how do soldiers practice attacking tanks that are moving at full speed?
In: Technology
Practice in training? The newest anti-tank systems have tracking and guidance software built in so speed is not an overwhelmingly difficult issue. In practice, they use dummy tanks or vehicles.
Computer and other simulator system has been used for a long time to train military personnel because it is a lot cheaper. Here is a video of training with TOW and Javelin that use the real control system but what you see is computer generated [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plrYVkZsWp4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plrYVkZsWp4)
It is not just something done today, there was film based simulator for airplane crew in WWII [https://stock.periscopefilm.com/86084-wwii-gunnery-simulator-film-loop-army-air-forces-tail-gunner-waller-trainer/](https://stock.periscopefilm.com/86084-wwii-gunnery-simulator-film-loop-army-air-forces-tail-gunner-waller-trainer/)
Weapons are used in practice too, if you fire real weapons it will be again dummy targets. Dummy ammunition agains real tanks is another possibility.
You can alos replace the projeticle with another that preformt he same way. This is the trainer weapon for the AT4 that fire a 9mm tracer bullet with the same ballistic properties. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHmra84GsyA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHmra84GsyA)
If you look back at for example recoiless rifles it was not uncommon to have a sitting rifle in them with the same ballistic properties that you fire first to get the aim right. You can just practice with them, I am not use how good they was at hitting moving target to begin with.
There are laser simulation system like [MILES](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_integrated_laser_engagement_system) that are used in mock combat with blank cartides and laser. The target have receives and can detect if they are hit. This exist from west and adapters on guns for individual soilder to system in tanks. This is lass about how you initially train to hit a target and more how you should act together and a unit to engage the enemy.
If you are attacking it with a modern guided weapon, then you only have to keep the laser on the target, or perhaps it just figures itself out like a Javelin.
If you’re forced to attack with a direct-attack weapon like a LAW, AT-4 or RPG9, then… you’d lead the target, like any other target that’s moving lol. Obviously you’d have to be familiar with the weapon and its velocity if you’re going to accurately lead the tank.
Most soldiers do not get any practice in this. Infantry anti-tank weapons are very easy to operate. So they are given a lecture in how to use the weapon, some time drilling how to deploy the weapon and aim it. That is enough for them to use the weapon in battle to damage tanks.
There are also practice grenades for a lot of these weapons which is basically a rifle shaped like a grenade so it fits into the tube. It is then possible to take the weapon to the shooting range and fire it at targets, and although you do not get the big rocket trail and explosion you do get a nice hole in the target to see where you aimed. Some shooting ranges also have rails for moving targets so that you can have a cutout of a tank move at speed across the range that you have to hit.
Depending on the budget of the army you train in there may also be live ammunition available for training. For convenience the training rounds have an inert warhead but will have a rocket motor and a guidance system. So it is the same as the real thing except that it does not explode at the end. You can then safely fire it at a range without damaging any of the equipment or throwing shrapnel back at the shooter.
It should be noted also that there are a lot of different anti-tank weapons used today using different technologies. So training is different for each of them. You have simple unguided rockets like the RPG-7 and M-72 LAW. Then you have rockets tracking your aim so you can guide them towards the target. And then the most expensive systems is fire and forget like the Javelin which are able to find its own targets and guide to them on their own trajectory. So you just aim it vaguely in the direction of the enemy.
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