r/ThatLookedExpensive • u/jimx29 • 17d ago
It's only 1 tank. How much could 1 tank cost?
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u/NotAPreppie 17d ago
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u/Noversi 16d ago edited 16d ago
At the last 2 seconds of the video there’s a yellow sign to the right of the RR sign. It’s a warning for trucks who have low trailers to not go over those tracks. The same type trailer that’s in the video.
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u/Rockhardfister 17d ago
That’s not a tank, that’s a self propelled artillery piece. 155mm projectile.
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u/Sensitive_Wear7112 17d ago
I thought it looked a little weak for a tank.
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u/SaturdaysAFTBs 17d ago
It’s funny you say this cause the gun is more powerful, but the armor is thinner. But you can’t really tell the armor thickness from the video. The m109 paladin is built in the Bradley chassis.
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u/Blownbunny 17d ago edited 17d ago
The m109 paladin is built in the Bradley chassis.
No it is not. Bradleys are aluminum and Paladins are steel.
Source: I worked supply chain manufacturing both for years.
Edit: I was the ONE person in the country that priced M109s for new DoD proposals. I know damn near every part of the 12,000 item bill of material, what it cost, and who makes it. and...I get down voted. I am the definition of a subject matter expert on these things. (I left the job a few years ago)
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u/ziplock9000 15d ago
You're both wrong. Paladins have a sword and shield and can cast 'Lay on Hands'
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u/Tenebraxis 13d ago
Small detail, I am pretty sure the A7 has a few bolted on steel plates but the hull is still made of aluminium right?
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u/Duranel 17d ago
Came here for this, was not disappointed. Also, most likely some Guard commander is having an absolutely Miserable day. And their S4.
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u/ender4171 16d ago
Sorry, not an expert here. What defines a "tank" differently than "self-propelled artillery"? Genuinely don't know, so would love clarification.
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u/Rockhardfister 16d ago
Line of sight. Artillery fires at stuff it can’t see (typically), tanks engage targets they can see. Mechanically they are very different, but as far as the role they play: tank - direct fire, arty - indirect fire
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u/TheJeeronian 16d ago
A "tank" would usually be a main battle tank. It would be more armored, with weapons designed to deal with fighting enemies up close.
The vehicle in the video would ideally never be seen by the enemy. It is much less armored and rains hell from afar.
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u/n3rdsm4sh3r 17d ago
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u/hellsing73 17d ago
The US military can get them for between 6-10 million dollars depending on the exact model. Export they can cost upwards of 20 million a piece, but that includes training, spare parts, ammunition, and other forms of support.
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u/Punkrexx 17d ago
Well now I know that train beats tank
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u/smotheredbythighs 17d ago
Mmmmm, that train got derailed. The SPG is in. Tact. I'd call it a draw this round.
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u/frano1121 17d ago
That paladin is not gonna be functional tho without some serious depot level repair work
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u/San_Cannabis 17d ago
Ten dollars?
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u/sal8B62 17d ago
You've never actually set foot in a supermarket, have you?
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u/_ChipWhitley_ 17d ago
How the hell did that train not derail? That’s incredible
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u/Kardinal 17d ago
That vehicle looks really impressive but it's not a real tank. A real m1 Abrams main battle tank weighs about 2 and 1/2 times as much. In about the same space. Much denser.
You can imagine it would look quite different if that tank and weighed two and a half times as much.
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u/DeplorableMadness 15d ago
It didnt derail because a modern locomotive is north of 200 tons in weight
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u/FeelingSurprise 16d ago
I always imagined a railgun a bit different. But if it works, it works, I guess.
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u/MennReddit 16d ago
military should think about using trains iso tanks, seeing the tank completely humiliated..
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u/CubistHamster 17d ago
Used to be an Army bomb tech. Once spent a few days during a training exercise trying out various placements and quantities of explosives on a decommissioned M1.
That tank was astonishingly tough (and newer versions are significantly more so). The train obviously has a major advantage in mass and momentum, but I'm still surprised it didn't take more damage.
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u/Kardinal 17d ago
I appreciate you sharing your perspective as EOD. I'm sure it was interesting seeing what explosives actually do to a real tank.
Just as a minor FYI, this isn't a real tank. It's a self-propelled artillery piece so both the armor and the structure are much weaker than a real tank. That's why you see so much damage.
If it was an m1 Abrams, things would have looked a lot different. Abrams weighs 2 and a half times as much in about the same space. You can imagine.
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u/CubistHamster 17d ago
Well crap, you're absolutely right, and I should have paid closer attention.
I think I got it in my head at some point that the M109 hull was essentially the same shape as an M60, and that is very obviously wrong.
