of violence began at dawn when a volley of 12 mortar shells was fired into the Green Zone. As the shelling continued, U.S. troops backed by armored vehicles moved into the streets searching for the attackers.
A Bradley Fighting Vehicle rushed down Haifa Street near the Green Zone to assist a U.S. patrol when it was disabled by a car bomb, the U.S. military said. Two crewmen were wounded by the bomb and four were injured by grenades and small-arms fire as they fled the Bradley, the military said.
Jubilant fighters, curiosity seekers and young boys swarmed around the burning vehicle. Several placed a black and yellow banner of Tawhid and Jihad in the barrel of the Bradley's main gun.
U.S. Soldiers called for air support. As Army helicopters flew over the burning Bradley, "they received small-arms fire," a military statement said. The helicopters "fired upon the anti-Iraqi forces and the Bradley preventing the loss of sensitive equipment and weapons," the statement said. "An unknown number of insurgents and Iraq civilians were wounded or killed in the incident." Iraq's Health Ministry said 13 people were killed and 61 injured, though it was unclear how many were killed by the helicopter strike.
More details on the Bradley fire incident above: Best Video Yet of Iraq Occupation Debacle
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3519855663545752103&q=Iraq%3A+The+Hidden+War&hl=en