Tank ammo. Military review and politics

Cumulative artillery ammunition is intended mainly for firing at armored targets and vertical walls of defensive structures. The action of cumulative projectiles is based on the cumulative effect - the concentration of the action of the explosion in one direction. In this case, the barrier breaks through not due to the kinetic energy of the projectile, but due to the energy of the cumulative jet formed when the projectile breaks.

Penetrating action cumulative projectile does not depend on its speed at the target and is constant for all firing distances. Armor penetration of HEAT projectiles of 100..125 mm caliber tank guns against homogeneous steel armor is about 350..500 mm when hit along the normal.

In addition to the cumulative effect, such projectiles have a fragmentation effect and, if necessary, can be used to destroy and suppress enemy manpower and fire weapons located openly or in field-type shelters. There are also universal cumulative fragmentation shells.

Initially (during the years of the Great Patriotic War and earlier) cumulative projectiles for rifled guns were carried out without plumage, with stabilization due to the gyroscopic effect, traditional for cannon artillery of that period. However, later it turned out that the rotation of the cumulative projectile with a frequency above 50 revolutions per second significantly reduces its armor penetration, since it leads to the dispersion of the cumulative jet. Therefore, in the post-war years, cumulative projectiles for rifled guns, as well as for smooth-bore guns, began to be made with aerodynamic stabilization - with plumage that opens after the projectile leaves the barrel and ensures its stability on the flight path. The figure shows the plumage in the open position.

Two centering thickenings are made on the body of the cumulative projectile, one closer to the head part, the other - to the bottom. Centering thickenings are designed to center the projectile in the bore.

HEAT projectiles intended for firing from smooth-bore guns, instead of the leading belt, have an obturator belt, which is fixedly fixed on the body closer to the bottom. The necessary rotational speed in flight for such projectiles is provided by bevels on the tail blades.

In the body of the cumulative projectile, its equipment is located - a bursting charge of a high explosive (RDX, phlegmatized heating element) with a detonator cap. A recess is made in the explosive charge - a cumulative funnel directed by a bell to the head part and covered with a metal lining (usually copper or steel). A head with a head fuse wrapped in it is attached to the front of the projectile body by means of a ring. The shape of the head can be ogival, conical or arrow-shaped. The head acts as a fairing during flight, and also ensures that the fuse is triggered at the estimated (focal) distance from the cumulative funnel. The latter is necessary for correct formation cumulative jet. From the side of the head part, the equipment is covered with a ring that protects the cumulative funnel and explosive charge from fragments of the head and fuse. In the middle of the ring there is a hole designed to transmit an explosive impulse from the head fuse to the detonator cap.

A stabilizer with tail blades fixed on it is screwed into the bottom of the hull. The blades are held in the folded position by a retainer (for example, a plastic ring or silk cord). When fired, the latch is destroyed, the blades are released and, after the projectile leaves the barrel, they are opened by the oncoming air flow.

IN back The stabilizer is pressed with a tracer equipped with a special combustible compound. At the moment of the shot, the propellant charge ignites the tracer retarder, after the retarder burns out, the combustible composition ignites, after which the projectile flies, leaving behind a bright luminous trail visible to the gunner, resulting from the inertia of human vision. The tracer retarder is necessary so that the trace from the tracer does not unmask the gun.

After the detonator cap is activated and the explosive charge explodes, the cumulative funnel is compressed, and about 10..20% of its metal passes into a cumulative jet several millimeters thick, flying out along the axis of the funnel at a speed of about 7 km / s. The cumulative jet, due to its kinetic energy, breaks through the barrier. The rest of the metal of the cumulative funnel is crushed into a pestle and does not participate in breaking through the barrier.

The metal of the armor, squeezed out and washed by the cumulative jet, forms the roller-like edges of the hole. In addition, since the cumulative jet moves at high speed and the energy released when the armor is penetrated does not have time to dissipate, the barrier material in the area of contact with the jet can heat up to high temperature and undergo thermal changes. For these reasons, a hole in steel armor can resemble a melted hole. Such resemblance determined the early name of cumulative artillery ammunition- "armor-burning projectiles". However, this name does not reflect the essence of the phenomenon, since the above-described appearance holes is a consequence of breaking through the barrier, and not the cause. That is, the armor is pierced, and not melted and not "burned through".

