MBT Turret design issue

[powerslavenegi]

Having looked at numerous pics of Leopard2A5/6 ,Merkava and Chinese Type 98g/99 .One would find that all three share more or less a similar Turret outline specially in the front all have angled arrow-shaped turret ,highly pronounced in case of a Leo which I believe has resulted in a gap between turret and the hull in the front.I would like to know whether this would compromise the Tank's surviability if a Shell happens to hit between the turret and the turret hull .I believe even if the Tank has a robust armour there are chances of the turret getting jammed.M1 Abrams and Chally 2 dont have that large a gap between the turret and the hull.

 

[Wild Weasel]

I have heard it suggested that the turret armor of some of these tanks might deflect a head-on shot downwards into the top of the hull. ( Which is also where the driver usually sits. )
But until these tank actually see combat, it's probably impossible for most people to do much else but guess about it. I suppose you'd have to test it on a range to know for sure.

Which version of the Merkava do you mean? From what I have seen, they have all been among the most sloped/acutely angled turret face of any MBT that I can think of.

But I have certainly heard this complaint about the Leo-2/6- even from German tankers, in some cases.

 

[psyclops]

I don't think ricochet is much of a problem these days, because modern APFSDS rounds don't ricochet except at the most extreme of angles; they're just going too fast. So the "arrowhead" shape shouldn't make life more dangerous for the driver, at least from modern tank rounds. As for mid-caliber autocannon rounds, well, I don't know. The turret ring is always a vulnerable spot to anti-tank rounds, but it's also a pretty small target, and since a long rod will simply burrow into the armor above rather than deflecting into the turret ring, the risk shouldn't be any greater in Leo 2A5/6 than in Leo 2A4.

 

[Pursuit Curve]

I have heard it suggested that the turret armor of some of these tanks might deflect a head-on shot downwards into the top of the hull. ( Which is also where the driver usually sits. )
But until these tank actually see combat, it's probably impossible for most people to do much else but guess about it. I suppose you'd have to test it on a range to know for sure.

Which version of the Merkava do you mean? From what I have seen, they have all been among the most sloped/acutely angled turret face of any MBT that I can think of.

But I have certainly heard this complaint about the Leo-2/6- even from German tankers, in some cases.

Look no further than World War 2 for what happens when a shot is deflected downwards on top of the drivers head. There are anecdotes that claim that standard Shermans (Short 75mm) could knock out a panther tank by deflecting a shot off of the Lower Turret mantle, mind you this is a target area that was at best 8 inches square, there is evidence of this at the Normandy Beach Museum, one of the panther tanks there has a hole over the radio operators position, with the dent caused by the deflection on the lower mantle in evidence.

But, with high velocity long rod penetrators, the chance of Deflection, with a significant amount of mass for penetration, is at best negligible.

 

[Waylander]

The armor of the Leo II A5/A6 is not going to deflect a round into the turret ring. There are two reasons for that. The first is, as said before, modern rounds just don't bounce of.
As an example look at this picture:
http://www.militaertechnik-der-nva.de/Aservatenkammer/Beschussversuche3/Gesamtansicht2.gif

This shows an T-72M1 after tests within germany after we absorbed the tanks of the former GDR. The round even entered the gun and didn't bounce of.

The second reasons is, that the new armor of the A5 is designed to catch the penetrator and change its flight path and slow it down. That makes the round hit the main with lesser power and with a bad angle. If it works really good the round gets broken or does not even reaches the main armor.
The new armor is not a block it consists of many different plates which are arranged in different angles.

 

[TrangleC]

Yes. It would be rather naive to assume the developers of this kind of armour wouldn't consider this.
Besides, the turret of the Black Eagle and the newest version of the Merkava turret looks pretty much the same and the Merkava is the MBT with the most combat experience put in it.