tank silencer

[Jon]

I like it when something interesting comes out on the net, and then it's debunked as a hoax, and then the debunking is itself debunked.

So it is with these images of a "tank silencer". Ultimately the verdict was "true"; this device was thought to be used for testing loud artillery in close proximity to civilian populations. Of course, this being the internet, the debate raged on as to whether the vehicle is really a tank or a self-propelled artillery vehicle, whether the silencer is actually a muffler or suppressor, and which exact part of the human anatomy most resembles the device in question.





Similar IfL muffler for the Leopard 2 tank:






More IfL muffler details: http://www.cervus.de/publikationen/BuHiBaltimore01.pdf

More? Here's a US patent for a large-caliber gun silencer arrangement, from Rheinmetall, the original manufacturer of the devices above.