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Electric Armor Tested For Light Armored Vehicles
joncrie writes "The Telegraph is reporting that British MoD scientists are now testing a new electric armor to protect light armored vehicles against RPGs.
The new electric armour is made up of a highly-charged capacitor that is connected to two separate metal plates on the tank's exterior. When an RPG warhead fires its jet of molten copper, it penetrates both the outer plate and the insulation of the inner plate. This makes a connection and thousands of amps of electricity vaporises most of the molten copper. The rest of the copper is dispersed harmlessly against the vehicle's hull. The initial development was mentioned previously."
"'Electric armour' vaporises anti-tank grenades and shells
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 19/08/2002) "
take a HARD look at that date. the 'initial development' link dates Aug. 22, 2002 PT.
like, wtf???? really?????
sorry for sounding so trollish but REALLY.
ok, at least proves some ways for some poor souls to copypaste stuff from years ago and get modded to the sky.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
The liner material has to be very ductile so it will flow from its initial hollow cone shape to form the slug and penetrating jet. The wavefront of explosives detonating behind the cone (explosive is on the pointy side of the cone) forms the slug and jet.
You can demo this for yourself by putting shaving cream between your palms, holding your wrists together, and then claping your hands. The foam will shoot out at a velocity much higher than the speed you push your hands together.
Most very ductile materials are metals, so a non-conductive liner is unlikely.
Some other posts have mentioned discharging the system with the first hit, but this may not be a problem because the the full charge is not necessarily used up, since the current flow will cease when the jet is burned away.. In fact the system might work with two paralell screens, without the need for solid sheets.
The older anti-shaped-charge system is called reactive armor, which means the tank is covered with many explosive sheets, whichever one is hit detonates, thus disrupting the jet when it explodes.
The problem there is that the sheet must be replaced manually after a hit. This electrical system should keep on working.
Depleted uranium dust is only dangerous if inhaled or ingested, and the dust forms particles large and heavy enough that it settles out of the atmosphere quickly. This is just another example of environmentalist propaganda that isn't based on fact.
(A little light reading on the subject)
This weapon is perfect for a dictatorship wanting to keep its people in line.
Well, not that I'm particularly disagreeing with you, but that's true of most weapons--there are ways to use them for good, and ways to use them for evil.
Personally, I think that this can be a much more humane method of breaking up protests gone violent than tear gas or rubber bullets. Note that this is all assuming that the protestors have gone beyond civil disobedience into violence. So long as it is, indeed, nonlethal, it won't (obviously) kill anyone--which tear gas can do if you inhale too much of it or if you have a nasty reaction to it, and rubber bullets can do if they hit in the wrong places--or even leave scars or bruises. Using this could help keep violence down more, too, as you wouldn't have to send out policemen, who could be shot at (if anyone in the mob had a gun), just turn the devices on. It could also be useful to keep protestors outside a certain area--for instance, keep a buffer zone around the embassy or whatever that if they come inside it, they get a nasty shock.
I can certainly see how it could be dangerous in the hands of a despot, but so can guns and tear gas. If they want to stop protests, they're going to do it, and if they use this rather than "policemen" armed with machine guns, it could save lives. If this device can decrease injuries and deaths in protests, of which there are not huge numbers, but some, it sounds like a good thing in my book.
In the end, it is a tool, whose purpose is only determined by the person using it. It's not even one designed to kill, only to hurt, and therefore keep someone away.
Dan Aris
Fun. Free. Online. RPG. BattleMaster.
I guess you don't realise that every 747 on the planet contains thousands of pounds of depleted uranium as balance weights. I believe that's true of many other airliners too, so if you're too scared of depleted uranium to get within a few feet of it I hope you don't plan to fly anywhere soon.
Just to clarify, U. S. light armor isn't HUMVEEs, it's mostly Bradley APCs and the occsional modified M-113 still in the system. The Bradley is treated as both an Infantry vehicle and a Cavalry scout vehicle, so you may see it refered to as an APC (armored personnel carrier) or an IFV (Infantry fighting vehicle), while the old M-113 chassis is still used for some communications and ambulance/field hospital vehicles and possibly still by MP units. You might also include M-88 tank recovery vehicles since they are modified from what was heavy armor in the WWW2 era, but isn't really up to grade now. Arguably, even some artillery systems, i.e. Palladin howitzers, can count as light armor if in a direct fire environment. All of these have tracks, not tires. There's also a few vehicles used by the U. S. Marines which fill roughly simiar roles, but include some amphibious capabilities.
Who is John Cabal?