Everytime you see footage of destroyed tanks and apcs they’re always rusted and broken down despite them being functional about a day ago not to mention no rain ever being present.
So, what causes them to rust so fast? Is it the heat from their destruction/explosion peeling off the paint or am I missing something?
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Only thing that stops them from rusting is grease and coats of paint. When they are torn open the layers of unprotected metal layers will be directly exposed.
The tanks that you see in places like Syria or Ukraine all date to the late 1960’s. At best, you might have some that were built in the early 1980’s. In other words, these tanks are ancient.
Now add in the fact that all of these tanks are T-64s, T-72s, or a derivative of one of those two models of tank. Those were cheap tanks *by the standards of the time when they were designed* (which, again, was the 1960s). By today’s standards its not even clear what to call them – the armor on them is thinner than what you find on many modern infantry fighting vehicles, like the Bradley. And the overall cheap construction of the vehicles means that they’re poorly weatherproofed. If they’re left outside water will eventually make its way in to the crew and engine compartments.
Finally, add in that neither the Soviet Union, Russia, Syria, or any of the other countries that operate those tanks has historically placed a high emphasis on maintenance.
What you get are tanks that came pre-rusted by age, cheap construction, and neglect. So its not that the tanks are rusting after they’ve been destroyed, its that in the process of being destroyed the already rusted internal parts were exposed for you to see and/or the paint that was covering the rust was burned off.
Not all destroyed tanks rust, but ones that had ammunition cookoff, or fires are exposed to high heat.
High heat breaks down paint, as well as speeds oxidation.
You can see the same thing happen on [car crashes](https://www.dsf.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Range-Rover-accident-then-burnt.png?v=1644978040)( though less now due to more aluminum) or house fires were put out. Paint discolors to look rust like, or goes away entirely.
Corrosion is oxidation, burning is oxidation also. Tanks burn, the oxidation process has already kicked off.
Everytime you see footage of destroyed tanks and apcs they’re always rusted and broken down despite them being functional about a day ago not to mention no rain ever being present.
So, what causes them to rust so fast? Is it the heat from their destruction/explosion peeling off the paint or am I missing something?
In: 0
Only thing that stops them from rusting is grease and coats of paint. When they are torn open the layers of unprotected metal layers will be directly exposed.
The tanks that you see in places like Syria or Ukraine all date to the late 1960’s. At best, you might have some that were built in the early 1980’s. In other words, these tanks are ancient.
Now add in the fact that all of these tanks are T-64s, T-72s, or a derivative of one of those two models of tank. Those were cheap tanks *by the standards of the time when they were designed* (which, again, was the 1960s). By today’s standards its not even clear what to call them – the armor on them is thinner than what you find on many modern infantry fighting vehicles, like the Bradley. And the overall cheap construction of the vehicles means that they’re poorly weatherproofed. If they’re left outside water will eventually make its way in to the crew and engine compartments.
Finally, add in that neither the Soviet Union, Russia, Syria, or any of the other countries that operate those tanks has historically placed a high emphasis on maintenance.
What you get are tanks that came pre-rusted by age, cheap construction, and neglect. So its not that the tanks are rusting after they’ve been destroyed, its that in the process of being destroyed the already rusted internal parts were exposed for you to see and/or the paint that was covering the rust was burned off.
Not all destroyed tanks rust, but ones that had ammunition cookoff, or fires are exposed to high heat.
High heat breaks down paint, as well as speeds oxidation.
You can see the same thing happen on [car crashes](https://www.dsf.my/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Range-Rover-accident-then-burnt.png?v=1644978040)( though less now due to more aluminum) or house fires were put out. Paint discolors to look rust like, or goes away entirely.
Corrosion is oxidation, burning is oxidation also. Tanks burn, the oxidation process has already kicked off.
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