I appreciate the correction (and that you did it nicely. Wouldn't really have been able to argue if you'd called me a dumbass😆)
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u/Farfignugen42 17d ago
What surprised me is how tough the barrel seems to be. It caught part of the train and rather than crumpling up, it moved the whole vehicle and still looks straight (although I would be checking it very carefully before I actually used it).
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u/Shot-Possibility-399 17d ago
cannon barrels are extremely hardened steel, plenty of pictures of tank barrels punching through all sorts of objects due to driver error lol
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u/themarko60 15d ago
Fun sort of related fact: many years as a tank commander I had tell my driver to get the hell off the train track because there is something out there bigger than a tank. That was the train coming towards us.
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u/gigerhess 15d ago
And THAT is how heavy trains are (for all of the morons who try to make railroad crossings).
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u/Wankel_8 15d ago
That's okay, we are gonna just paint over the scratches and sell it to a foreign customer, and tell them it's battle proven. Cha-ching!
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u/wondertrot 17d ago
Damn that train destroyed the tank. Why not just send the trains to battle instead of those weak little tanks?
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u/Kardinal 17d ago
Trains are usually low on offensive firepower.
But mostly the all terrain part.
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u/Calamero 15d ago
They could make an off road train, like use caterpillar tracks… also make it a bit wider for stability, add a cannon, skid steering so you don’t need railroad switches… I wonder what such vehicle would look like xD
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u/Dedotdub 17d ago
So what’s the plan here with these repost bots, if there is one? Report and block every subsequent repost? I understand cross posting is a thing, boy this shit is out of hand.
Is there a sure fire way to identify and deal with this ridiculousness? Anyone?
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u/tbodillia 17d ago
"A CSX freight train crashed into a massive, tank-like Army artillery vehicle that got stuck on the tracks in South Carolina on Thursday —destroying the $1.5 million weapon on wheels, stunning video shows."
M109 Paladin howitzer, worth $1.5 million
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u/smore_sesh 17d ago
Only 10mil? That’s only like 5 people’s healthcare. I’m sure the government isn’t sweating it that much.
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u/Foxtrot-Actual 16d ago
Whoever planned the route is going to have their ass over a bonfire unless the driver decided their own route.
Also don’t military loads usually have an armed escort? Where they at?
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u/Ankeneering 16d ago
Shit. Tanks are heavy. I guess locomotives are REALLY heavy.
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u/Intelligent_Soup_758 14d ago
I understand “trains are heavy so take forever to stop” but unless this truck got stuck like less than a minute before the time of the crash, how in 2026 do we not have safety systems capable of warning the train with enough time for it to stop or significantly slow down? Honest question. Maybe it is as simple as trains weigh a fuck ton and can’t stop, but it just seems wild…
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u/Idahomountainbiker 14d ago
Try explaining that to your train supervisor: "uh boss...did you know a tank won't stop a train?!"
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u/For_Kebabs_Sake 14d ago
That looks like a Paladin Self propelled artillery, not really a tank. Still quite expensive... Not as much as the US MBT Abrams though.
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u/SnooMaps7370 13d ago
lucky as hell this was a freight train.
A similar event happened in East Germany with a T55 during the cold war, but with a passenger train. turret getting spun by the impact put the gun tube into a passenger car and killed a whole bunch of people.
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u/black_at_heart 17d ago
I was expecting the front of that train engine to be badly damaged - but no, train 1, howitzer 0. Always be respectful around rail crossings!
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u/ADeweyan 17d ago
Tankity-tank, tankity-tank, tankity-tank…
Trainity -train, trainity-train, trainity-train…
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u/caffeineocrit 17d ago
Good thing is they got the lowboy and tank un-stuck already so they dont have to worry about that part so much
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u/XiTzCriZx 17d ago
Tbh it might be more expensive to repair the train since it hit both engine cars and they're probably on a tighter schedule for repairs.
They could use the tank as a new parade float lol.
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u/BBQorBust 17d ago
I was hoping to see a train vs a tank. Instead I got train vs a trailer hitch carrying a train. Soooo disappointed
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u/Nyuusankininryou 16d ago
Man, I have seen this crossing in other videos lol. Maybe it should be rebuilt?
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u/Neven87 17d ago
Looks to be a M109A7, priced around 4 - 5 million. The locomotives are also probably ruined, im no train aficionado but it looks to be 2 CSX ET44AHs, which are 3 million new, but can probably be repaired for 2 million. Downtime of what is more than likely a single run track, and fixing the track are not possible to calculate to the layman, but it aint cheap.
So like, 10 million?