Defense For Armor

[Sayeret]

What other kind of armor is used to protect armored besidse reactive armor and slant armor? Post pictures of the armor also.

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mkowalsk/T80.jpg
reactive armor

[DE_Six]

Ah, better :)

Cool

To your question:

Chobham armor. Different materials with variable density sandwiched at odd angles.


Spaced Armor: Just that, hollow spaces to absorb the impact. Not much used anymore, I believe.

http://www.achtungpanzer.com/images/stug_1.jpg

Other types discussed here:

http://www.ciar.org/ttk/mbt/08.armor-modern.html

[anonymous individual]

Was the Spaced Armor effective?

[American Patriot]

Effective against shape charge grenades and missiles

[Nichonl]

teel

Steel is the basic armor type and has been in use for hundreds of years. Some modern tanks such as the T-72 and the M60 use a one piece cast steel turret and hull which are produced by giant molds, others use welded together plates. Since steel armor relies on it's thickness, it's the least effective. Steel thick enough to protect against modern HEAT and KE warheads would be to massive to be realistic. However it's effectiveness can be increased by sloping or rounding the plates. Inclining a 4 inch armor plate to a 60 degree angle increases it's effective thickness to about 8 inches.

Reactive Armor

Reactive armor consists of boxes attached to the exterior of the tank. Each box contains a explosive charge sandwiched between steel plates. Impervious to small arms fire and artillery fragments the charge detonates on contact with a shaped charge warhead. The explosion blows the plates apart disrupting the warheads plasma jet, rendering the round ineffective. Reactive armor can increase the effectiveness of conventional armor up to 5 times but it has it's drawbacks. Once a panel blows it leaves that spot vulnerable to future attacks and it is not effective against KE rounds. Some modern warheads, such as the newer TOW missiles, are designed to defeat this type of armor. They use dual tandem warheads one detonating a split second after the other. The first detonates the reactive armor and the second attacks the conventional armor left naked underneath.


Spaced Armor

Spaced armor consists of armor containing hollow areas. Upon being hit by a HEAT warhead the plasma jet burns through the first layer and splashes inside the hollow space without penetrating the inner layer. Spacing armor does not add protection against KE rounds.



Composite Armor

Although the exact composition of most composite armor is classified, it is basically a sandwich of steel and depleated uranium plates, ceramics, and plastic honeycomb. The British developed Chobham armor used in the M1 series, the German Leopard 2, and the British Challenger, is the most advanced composite in production.


Anti-Spall Liners

Although anti-spall liners are not armor in the traditional sense, they provide protection for the crew and deserve mention here. When a round impacts the outside of the vehicle, wether or not it fails to penetrate, it can fracture the inner armor causing flakes to break off and bounce around the interior at high speed. This is known as spalling and can have a detrimental effect on the crew and delicate components inside, to say the least. Anti-spall liners are basically a kevlar or ballistic nylon liner inside the turret to prevent this

from http://members.aol.com/panzersgt/theory/armor.html

[Nichonl]

I remember a history channel show about samurai swords and how they would fold the metal over itself over and over in thin layers to make it extremely strong. Something about making the grain of the metal all go the same direction. I wonder if they could use the same idea.