The armor action of the HEAT projectile is provided by two factors: due to the destruction of the crew and internal equipment of the target by the HEAT jet itself, and due to the sharp pressure surge that the HEAT jet causes in a closed armored volume. The amplitude of the pressure jump depends on the value of the residual energy of the cumulative jet and on the volume of the closed space behind the armor. The more powerful the armor of the target and the more energy of the cumulative jet it takes to break through the armor, the less pressure surge it can cause in the reserved space. The larger the internal volume of the target hit by a cumulative munition, the weaker the pressure surge caused by the cumulative jet will be.

At the same time, it should be noted that the increase in the volume of habitable compartments of combat vehicles has never been practiced as a special measure for protection against cumulative ammunition, and cannot be used in such a role. On the other hand, a decrease in the armored volume allows, at a given mass, to raise the level of armor of an object and achieve higher protection rates not only against cumulative projectiles, but also against kinetic ammunition (chamber and solid, caliber and sub-caliber armor-piercing projectiles), high-explosive ammunition (fragmentation, high-explosive , high-explosive fragmentation ammunition, armor-piercing shells with plastic explosive and collapsible warhead), damaging factors nuclear explosion, mechanical effects.

Many types of shells are implemented in War Thunder, each of which has its own characteristics. In order to correctly compare different shells, choose the main type of ammunition before the battle, and in battle for different purposes in different situations to use suitable projectiles, you need to know the basics of their device and principle of operation. This article talks about the types of projectiles and their design, as well as gives advice on their use in combat. Do not neglect this knowledge, because the effectiveness of the weapon largely depends on the shells for it.

Types of tank ammunition

Armor-piercing caliber shells

Chamber and solid armor-piercing shells

As the name implies, the purpose of armor-piercing shells is to penetrate armor and thereby hit a tank. Armor-piercing shells are of two types: chamber and solid. Chamber shells have a special cavity inside - a chamber, in which an explosive is located. When such a projectile penetrates the armor, the fuse is triggered and the projectile explodes. Crew enemy tank it is affected not only by fragments from the armor, but also by the explosion and fragments of the chamber projectile. The explosion does not occur immediately, but with a delay, thanks to which the projectile has time to fly into the tank and explode there, causing the most damage. In addition, the sensitivity of the fuse is set to, for example, 15 mm, that is, the fuse will only work if the thickness of the armor being penetrated is above 15 mm. This is necessary so that the chamber projectile explodes in the fighting compartment when it breaks through the main armor, and does not cock against the screens.

A solid projectile does not have a chamber with an explosive, it is just a metal blank. Of course, solid shells deal much less damage, but they penetrate a greater thickness of armor than similar chamber shells, since solid shells are stronger and heavier. For example, the armor-piercing chamber projectile BR-350A from the F-34 cannon pierces 80 mm at a right angle at close range, and the solid BR-350SP projectile as much as 105 mm. The use of solid shells is very characteristic of the British school of tank building. Things got to the point that the British removed explosives from American 75-mm chamber shells, turning them into solid ones.

The lethal force of solid shells depends on the ratio of the thickness of the armor and the armor penetration of the shell:

If the armor is too thin, then the projectile will pierce through it and damage only those elements that it hits along the way.
If the armor is too thick (on the border of penetration), then small non-lethal fragments are formed that will not cause much harm.
Maximum armor action - in case of penetration of sufficiently thick armor, while the penetration of the projectile should not be completely used up.

Thus, in the presence of several solid shells, the best armor action will be with the one with greater armor penetration. As for chamber shells, the damage also depends on the amount of explosive in TNT equivalent, as well as on whether the fuse worked or not.

Sharp-headed and blunt-headed armor-piercing shells

An oblique blow to the armor: a - a sharp-headed projectile; b - blunt projectile; c - arrow-shaped sub-caliber projectile

Armor-piercing shells are divided not only into chamber and solid shells, but also into sharp-headed and dumb-headed ones. Pointed shells pierce thicker armor at a right angle, since at the moment of impact with the armor, all the impact force falls on a small area of the armor plate. However, the efficiency of work on sloping armor in sharp-headed projectiles is lower due to a greater tendency to ricochet at large angles of impact with the armor. Conversely, blunt-headed shells penetrate thicker armor at an angle than sharp-headed shells, but have less armor penetration at right angles. Let's take for example the armor-piercing chamber shells of the T-34-85 tank. At a distance of 10 meters, the BR-365K sharp-headed projectile penetrates 145 mm at a right angle and 52 mm at an angle of 30 °, and the BR-365A blunt-headed projectile penetrates 142 mm at a right angle, but 58 mm at an angle of 30 °.

