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In-bore Detonation of Non-standard Ammunition, Testing a Russian T-55 Tank.

ADA532258

Publication Date	2010
Personal Author	Reeves, S. J.; Scutti, R.
Page Count	35
Abstract	On 21 May 2009 the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center (ATC) was performing an accuracy and fire control test on a Russian T-55 tank at the H- Field Firing Range, Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG). The three man crew, commander (also loading), gunner and driver were firing Russian designed 100-mm UBK-4M cartridge with the BK5M High Explosive Anti Tank (HEAT) warhead. Upon firing the second round of the day, a catastrophic incident occurred. The warhead exploded in the tank cannon rupturing the tube, killing the commander, fatally injuring the gunner and seriously injuring the driver. The U.S. Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center (CRC) team arrived on 23 May and initiated their investigation. The authors need to acknowledge the efforts of the CRC team in their thorough and professional investigation. Much of the factual information presented herein was obtained through the combined efforts of the CRC team and individuals in the unit. This paper provides general details surrounding the incident and address contributing factors. The conclusions and recommendations presented herein are those of the authors and not the findings, conclusions or recommendations of the Central Accident Investigation Board. Throughout the paper unless specifically designated otherwise the term 'unit' refers to that team within ATC that was responsible for executing the test and reporting the results. The unit is comprised of engineers and technicians with personnel ranging from less than 1 to 20 plus years of experience in the test, operation and maintenance of Russian designed equipment. The authors of this paper are members of the unit.
Keywords	Tank guns Accident investigations Russian equipment Firing tests(Ordnance) Ammunition Detonations Guns Fire control systems Gun barrels Symposia Ussr Briefing charts Heat(High explosive antitank) Crc(Combat readiness safety center) Bk5m munitions Ubk-4m munitions T-55 tanks
Source Agency	Non Paid ADAS
NTIS Subject Category	57U - Public Health & Industrial Medicine 41I - Job Environment 79A - Ammunition, Explosives, & Pyrotechnics 79D - Combat Vehicles
Corporate Authors	Aberdeen Test Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.
Supplemental Notes	See also ADM002313. Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board Seminar (34th) held in Portland, Oregon on 13-15 July 2010. Document contains briefing charts. The original document contains color images.
Document Type	Technical Report
Title Note	Conference paper.
NTIS Issue Number	201106

In-bore Detonation of Non-standard Ammunition, Testing a Russian T-55 Tank.

In-bore Detonation of Non-standard Ammunition, Testing a Russian T-55 Tank.
ADA532258

Publication Date	2010
Personal Author	Reeves, S. J.; Scutti, R.
Page Count	35
Abstract	On 21 May 2009 the U.S. Army Aberdeen Test Center (ATC) was performing an accuracy and fire control test on a Russian T-55 tank at the H- Field Firing Range, Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG). The three man crew, commander (also loading), gunner and driver were firing Russian designed 100-mm UBK-4M cartridge with the BK5M High Explosive Anti Tank (HEAT) warhead. Upon firing the second round of the day, a catastrophic incident occurred. The warhead exploded in the tank cannon rupturing the tube, killing the commander, fatally injuring the gunner and seriously injuring the driver. The U.S. Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center (CRC) team arrived on 23 May and initiated their investigation. The authors need to acknowledge the efforts of the CRC team in their thorough and professional investigation. Much of the factual information presented herein was obtained through the combined efforts of the CRC team and individuals in the unit. This paper provides general details surrounding the incident and address contributing factors. The conclusions and recommendations presented herein are those of the authors and not the findings, conclusions or recommendations of the Central Accident Investigation Board. Throughout the paper unless specifically designated otherwise the term 'unit' refers to that team within ATC that was responsible for executing the test and reporting the results. The unit is comprised of engineers and technicians with personnel ranging from less than 1 to 20 plus years of experience in the test, operation and maintenance of Russian designed equipment. The authors of this paper are members of the unit.
Keywords	Tank guns Accident investigations Russian equipment Firing tests(Ordnance) Ammunition Detonations Guns Fire control systems Gun barrels Symposia Ussr Briefing charts Heat(High explosive antitank) Crc(Combat readiness safety center) Bk5m munitions Ubk-4m munitions T-55 tanks
Source Agency	Non Paid ADAS
NTIS Subject Category	57U - Public Health & Industrial Medicine 41I - Job Environment 79A - Ammunition, Explosives, & Pyrotechnics 79D - Combat Vehicles
Corporate Authors	Aberdeen Test Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.
Supplemental Notes	See also ADM002313. Department of Defense Explosives Safety Board Seminar (34th) held in Portland, Oregon on 13-15 July 2010. Document contains briefing charts. The original document contains color images.
Document Type	Technical Report
Title Note	Conference paper.
NTIS Issue Number	201106