The First Tank Buster - Hurricane "Tin Opener"

[Music] if i say the words tank buster the plane that most immediately comes to mind for most people is the famous american a10 thunderbolt 2 most commonly known by its nickname warthog this beast has been in continual service since 1977 and has proved its worth in combat on many occasions most notably in the two gulf wars it provides invaluable close air support for ground forces and is lethally effective against enemy armor and vehicles but it was not the first dedicated tank buster that honor belongs to a british aircraft from world war ii the hawker hurricane first introduced into raf service in 1937 it was the most numerous british day fighter during the 1940 battle of britain though it was overshadowed in the public consciousness by the supermarine spitfire by the time production ended in 1944 almost fourteen and a half thousand hurricanes had been built in many different marks including the world's first tank busting aircraft [Music] it was in the western desert of north africa that the idea was conceived of modifying the reliable hurricane into the anti-tank role airvin rommels africa corps and germany's italian allies had managed to fight through to egypt with the aim of capturing and severing the suez canal britain's lifeline to her far eastern empire an all-out effort was made by britain with allied troops from australia india new zealand poland and france to stop rommel and defeat the axis in the desert the desert was the ideal arena for the tanks its flat open expanses favored speed maneuverability and tank gunnery but its lack of cover also favored air operations the allies lacked aircraft with the right armament to take on tanks and other german armored fighting vehicles the hurricane fighters in north africa could strafe troops and shoot up soft-skinned tracks and field cars [Music] bombing was often wildly inaccurate and hit and miss affairs what was needed was an aircraft fitted with anti-tank guns that could swoop in and strafe armor the same way that ordinary fighters shot up supply columns with machine guns and cannons incredibly the raf command wasn't keen on such an aircraft or tactics many in the top brass consider that tanks should be defeated by other tanks or ground in place anti-tank guns artillery or infantry not fighter planes but wiser heads prevailed and the hurricane mark ii was chosen for conversion into the world's first dedicated tank buster or as the british originally nicknamed them the flying tin openers the modified hurricanes were designated mach 2d and each aircraft was fitted with two 40 millimeter vickers s anti-tank cannons they fired tungsten tipped shells the problem of fitting the bulky cannons to the hurricanes with several firstly the weight of the guns and their ammunition reduced the aircraft's speed each modified mark 2d also carried two vickers 303 machine guns loaded with tracers for aiming the modern a10 tank buster is very heavily armoured due to its slow speed as it is vulnerable to ground fire the hurricane 2d faced the same problem its reduced speed made it more vulnerable to ground fire and armor was added to protect the cockpit engine and radiator the ammunition carried was very limited each 40 millimeter vickers s-gun had only 15 rounds the cannon shells were capable of penetrating the armor of german panzer iii and fours in the desert as well as all italian types first used at the battle of el alamein in 1942 five raf squadrons flew the type now they are within range and you'll see for the first time this deadly gun in action truly living up to its name tank buster [Music] though tank kills by aircraft should be taken with a pinch of salt the raf noted that hurricane 2ds destroyed 47 access tanks out of 148 actually hit plus recording the destruction of almost 200 other axis vehicles but balanced against this were the losses to the flying tin openers due to ground fire or interception by german aircraft the 2ds reduced top speed and maneuverability due to the bulky guns and extra armor led to many hurricane losses nonetheless the flying tin openers paved the way for the tank buster concept and a newer version the mark iv was further improved with new ammunition improved armor and protection for the fuel tanks using high explosive ammunition the hurricane mark iv saw extensive use in the burma campaign interdicting japanese vehicles and river traffic in the european theatre the mantle of tankbuster moved from the old hurricanes to a new generation of ground attack aircraft primarily the hawker typhoon and tempest which pioneered the use of air-to-ground rockets and created havoc with german panzer forces during the battle of normandy in the summer of 1944 and though their claims of tanks destroyed were wildly inaccurate the constant presence of these aircraft over the battlefield had a detrimental effect on german morale and the ability of german forces to launch counter attacks or even move around by day the hawker hurricane 2d was the pioneering aircraft in developing the tank buster concept and can be considered the great grandfather of the present-day a-10 warthog thanks for watching please subscribe and share and also visit my audiobook channel war stories with mark felton you can also help to support both of my channels at paypal and patreon details in the description box below you

Channel: Mark Felton Productions

Views: 533,471

Rating: 4.9622178 out of 5

Keywords: Mark Felton, A-10 Warthog, Tank Buster, Hawker Hurricane

Id: z7LleZ5qlsw

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 26 2021