In addition to sharp-headed and blunt-headed shells, there are sharp-headed shells with an armor-piercing tip. When meeting armor plate at a right angle, such a projectile works like a sharp-headed projectile and has good armor penetration compared to a similar blunt-headed projectile. When hitting sloping armor, the armor-piercing tip “bites” the projectile, preventing ricochet, and the projectile works like a dumb-ass.

However, sharp-headed shells with an armor-piercing tip, like blunt-headed shells, have a significant drawback - greater aerodynamic resistance, due to which armor penetration drops more at a distance than sharp-headed shells. To improve aerodynamics, ballistic caps are used, due to which armor penetration is increased at medium and long distances. For example, on the German 128 mm KwK 44 L/55 gun, two armor-piercing chamber shells are available, one with a ballistic cap and the other without it. Armor-piercing sharp-headed projectile with an armor-piercing tip PzGr at a right angle pierces 266 mm at 10 meters and 157 mm at 2000 meters. But an armor-piercing projectile with an armor-piercing tip and a ballistic cap PzGr 43 at a right angle pierces 269 mm at 10 meters and 208 mm at 2000 meters. In close combat, there are no special differences between them, but at long distances the difference in armor penetration is huge.

Armor-piercing chamber shells with an armor-piercing tip and a ballistic cap are the most versatile type of armor-piercing ammunition, which combines the advantages of sharp-headed and blunt-headed projectiles.

Table of armor-piercing shells

Sharp-headed armor-piercing shells can be chamber or solid. The same applies to blunt-headed shells, as well as sharp-headed shells with an armor-piercing tip, and so on. Let's put it all together possible options to the table. Under the icon of each projectile, the abbreviated names of the projectile type are written in English terminology, these are the terms used in the book "WWII Ballistics: Armor and Gunnery", according to which many shells in the game are configured. If you hover over the abbreviated name with the mouse cursor, a hint with decoding and translation will appear.

	dumb-headed (with ballistic cap)	sharp-headed	sharp-headed with armor-piercing tip	sharp-headed with armor-piercing tip and ballistic cap
Solid projectile	APBC	AP	APC	APCBC
Chamber projectile		APHE	APHEC

Sub-caliber shells

Coil sub-caliber projectiles

The action of the sub-caliber projectile:
1 - ballistic cap
2 - body
3 - core

Armor-piercing caliber shells have been described above. They are called caliber because the diameter of their warhead is equal to the caliber of the gun. There are also armor-piercing sub-caliber shells, the warhead diameter of which is smaller than the caliber of the gun. The simplest type of sub-caliber projectiles is coil (APCR - Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid). The coil sub-caliber projectile consists of three parts: a body, a ballistic cap and a core. The body serves to disperse the projectile in the barrel. At the moment of meeting with the armor, the ballistic cap and the body are crushed, and the core pierces the armor, hitting the tank with shrapnel.

At close range, sub-caliber shells penetrate thicker armor than caliber shells. Firstly, the sabot projectile is smaller and lighter than a conventional armor-piercing projectile, thanks to which it accelerates to higher speeds. Secondly, the core of the projectile is made of hard alloys with a high specific gravity. Thirdly, due to the small size of the core at the moment of contact with the armor, the impact energy falls on a small area of the armor.

But coil sub-caliber shells also have significant drawbacks. Due to their relatively light weight, sub-caliber shells are ineffective at long distances, they lose energy faster, hence the drop in accuracy and armor penetration. The core does not have an explosive charge, therefore, in terms of armor action, sub-caliber shells are much weaker than chamber shells. Finally, sub-caliber shells do not work well against sloped armor.

Coil sub-caliber shells were effective only in close combat and were used in cases where enemy tanks were invulnerable against caliber armor-piercing shells. The use of sub-caliber shells made it possible to significantly increase the armor penetration of the existing guns, which made it possible to hit more modern, well-armored armored vehicles even with outdated guns.

Sub-caliber projectiles with a detachable pallet

APDS projectile and its core

Sectional view of an APDS projectile, showing the ballistic-tipped core

Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot (APDS) - a further development of the design of sabot projectiles.

