What do you do when a 60-ton war machine gets stuck in the mud?
Almost every outdoorsman and woman has at least one story about being stuck in the mud. Maybe it was by accident, maybe it was intentional while you were out mudding with a 4x4 vehicle. In any case, getting stuck almost always makes for a great story.
The soldiers in this video have one of the better ones we have seen. During a training exercise, they have managed to get an M1A1 Abrams tank absolutely buried in one incredibly sloppy and slippery mud hole.
How do you get a machine this heavy out of such a predicament? Watch and find out.
Not everyone can say they went mudding with a $6 million weapon on war! The M1A1 weighs approximately 63 tons. Much of that weight coming from the heavy composite armor that is used to deflect all sizes of enemy gunfire and the 120mm main gun. Knowing this, it is not surprising they were able to bury this machine as deeply as they did.
Fortunately, the M1A1 has a Honewell AGT1500C turbine engine that gives the machine about 1,500 horsepower to power out of this muddy predicament. Of course, not before it made this hole a lot wider and deeper for the next tank to traverse!
It is probably a good thing these guys were able to un-stuck this vehicle on their own. The trail looked narrow. Getting another machine powerful enough to do the pulling and finding enough room to work with would have probably been difficult in these conditions.
While training is serious business, we're glad these guys were able to get a laugh from this predicament. A good laugh always helps when you're working. Thanks for your service guys, and keep up the good work!
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his YouTube channel.
NEXT: THE AAV7 AMPHIBIOUS ASSAULT VEHICLE IS ONE OF THE COOLEST PIECES OF MILITARY HARDWARE EVER
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