Firing through the driver viewing slot

[LemoN]

I'm not surprised that it's really really hard finding real data or studies on tank-mounted view slit glass windows. Talk about obscure

Actually it wouldn't really be that obscure. There certainly were reports, thing is they probably rot in some archive or are buried within the ruins of Berlin.

 

[Crni-Wuk]

I'm not surprised that it's really really hard finding real data or studies on tank-mounted view slit glass windows. Talk about obscure

not more then finding acurate informations about for example modern day tank armor quality/thickness for a game that is trying to model them as correctly as possible.

Anyway. I think it is an important question if you can or can't damage and mabye even kill the person sitting behind the glass driving the vehicle if all you have is some anti tank rifle. Particularly when you consider that quite a lot of the German tanks have such a slit in the front. Even the Tiger 1. And even the first Panthers (ausf A or D no clue right now) still had some "slit" in the front armor for the driver before it got removed with the Panther G.

 

[PETERPANs]

So I have response from armoring company TAC. Here is link to company website: http://www.texasarmoring.com/

And here is answer from TAC about WWII tank visor bulletproof glaas:

Hi Peter,

Thanks for contacting us.  While for obvious security reasons we're not in
the business of giving away "breaking points" of armor, for a traditional
bullet-resistant glass, you'd probably want to go with something in the
110-120mm thickness range to defeat a .50 cal AP M2 round.  Keep in mind
that there are other materials that are transparent like glass, but possess
much greater ballistic properties (e.g., transparent aluminum, etc.).
Ballistic performance is not a cut-and-dry subject since results can vary
based on the bullet used, barrel length, twist, target distance, material
used, material composition, angle of the shot, etc., etc., etc.

Good luck!
Jason

NOTES for .50 cal
1. The .50 cal is 12.7x99mm
2. Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB barrel is 1,143 mm (45.0 in) long. This gun have longest barrel for .50 cal, I search for it and I dont find any better gun. So sry If I am not right ..
3. .50 cal. have energy similar to DSHK 1938 ammo. (DSHK 1938 barrel is 1,070 mm (42.1 in) long).

NOTES for 14,5 mm cal
1. PTRD barrel is 1,350 mm long, its 207 mm longer than Browning machine gun
2. 14,5 mm is bigger caliber than .50 cal
3. So lets compare PTRD 30 000 joules vs .50 cal 18 000 Joules.

 

[evulclown]

Impossible, as the T34 don

 

[LemoN]

So I have response from armoring company TAC. Here is link to company website: [url]http://www.texasarmoring.com/[/URL]

And here is answer from TAC about WWII tank visor bulletproof glaas:

Hi Peter,

Thanks for contacting us.  While for obvious security reasons we're not in
the business of giving away "breaking points" of armor, for a traditional
bullet-resistant glass, you'd probably want to go with something in the
110-120mm thickness range to defeat a .50 cal AP M2 round.  Keep in mind
that there are other materials that are transparent like glass, but possess
much greater ballistic properties (e.g., transparent aluminum, etc.).
Ballistic performance is not a cut-and-dry subject since results can vary
based on the bullet used, barrel length, twist, target distance, material
used, material composition, angle of the shot, etc., etc., etc.

Good luck!
Jason

NOTES for .50 cal
1. The .50 cal is 12.7x99mm
2. Browning Machine Gun, Cal. .50, M2, HB barrel is 1,143 mm (45.0 in) long. This gun have longest barrel for .50 cal, I search for it and I dont find any better gun. So sry If I am not right ..
3. .50 cal. have energy similar to DSHK 1938 ammo. (DSHK 1938 barrel is 1,070 mm (42.1 in) long).

NOTES for 14,5 mm cal
1. PTRD barrel is 1,350 mm long, its 207 mm longer than Browning machine gun
2. 14,5 mm is bigger caliber than .50 cal
3. So lets compare PTRD 30 000 joules vs .50 cal 18 000 Joules.

Ok, I have to admit that I was probably wrong.
Good stuff there Peter, and thank god we can close the armoured shutters!

 

[Crni-Wuk]

However, don't write him totally off. The T-34 not only came in a plethora of different variants, each one varied based on the factory too. Not to mention supply issues. The "bullet proof" glass blocks for vision slots weren't massively supplied for either the Germans or the Russians.

I have read about situations where the Russians pushed T34s directly out of the Factory in stalingrad right in to the battle without any optics what so ever so the guner would have to look right down the barrel of the gun to somewhat aim before loading a shell. So I would not be surprised if quite a few tanks rolled out of the factories without any glass. It seems the Soviets indeed had periods in the war where they had to fight with many shortages in resources and supplies (probably depending on front and situation in general. It was definetly a lot easier to get things together somewhere far away from the front compared to a factory in Leningrad during the siege).

Though it seems that most (if not all) tanks gave the driver the possibility to close the slits somehow. Of course that would leave them blind except to the periscopes.