Coil sub-caliber projectiles had a significant drawback: the hull flew along with the core, increasing aerodynamic drag and, as a result, a drop in accuracy and armor penetration at a distance. For sub-caliber shells with a detachable pallet, a detachable pallet was used instead of the body, which first dispersed the projectile in the gun barrel, and then separated from the core by air resistance. The core flew to the target without a pallet and, due to the significantly lower aerodynamic resistance, did not lose armor penetration at a distance as quickly as coil sub-caliber shells.

During the Second World War, sub-caliber shells with a detachable pallet were distinguished by record-breaking armor penetration and flight speed. For example, the Shot SV Mk.1 sub-caliber projectile for the 17-pounder accelerated to 1203 m/s and pierced 228 mm of soft armor at a right angle at 10 meters, while the Shot Mk.8 armor-piercing caliber projectile only 171 mm under the same conditions.

Sub-caliber feathered shells

Separation of the pallet from BOPS

BOPS projectile

Armor-piercing feathered sabot projectile (APFSDS - Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot) - the most modern look armor-piercing projectiles designed to destroy heavily armored vehicles protected by the latest types of armor and active protection.

These projectiles are a further development of sabot projectiles with a detachable pallet, they are even longer and have a smaller cross section. Spin stabilization is not very effective for high aspect ratio projectiles, so armor piercing piercing piercing sabots (abbreviated as BOPS) are stabilized by the fins and are generally used to fire smoothbore guns (however, early BOPS and some modern ones are designed to fire rifled guns).

Modern BOPS projectiles have a diameter of 2-3 cm and a length of 50-60 cm. To maximize the specific pressure and kinetic energy of the projectile, materials with high density- tungsten carbide or depleted uranium alloy. The muzzle velocity of the BOPS is up to 1900 m / s.

Concrete-piercing projectiles

The concrete projectile is artillery shell, designed to destroy long-term fortifications and solid buildings of capital construction, as well as to destroy manpower sheltered in them and military equipment enemy. Often, concrete-piercing shells were used to destroy concrete pillboxes.

In terms of design, concrete-piercing shells occupy an intermediate position between armor-piercing chamber and high-explosive fragmentation shells. Compared to high-explosive fragmentation shells of the same caliber, with a close destructive potential of the explosive charge, concrete-piercing ammunition has a more massive and durable body, which allows them to penetrate deep into reinforced concrete, stone and brick barriers. Compared to armor-piercing chamber shells, concrete-piercing shells have more explosives, but a less durable body, so concrete-piercing shells are inferior to them in armor penetration.

The G-530 concrete-piercing projectile weighing 40 kg is included in the ammunition load of the KV-2 tank, the main purpose of which was the destruction of pillboxes and other fortifications.

HEAT rounds

Rotating HEAT projectiles

The device of the cumulative projectile:
1 - fairing
2 - air cavity
3 - metal cladding
4 - detonator
5 - explosive
6 - piezoelectric fuse

The cumulative projectile (HEAT - High-Explosive Anti-Tank) in terms of the principle of operation differs significantly from kinetic ammunition, which includes conventional armor-piercing and sub-caliber projectiles. It is a thin-walled steel projectile filled with a powerful explosive - RDX, or a mixture of TNT and RDX. In front of the projectile in explosives there is a goblet-shaped or cone-shaped recess lined with metal (usually copper) - a focusing funnel. The projectile has a sensitive head fuse.

When a projectile collides with armor, an explosive is detonated. Due to the presence of a focusing funnel in the projectile, part of the explosion energy is concentrated at one small point, forming a thin cumulative jet consisting of the metal of the lining of the same funnel and explosion products. The cumulative jet flies forward at a tremendous speed (approximately 5,000 - 10,000 m / s) and passes through the armor due to the enormous pressure it creates (like a needle through oil), under the influence of which any metal enters a state of superfluidity or, in other words, leads itself as a liquid. The armored damaging effect is provided both by the cumulative jet itself and by hot drops of pierced armor squeezed inward.

The most important advantage of a HEAT projectile is that its armor penetration does not depend on the velocity of the projectile and is the same at all distances. That is why cumulative shells were used on howitzers, since conventional armor-piercing shells would be ineffective for them due to their low flight speed. But the cumulative shells of the Second World War also had significant drawbacks that limited their use. The rotation of the projectile at high initial speeds made it difficult to form a cumulative jet, as a result, the cumulative projectiles had a low initial speed, a small effective range and high dispersion, which was also facilitated by the shape of the projectile head, which was not optimal from the point of view of aerodynamics. The manufacturing technology of these shells at that time was not sufficiently developed, so their armor penetration was relatively low (approximately corresponded to the caliber of the projectile or slightly higher) and was unstable.

