Whither the Autoloader?

Glad I found this again now that debates over "what the M1E3 should be" have started up with a vengeance

This aged like milk.

Russian tanks with their ejecting turrets would like a word.

today, 1 1/2 years already into war in ukraine we see the russian designed carrousel autoloaders with the ammunition stored inside or below the turret paying a bitter prize. top attacks even by improvised weapons like drones dropping granates or mortar bombs on tanks caused massive fatal looses specially to russian tanks. so this issue is mostly based on tank design and not of using an autoloader itself - as we learned there are different types of it. Cassette autoloaders like Leclerque would have seen ammo cook offs too but propably not for a fatal loose of the tank. never the less, a tank out of action is a loose in the situation. Also droping a bomb inside a tank through an open hatch mostly is causing some looses not only to specific autoloaders. how western tanks like M1 or leopards will end up in after battle reports in comparison to autoloader for points like firerate/readiness, breakdowns, ... remains to be seen and published.

You said that soviet tanks with carousel autoloaders could in theory have blowout ammunition, that is one thing I've often speculated on, but then why hasn't any user of those tanks done that? Is it for ease of loading ammo into the tank? Is it because of paranoia of the autoloader failing and having to be operated manually? Are those tanks so cramped that there is no space for adding a "fire wall" between the carousel and the crew? Something else?

The other advantage of a three man crew is that every man has his own hatch to get out of. No more gunners trying to get out through the commander.

but I saw da vidya of boom turret hurr durrr wussia probaganja if u like autoturrot

This change would be fantastic in British service until the politicians noticed. A dedicated squad of tankers attached to and assisting the fitter section with repairs and maintenance would vastly improve vehicle availability and give the tankers valuable experience in fault finding and emergency repair. Of course from my experience the chain of command would see them as free manpower and constantly pull them away for whatever scut jobs they had available until the next "strategic defence review" ( a process that for some strange reason never concludes that more troops are needed) when all their jobs would be eliminated.

How do you look back on this video considering the current status of the war in Ukraine? I am ofcourse talking about the turret tossing of Sovjet tanks with auto loaders

I personally think the Lecrerc/K2 autoloader method is best. Keeps the ammo in the back of the turret allowing for blowout (along with a smaller internally exposed gate), while keeping the breach accessible in case of (unlikely) malfunction. Seems to have a nifty reloading method too, being able to be fed directly from the rear/outside, I'd wager even making it possible to reload in a combat situation in a pinch. Also seems simpler than the two piece carousel method. Autoloaders make more sense with the new, bigger and heavier 120mm general purpose rounds being developed and not needing to have a separate and smaller set of ready rounds.

One question I have is, how does the autoloader know where each type of round is? Is there a sensor in each position that can identify the type round that it contains, or indeed that it is empty?

I was Artillery at one time I was in a Abbot 433 which is in the same series as the 432 APC at the time we had an Infantry Regerment who acted as our screen as the normal detachment of an Abbot was five even though the book says it should be ten reduced to eight . These guys the Infantry got assigned to a gun per section so you would have a 433 followed by a Stalwart followed by a 432 with the Infantry in the 432 they were taught how to do maintenance on it take bashing and minor mechanical maintenance so guess what the running gear takes engine gearbox are the same on both vehicals so suddenly we had many hands make light work times eight with the other two playing peek a bo with the box heads our normal opponents. Of course this worked both ways as they would bring there tin can next to us at night so both vehicals got a good look at from both crews another pluss was same full and spear parts from trakes to oil filters to Fuses mind you we kept an eye on our BV and for some strange reason they did the same but appart from this minor fault things went very well

i was an leopard 1 gunner but you need the fourthman for maintenance for the undercarrage as if the tank is not engaged you have an extra set of ayes

Absolutely nothing would get me in a tank nowadays.

Being a loader is fun, slinging rounds one after another is a great time.

the Abrams have an autoloader and it is called private Jones

Separated autoloader with normal blast preventing measures, and active protection system.

German tanks have Otto, the Loader.

Every loader is a Auto loader , you just have to be carefull as to not spill blood all over your tank