IR identification strips? I've seen pics of M1s with similar markings.

on some of the pics it looks like an air intake or exhaust port with louvres.then in 1 pic it looks like bags of sand hanging in rows because theyre not perfectly straight.....?

I think that they are high emissivity (spelling) panels to reduce blue on blue friendly fire at night with IR equipment.

They are IR/thermal ID panels. The louvres let air flow through, which keeps them cooler than the surrounding armor. This ensures you have a big square cool area when you look at the target through thermal sights of an M1, M2, Challenger, AH-64 or Maverick missile. It was found to be the most cost-effective passive method of limited visibility identification the Allies came up with after GW 1.

Thanx mate. I'd actually answered myself somewhere in one of the armour threads. Can't for the life of me find it though...

gf, did you ever get any of the e-mails that I sent you? Bb

Yes, thanks for that (I must have had a lapse in memory, I thought I'd commented on some of them straight after) They were pretty helpful thanks.