Non-rotating (feathered) cumulative projectiles

Non-rotating (feathered) cumulative projectiles (HEAT-FS - High-Explosive Anti-Tank Fin-Stabilised) are a further development of cumulative ammunition. Unlike early cumulative projectiles, they are stabilized in flight not by rotation, but by folding fins. The lack of rotation improves the formation of a cumulative jet and significantly increases armor penetration, while removing all restrictions on the speed of the projectile, which can exceed 1000 m/s. So, for early cumulative shells, typical armor penetration was 1-1.5 calibers, while for post-war shells it was 4 or more. However, feathered projectiles have a slightly lower armor effect compared to conventional HEAT projectiles.

Fragmentation and high-explosive shells

High-explosive shells

A high-explosive fragmentation projectile (HE - High-Explosive) is a thin-walled steel or cast iron projectile filled with an explosive (usually TNT or ammonite), with a head fuse. Upon hitting the target, the projectile immediately explodes, hitting the target with fragments and an explosive wave. Compared to concrete-piercing and armor-piercing chamber shells, high-explosive fragmentation shells have very thin walls, but they have more explosives.

The main purpose of high-explosive fragmentation shells is to defeat enemy manpower, as well as unarmored and lightly armored vehicles. High-explosive high-explosive shells of large caliber can be used very effectively to destroy lightly armored tanks and self-propelled guns, as they break through relatively thin armor and incapacitate the crew with the force of the explosion. Tanks and self-propelled guns with anti-projectile armor are resistant to high-explosive fragmentation shells. However, large-caliber projectiles can even hit them: the explosion destroys the tracks, damages the gun barrel, jams the turret, and the crew is injured and shell-shocked.

Shrapnel shells

The shrapnel projectile is a cylindrical body, divided by a partition (diaphragm) into 2 compartments. An explosive charge is placed in the bottom compartment, and spherical bullets are in the other compartment. A tube filled with a slowly burning pyrotechnic composition passes along the axis of the projectile.

The main purpose of the shrapnel projectile is to defeat the enemy's manpower. It happens in the following way. At the moment of the shot, the composition in the tube ignites. Gradually, it burns out and transfers the fire to the explosive charge. The charge ignites and explodes, squeezing out a partition with bullets. The head of the projectile comes off and the bullets fly out along the axis of the projectile, deviating slightly to the sides and hitting the enemy infantry.

In the absence of armor-piercing shells in the early stages of the war, gunners often used shrapnel shells with a tube set "on impact". In terms of its qualities, such a projectile occupied an intermediate position between high-explosive fragmentation and armor-piercing, which is reflected in the game.

Armor-piercing shells

Armor-piercing high-explosive projectile (HESH - High Explosive Squash Head) - a post-war type of anti-tank projectile, the principle of operation of which is based on the detonation of a plastic explosive on the surface of the armor, which causes armor fragments on the back to break off and damage the fighting compartment of the vehicle. An armor-piercing high-explosive projectile has a body with relatively thin walls, designed for plastic deformation when it encounters an obstacle, as well as a bottom fuse. The charge of an armor-piercing high-explosive projectile consists of a plastic explosive that “spreads” over the surface of the armor when the projectile meets an obstacle.

After “spreading”, the charge is undermined by a slow-acting bottom fuse, which causes the destruction of the rear surface of the armor and the formation of spalls that can hit internal equipment vehicles or crew members. In some cases, penetrating armor can also occur in the form of a puncture, a breach, or a broken plug. The penetrating ability of an armor-piercing high-explosive projectile depends less on the angle of the armor in comparison with conventional armor-piercing projectiles.

ATGM Malyutka (1 generation)

Shillelagh ATGM (2 generations)

Anti-tank guided missiles

An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) is a guided missile designed to destroy tanks and other armored targets. The former name of the ATGM is "anti-tank guided missile". ATGMs in the game are solid-propellant missiles equipped with on-board control systems (operating on the operator's commands) and flight stabilization, devices for receiving and decrypting control signals received via wires (or via infrared or radio command control channels). The warhead is cumulative, with armor penetration of 400-600 mm. The flight speed of missiles is only 150-323 m / s, but the target can be successfully hit at a distance of up to 3 kilometers.

