These Marines are playing in the snow. From the video's description:
U.S. Marines M1A1 tank crews work with the Norwegian Telemark Battalion on techniques of driving tracked vehicles in winter conditions on an snow/ice track.
A Norwegian Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank leads U.S. Marine M1 Abrams, from the Combined Arms Company, to various cold-weather training sites for tracked vehicles in Rena, Norway.
Watch in full-screen mode for best results.
It may be training, and hard work, but it also looks as if they're having a lot of fun. Pushing sixty-odd tons of armor plate sideways down an ice track - deliberately? That's fun!
Peter
9 comments:
Actually it is part of a winter driving course as part of an exercise called Cold Response with the Norwegians.
NASCAR....with tanks....on snow & ice....
Oh hell yeah!
In "Strands of Sorrow", John Ringo has a scene in chapter 17 of an Abrams spinning out of control, at high speed, on a large quantity of red lube. I'm thinking he's seen this video, or similar IRL.
I was a grunt rather than a tanker so my experience of drifting in armor was in an M-113 in Bavaria. Quite the rush even if it did weigh a fifth what the Abrams weighs. Also rather painful when the driver overcorrects and makes a "combat stop" by slamming into a rather large tree.
I don't own a tank or any other tracked vehicle and because of that my life isn't as rich and fulfilling as it should be. I must remember to purchase a powerball ticket tomorrow.
The most fun you can have on 28 wheels.
Maybe it's just my contrarian nature, but I can't help but wonder just how useful this training would be in an active combat situation...when the tanks WON'T have the rubber 'street pads' on their tracks.
I suspect the tanks ability (tendency?) to 'drift' like they do in the video would be greatly altered on bare tracks.
Phsssthpok... Yes. It gets worse.
Why would they bother removing the rubber pads? Those tanks are amazingly quiet with the turbine engine, and the lack of clanking treads might be helpful in minimizing their target "footprint".
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