Rambo and the tank?
WHAT?
Why did the russian tank crew jump out of the tank to attack Rambo with rifles?
THe tank worked for godsake. Rambo uses it?
Such a wtf moment!
I always figured that they (being poorly trained conscripts) just panicked with the combination of the MG gunner being killed and the smoke from the molotov coming in. They also didn't know if Rambo had additional Molotovs so they made a hasty decision to exit the vehicle and clear their surroundings before extinguishing the fire, not realizing that Rambo would be ready and waiting with an AK to pump their guts full of 7.62mm bullets.
shareAs a tanker that was in the US Army, I can answer this question. With Soviet tank training and doctrine at the time, they teach their tanker to drive the tank and don't stop no matter what. That is unless your tank commander tells you to stop, or if the tank can't drive anymore. Like it ran out of gas or is a burning wreak.
Unlike Amercian tankers who drive the M1A1 tank. If the driver of the tank loses communications with the tank commander, gunner or loader in the tank's turret. The driver is to stop the tank and the communications must be fixed before the tank goes back to battle.
Now back to the movie there was a explosion in front of the T-72 tank and the tank stoped. What happend is the driver was shocked with what just happened. While the driver gets ready to drive on. Rambo comes up and kills the tank commander and gunner. Most Russian tanks only have a 3 man crew. The main gun has a auto loader. Rambo then climbs into the turret and started to use the main gun and the coaxial machine gun on the Hind helicopter. The driver in the tank is doing what he was trained to do, drive and keep on driving. Then the tank and Hind crash into each other.
Unlike American tankers who would steer away from the Hind. Or who would be on the radio with the turret asking for orders and directions. The Soviet tanker just did his job, drive the tank and don't think and ask questions. It killed him in the end.
Iraq had the same type of training in the first gulf was. Picking off their tanks was easy.
wait, so you think the driver was still alive and was following Rambo's orders the whole time, albeit just off screen?
I don't think that's at all what the film intends. If you watch, there are 3 tankers piloting the T72. One (the roof MGer) is killed by Richard Crenna's MG and falls off the tank.
The tank only stops then after A) a molotov is lobbed onto it's backside (by Rambo) and B) a mortar shell goes off right in front of it.
Then two (and only remaining) tankers (I assume the gunner and the driver - the commander must have been moonlighting as the MGer) exit the tank and are swiftly executed by Rambo. He then gains control of the vehicle and you can see him operating a sort of steering wheel.
I don't think it's possible to accurately fire and drive a T-72 simultaneously, but that explains why none of his shells seemed to hit anything (unless you consider that AA gun he shoots at - but if you look close it's undamaged and still mobile as the explosion hits just next to it).
From the time of World War 2 to this day. It's very common for the Soviets/Russians to place mounted infantry on the tank turret. Russian tanks have holding bars for infantry. Those infantry woruld ride that tank into battle and jump off and fight as the tank drove on. Also those infantry would provvide security for the tank and it's crew. Troutman killed the remaning soldier on the turret.
Now in the turret there are only two crew memebers, and tank commander and gunner. Those two came up through the turret and were killed by Rambo. The driver of the tank isn't in the turret. He's in the haul of the tank up front. The only way the driver could climb out of the turret and fight Rambo is if the turret and main gun was pointing to the rear end of the tank. When the turret is pointing to the rear. It opens up and small tunnel in the haul that lets the driver move from the turret into the driver spot in the front of the hual. So the drive was quite safe and alive.
Now the wheel that Rambo was using wasn't the steering wheel. It's the controls for the main gun and the turret. The steering wheel of a tank looks like the handle bars that you would find on a motorcycle. Even the gas controls are in the palm of your hands. Then the controls that Rambo grabbed were for the tank's auto loader for the main gun to load the main gun.
When I first saw this movie when it came out. I said there's no way possible for Rambo to drive and gun a tank. But after being a tanker and studying Soviet/Russian tank training and doctrine. It is quite possible for Rambo to do what he did.
If you look closely the man killed on the roof (by Trautman) was indeed a tanker and not an infantry man tagging along as he worse all black tanker clothes and soft padded helmet.
Also both the tankers who come out to kill Rambo with their SMGs (which I am guessing is a mistake as they look like MP5's which Russian Tankers would not carry - more likely PPSH43's or something similar), they both come out of two separate hatches. One is the gunner who exits the roof, and the other is the driver who exits the forward hatch.
There's no Russian driver inside the tank while Rambo is driving. He is operating both the gun and the driving controls... the editing is quick and choppy on purpose to create a sense of excitement but obviously Rambo had to sneak down into the driving compartment to operate the controls and then go back up into the turret to operate the gun. We just don't get any footage of him maneuvering around inside the tank.
Eddieinportland. You're a tanker? So was I. 19K.
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