The game features ATGMs of two generations:

First generation (manual command guidance system)- in reality, they are manually controlled by the operator using a joystick, eng. MCLOS. In realistic and simulation modes, these missiles are controlled using the WSAD keys.
Second generation (semi-automatic command guidance system)- in reality and in all game modes, they are controlled by pointing the sight at the target, eng. SACLOS. Either the center of the crosshair serves as a sight in the game optical sight, or a large white round marker (reload indicator) in third person view.

In arcade mode, there is no difference between the generations of rockets, they are all controlled with the help of a sight, like second-generation rockets.

ATGMs are also distinguished by the launch method.

1) Launched from the channel of the tank barrel. To do this, you need either a smooth barrel: an example is the smooth barrel of a 125-mm gun of the T-64 tank. Or a keyway is made in a rifled barrel, where a rocket is inserted, for example, in the Sheridan tank.
2) Launched from guides. Closed, tubular (or square), for example, like the RakJPz 2 tank destroyer with the HOT-1 ATGM. Or open, rail (for example, like the IT-1 tank destroyer with the 2K4 Dragon ATGM).

As a rule, the more modern and the larger the caliber of the ATGM, the more it penetrates. ATGMs were constantly improved - manufacturing technology, materials science, and explosives improved. The penetrating effect of ATGMs (as well as HEAT rounds) can be completely or partially neutralized by combined armor and dynamic protection. As well as special anti-cumulative armor screens located at some distance from the main armor.

Appearance and device of shells

Armor-piercing sharp-headed chamber projectile

Sharp-headed projectile with armor-piercing tip

Sharp-headed projectile with armor-piercing tip and ballistic cap

Armor-piercing blunt projectile with ballistic cap

Sub-caliber projectile

Sub-caliber projectile with detachable pallet

HEAT projectile

Non-rotating (feathered) cumulative projectile

A denormalization phenomenon that increases the path of a projectile through armor

Starting with game version 1.49, the effect of shells on sloped armor has been redesigned. Now the value of the reduced armor thickness (armor thickness ÷ cosine of the angle of inclination) is valid only for calculating the penetration of HEAT projectiles. For armor-piercing and especially sub-caliber shells, the penetration of sloping armor was significantly reduced due to the denormalization effect, when a short shell turns around during penetration, and its path in the armor increases.
So, at an angle of inclination of the armor of 60 °, penetration of all shells fell by about 2 times. Now this is true only for cumulative and armor-piercing high-explosive shells. For armor-piercing shells, penetration in this case drops by 2.3-2.9 times, for conventional sub-caliber shells - by 3-4 times, and for sub-caliber shells with a detachable pallet (including BOPS) - by 2.5 times.
List of shells in order of deterioration of their work on sloped armor:
1. Cumulative And armor-piercing high-explosive- the most efficient.
2. Armor-piercing blunt And armor-piercing sharp-headed with an armor-piercing tip.
3. Armor-piercing sub-caliber with detachable pallet And BOPS.
4. Armor-piercing sharp-headed And shrapnel.
5. Armor-piercing sub-caliber- the most inefficient.
Here, a high-explosive fragmentation projectile stands apart, in which the probability of penetrating the armor does not depend on its angle of inclination at all (provided that no ricochet has occurred).

Armor-piercing shells

For such projectiles, the fuse is cocked at the moment of penetration of the armor and undermines the projectile after a certain time, which ensures a very high armor effect. The parameters of the projectile indicate two important: fuse sensitivity and fuse delay.
If the thickness of the armor is less than the sensitivity of the fuse, then the explosion will not occur, and the projectile will work like a regular solid one, damaging only those modules that are in its path, or simply fly through the target without causing damage. Therefore, when firing at unarmored targets, chamber shells are not very effective (as well as all others, except for high-explosive and shrapnel).
The fuse delay determines the time after which the projectile will explode after breaking through the armor. Too little delay (in particular, for the Soviet MD-5 fuse) leads to the fact that when it hits a tank attachment (screen, track, undercarriage, caterpillar), the projectile explodes almost immediately and does not have time to penetrate the armor. Therefore, when firing at shielded tanks, it is better not to use such shells. Too much delay of the fuse can cause the projectile to go right through and explode outside the tank (although such cases are very rare).
If a chamber projectile is detonated in a fuel tank or in an ammunition rack, then with a high probability an explosion will occur and the tank will be destroyed.

