King Tiger in modern tank warfare?

Split from "Königs tiger?"

I read that the King Tiger would do well by todays standards.It packed a hell of a punch and it's armor would give good account against some of todays munitions.Not bad for a sixty plus year old tank.

 

A modern sabot round from an M1A1's 120mm gun would turn a Konigstiger into scrap with one shot, even from the front.

 

Are you sure? That means the Abrams would be able to penetrate 200mm of armour at a slant of 40 degrees?
I've seen a King Tiger, in a museum, having been hit full frontal by a 90mm round; it didn't even penetrate half the frontal armour. neither did the bazooka rounds that hit it from the sides.

 

Uhm, yeah. The 120mm smooth-bore gun on the Abrams would turn the King Tiger inside out, then right side out, then inside out again.

 

it isn't suppose that we are talking about the Kingtiger?

 

Konigstiger is the German for King Tiger.

 

I know that, but they are talking about the abrams

 

No we ain't, I split the topic

 

The question is would the King Tiger be able to take out an Abrams. I don't know much about the Abrams armor, but would it be able to take an 88mm round from a Tiger II?

 

Yes, it would. Tanks are alot different now than they were in WW2. End of story.

 

Good point.
well, another thing about the tiger2? Like eerm... how many parts did it consist of? :lol:
No just a little joke. But I do have one serious question. Why , if the tiger 2 was based on the panther design, did it have only two rows of road wheels? I mean: even the panther had three rows and was even lighter than the King.... anyone?

 

Most info on modern tanks' armour is classified, for good reason; you don't want your enemy finding the magic key. So how would you know if the Abrams can really withstand a shot from the King Tiger's gun? Of course, tanks of today have a way more advanced type of armour than just raw steel plates, but still: even Kevlar or carbonfibres can't keep it all out. And remember, the Tiger II's gun could smash clean through any type of Sherman from 1000 meters, with a penetration of 200mm/30 at the distance.

On a more personal note, I find this conversation both irrelevant and pointless, as the King Tiger would never be used or even thought of by modern forces, and the two tanks would never meet in the field.

 

Exactly, Roel. If that gun was capable of penetrating a modern tank, it would still be used. But guess what? It isn't. Think about it.

 

Well thats your problem, I don't find it pointless, I find it interesting.

 

I was just saying that.

Danyel: I think it's not used anymore for a number of reasons, such as:
1) It was a German weapon, of which most specimens were destroyed, and no one would want any because it was german;
2) Plenty of other AT guns were available on the world weapons maret, of which calibres rounds were actually still being produced. It would not be very economic to purchase 88mm guns;
3) The tanks in which it was used were not that good for postwar armies 9mostly super heavy and SP guns), and better and especially cheaper tanks were available as well.

 

I'm very confident even a 88mmL71 gun couldn't penetrate an Abrams, or probably any modern MBT. The Abram's armor is so strong that during the 1991 Gulf War an M1A1 got stuck during a big clash with the Republican Guard and they were going to abandon it to continue the pursuit. They decided to destroy it instead of waiting around for a recovery vehicle, so they pumped 3-4 rounds of 120mm into the front of it trying to destroy it. At point blank range they didn't penetrate, and by the time they decided to pump rounds into the rear of the tank in order to get this done, the melee was over and they decided recover it instead.

 

Solid thinking by the US army there. Smart guys, LoL. :lol:
Impressive armour though, I never thought that anything would be able to withstand powerful point-blank range fire. But then I am probably living in the past, as WW2 tanks is really more my field.

 

Imagine a battalion of M1A1s in WW2...

Talk about dominating the battlefield!

 

Abrams gun does about 1000mm penetration
turret armour is about 1000mm
hull armour is about 600mm

king tiger has a better comparison with tanks from the 60s. M-60s, T-55s/62s.

 

Both the Abrams and the British Challenger series( which many believe to be superior to the Abrams) have a special chemical make up to it's armour called Chobham or something. Anyway,it's top secret. I think it was a British discovery which they shared with the U.S. Hope somebody can clear this up as I'm not totally sure.