<< As for what a MUTT looks like after taking a round...... Well, we had
some shot up by the 120mm Smoothbore maingun of M1A1 tanks a few years
back. Most of the vehicles were hardly recognizable as M151s. A few
however were remarkably intact. One was sitting on its wheels and look
absolutely normal with the exception of the hole in the floor where the
tranny tunnel once was. The entire engine, transmission and transfer were
laying about 25-30 feet away, still intact. It was obvious it had been
ripped from the jeep, but it was otherwise in good condition. Really
strange. >>
I have some old photos I took of a Mutt which was hit by 2.75" rocket fire, on
the army airfield (7th squadron/17th Cav) at Camp Enari, RVN. The round was
unleashed by a careless avionics guy, who was working on an idle gunship and
decided to seat himself in the "front office" and play shoot-em up. A couple
of others missed any significant target, but made dandy fireworks. The one
that found the Mutt buried itself in the driver's side panel just aft of the
front wheel well, sheared off the pedals as it cut through the floor pan, and
buried itself in the engine /transmission junction without detonating.
Unfortunately, one rocket also hit a Huey C model gunship which was being
pre-flighted, and was fully armed. The ship was a loss, but as I recall,
there was but one crewman casualty. The guy who was charged with driving the
crash truck (2 1/2 ton foam unit) forgot there was a ten foot deep ditch
between him and the burning gunship, and promptly drove the truck into the
ditch, not that he could have extinguished the fire anyway.
I don't have scans of the Mutt, but if anyone wishes them, I think I could
arrange it.
I was amazed at the penetration of the rocket, (a HEAT round) as it punched
all the way in through the iron castings and almost came out the other side.
I still have that AVI animation of the M211's and M37's getting blasted on the
gunnery range by A-10 cannon and rockeye fire. Anyone who wants a copy just
let me know! Most distressing!
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