Question:
How lethal is a Russian Rpg-29 vs an American M1A2 Abrams MBT?
2013-09-06 17:30:25 UTC
How easily could a round penetrate the rear and side armor of the hull and turret. ......

Lets be honest any idiot knows not to shoot a tank in the front, so lets focus on its weakest points.
Four answers:
help
2013-09-06 18:04:14 UTC
Why would you possibly need to know this? lets hope the Abrams smokes you before you have the chance. BTW, the rpg wouldnt penetrate anywhere. best go for shooting the tread and wheels.
2014-07-24 18:02:54 UTC
To be sure, it is never easy to predict things like this. The exact capabilities of weapons are not something militaries advertise truthfully. And while we can predict armor penetration with simple algebra the real world and each circumstance has many more variables.



I have seen a training video on the M-90 recoiless rifle that showed three M1A2 SEPs being penetrated by the M-90. Two of the shots were on the front of the turret to the right of the gun (the insurgents must have been well trained and confident in their weapon to make those shots!!!). The M-90 is a Yugo/Serbian weapon very similar to the RPG-29. So, yes, I would assume the RPG-29 can do the same or better. It must be noted that these weapons are very different from the RPG-7 (what most people think of when they hear "RPG") and much more deadly.



To break this down farther we do not know for sure what the armor value of the M1A2 SEPs turret front is. It could range from 780mm-1400mm RHA vs a chemical penetrator (HEAT warhead). The M-90 and RPG-29 both have an expected penetration of 750mm-800mm RHA. So at first this might cause us to assume the M1A2 SEPs turret has the lower value of 780mm RHA vs HEAT. And this is reinforced by the two penetration shots that were filmed seemed to be only partial penetrations. Flash and smoke came out of the open hatches after the hit, but it did not explode or burn which means majority of the plasma jet was spent getting through the armor and the inside was probably not very damaged, not sure about the crew.



But there is more to it than that. The M1A2 SEP has simple reactive armor. On the surface there is a blast plate with plastic explosive behind it. When a chemical penetrator hits it detonates the plastic explosive which pushes out on the plasma jet greatly reducing its penetration. The M-90 and RPG-29 both have a smaller tandem charge in front of the main charge. This tandem charge sets off the reactive armor before the main charge fires allowing the main charge to penetrate freely. So the M1A2 SEP may actually have the higher value of 1400mm RHA vs a single penetration. But that is the reason double penetrators were developed.



I will finish by answering the real question of how lethal the RPG-29 is to the M1A2 SEP. To be sure, it is able to penetrate the M1A2 SEP even from the front, but from the two examples I saw of this the damage must have been limited so I have to assume the RPG-29 is only marginally lethal. And all that said, I saw three examples of an M-90 penetrating the M1A2 SEP, the training video did not include all the times it might have and probably did fail to penetrate. ;-)
2013-12-09 18:44:12 UTC
I've heard of them penetrating side armor of the British challenger 2, but with the conventional armor and reactive armor, I think the Abrams would make it, should he not get anhialated by the crew. Abrams tanks have taken multiple RPG-7 rounds before and the crew often only sustains minor injuries.
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2016-03-26 19:13:56 UTC
I play world of tanks a lot and a rule of thumb is if u don't know if u can penetrate your enemies armor aim for the sides and rear, and hit them straight on. The effective thickness of the armor is exaggerated at an angle. Modern mbt's use reactive armor packs to. That's probly why they seem immune to rpg's. The reactive armor packs detonate when they are hit so there will be a bare spot once you have shot it once. If u could manage to shoot it again in that same spot... Yea maybe but the composite armor underneath is also quite resilient to explosive warheads. I think if u was to hit that bare spot again " straight on" at 90 degrees u would penetrate. Don't listen to that guy with the "best" answer. Cuz hell never know anything worth knowing with that attitude. 😉


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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