What does > on tanks mean
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I see a lot of tanks have that sign on it, what does it mean
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forward?
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If I'm not wrong, only Israeli tanks use this sign. It's a recognition symbol that's easy to distinguish from a distance, from the air, or through the smoke of the battlefield. I don't know if the US or any other countries uses this symbol. From a distance it is often hard to recognise a vehicle as friend or foe. And to make things worse, the Israelis and their Arab enemies used many same types of tanks during the wars. Therefore, it was necessary to have a large, simple symbols for recognition.Originally posted by Uncle_MooMoo:I see a lot of tanks have that sign on it, what does it mean
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No, I don't think it meant that...Originally posted by ^tamago^:forward?
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this?
US tanks have it too. but mostly only seen on their desert paint schemes? -
aim here, that is the weak point of the tank...
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if i am not wrong, it means it has commanders in it. the arrows indicate which veh have commanders (PC/PS,etc) in it.
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Those symbols or markings indicate the company of which the tank belongs to.
Eg - V is first company, > is second company, ^ is third company and < is fourth company.
In addition - Israeli tanks have hebrew letters and numbers to indicate the platoon and individual tank. -
I agree this is a good and simple way to identify friends from foes. But why didn't the SAF armour adopt this method as well? Or is it that our communications are so good until no need for such large prominent symbols to give the presence of the vehicle away?
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The special mark on the marker skirts of the tanks used in Israel is used to show which way the tank is going. It may be pointed <>^V although i dunno what they mean when they say ^ or V...heaven or hell?
This is taken from my centurion manual. -
good question with a lot of well informed suggestions... -
den everytime the turn they need to change the sign?Originally posted by CenturionMBT:The special mark on the marker skirts of the tanks used in Israel is used to show which way the tank is going. It may be pointed <>^V although i dunno what they mean when they say ^ or V...heaven or hell?
This is taken from my centurion manual. -
haha i guess...Originally posted by Pitot:den everytime the turn they need to change the sign? -
The Jewish people dun have a concept of Hell.
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Does that mean that nobody here knows what this sign means for sure?
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well that was the somewhat official explaination. but i still wonder what up and down means.Originally posted by tankee1981:Does that mean that nobody here knows what this sign means for sure? -
bcoy had already gave the answer. scroll up.
in some armies, those signs are also thermal.
any suggestions as to why? -
He gave *one* of the answer. This was heavily debated on another forum as well and the consensus is that no one really knows. Some say it is for recognition purposes (useful when working with yanks!). That it is thermal suggests that it is for recognition purposes.Originally posted by ferryman2393:bcoy had already gave the answer. scroll up.
in some armies, those signs are also thermal.
any suggestions as to why? -
<-------- means enemy is THAT WAY ..LoL!
or its telling the enemies that thier artillery is -------> that way... he he... so the planes wont bomb them ~ -
It might be a cheap, low tech form of IFF.
But as with tracer ammunition, such distinctive signs work both ways.
It helps your friend recognise you easily... but it helps your enemy recognise you easily too.
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Just came across this IDF tank book at Kinokuniya.
In it, it explained the markings '^, >, v, <' as denoting the company which the tank belongs to.
For: ^ means 1st Company
> means 2nd Company
v means 3rd company, &
< means 4th company. -
Thanks for clearing our doubts.Originally posted by Black Aces:Just came across this IDF tank book at Kinokuniya.
In it, it explained the markings '^, >, v, <' as denoting the company which the tank belongs to.
For: ^ means 1st Company
> means 2nd Company
v means 3rd company, &
< means 4th company. -
ah.. i see
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Actually, bcoy has mentioned this earlier but somehow the company (which he stated) which denotes the signs are different from mine.
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the V sign actually has it origins in WWII, remember churchill's famous "V for victory" sign ? .....
well ... this became a simple way of identification among western allied troops afterwards, .. it can be seen in various conflicts afterwards .....