Why Were Hull Machine Guns removed from modern and cold war tanks?
Posted by James on September 22, 2013 · 4 Comments
Question by Dina H: Why Were Hull Machine Guns removed from modern and cold war tanks?
Was it a design fault or something?
Best answer:
Answer by zipzeronada
That was one Hull of a machine gun.
Give your answer to this question below!
to have a machine gun sticking out means you need a way to aim it, to aim it, you need one of two things, a hole in the tank, which a soldier could throw a grenade into, or a moving plate (moves with the gun) which could jam, completely removing your anti-infantry protection
tank layouts demanded sleeker profiles and they were a weak point if shot at
Probably because they were only able to engage targets directly in front of them. Turret mounted machine guns offer 360 degree target engagement
For the U.S., the M-60 tank was probably the last to have a turret mounted machine gun. It could be fired from a gunner seated in inside the tank, peering out through thin slats of bullet proof glass. The next generation of tank, the M-1 (Abrams) was designed to be more of a highly mobile artillery piece capable of making great use of it’s main gun while running at high speed.