Armor-piercing sharp-headed and blunt-headed projectiles

Depending on the shape of the armor-piercing part of the projectile, its tendency to ricochet, armor penetration and normalization differ. General rule: blunt-headed shells are best used on opponents with sloped armor, and sharp-headed ones - if the armor is not sloped. However, the difference in armor penetration in both types is not very large.
The presence of armor-piercing and / or ballistic caps significantly improves the properties of the projectile.

Sub-caliber shells

This type of projectile is distinguished by high armor penetration at short distances and a very high flight speed, which makes it easier to shoot at moving targets.
However, when armor is penetrated, only a thin hard-alloy rod appears in the armored space, which causes damage only to those modules and crew members in which it hits (unlike an armor-piercing chamber projectile, which fills the entire fighting compartment with fragments). Therefore, in order to effectively destroy a tank with a sub-caliber projectile, you should shoot at it. vulnerabilities: engine, ammo rack, fuel tanks. But even in this case, one hit may not be enough to disable the tank. If you shoot at random (especially at the same point), it may take a lot of shots to disable the tank, and the enemy may get ahead of you.
Another problem with sub-caliber projectiles is a strong loss of armor penetration with distance due to their low mass. Studying the armor penetration tables shows at what distance you need to switch to a regular armor-piercing projectile, which in addition has a much larger lethality.

HEAT rounds

The armor penetration of these shells does not depend on the distance, which allows them to be used with equal efficiency for both close and long-range combat. However, due to design features, HEAT rounds often have a lower flight speed than other types, as a result of which the shot trajectory becomes hinged, accuracy suffers, and it becomes very difficult to hit moving targets (especially at long distances).
The principle of operation of the cumulative projectile also determines its not very high damaging ability compared to the armor-piercing chamber projectile: the cumulative jet flies a limited distance inside the tank and inflicts damage only on those components and crew members in which it directly hit. Therefore, when using a cumulative projectile, one should aim just as carefully as in the case of a sub-caliber one.
If the cumulative projectile hit not the armor, but the hinged element of the tank (screen, track, caterpillar, undercarriage), then it will explode on this element, and the armor penetration of the cumulative jet will significantly decrease (each centimeter of the flight of the jet in the air reduces the armor penetration by 1 mm). Therefore, other types of shells should be used against tanks with screens, and one should not hope to penetrate the armor with HEAT shells by shooting at the tracks, undercarriage and gun mantlet. Remember that a premature detonation of a projectile can cause any obstacle - a fence, a tree, any building.
HEAT shells in life and in the game have a high-explosive effect, that is, they also work as high-explosive fragmentation shells of reduced power ( light body gives less shards). Thus, large-caliber cumulative projectiles can be quite successfully used instead of high-explosive fragmentation when firing at lightly armored vehicles.

High-explosive shells

The striking ability of these shells depends on the ratio of the caliber of your gun and the armor of your target. Thus, shells with a caliber of 50 mm or less are only effective against aircraft and trucks, 75-85 mm - against light tanks with bulletproof armor, 122 mm - against medium tanks such as T-34, 152 mm - against all tanks, with the exception of head-on shooting at the most armored vehicles.
However, it must be remembered that the damage inflicted significantly depends on the specific point of impact, so there are cases when even a 122-152 mm caliber projectile causes very minor damage. And in the case of guns with a smaller caliber, in doubtful cases, it is better to use an armor-piercing chamber or shrapnel projectile, which have greater penetration and high lethality.

Shells - part 2

What is the best way to shoot? Overview of tank shells from _Omero_

Cumulative ammunition is special kind shells, rockets, mines, hand grenades and a grenade for grenade launchers, designed to destroy enemy armored vehicles and its reinforced concrete fortifications. The principle of their operation is based on the formation after the explosion of a thin, narrowly directed cumulative jet that burns through the armor. The cumulative effect is achieved due to the special design of the ammunition.

Currently, cumulative ammunition is the most common and most effective anti-tank weapon. The mass use of such ammunition began during World War II.

The widespread use of cumulative munitions is facilitated by their simplicity, low cost and unusually high efficiency.

A bit of history

From the moment tanks appeared on the battlefield, the question immediately arose of effective means fight them. idea to use artillery pieces for the destruction of armored monsters appeared almost immediately, guns began to be widely used for this purpose during the First World War. It should be noted that the idea to create a specialized anti-tank gun (ATW) first came to the mind of the Germans, but they could not immediately put it into practice. Until the very end of the First World War, the most common field guns were used very successfully against tanks.

Between the two world slaughters, developments in the field of creating a specialized anti-tank artillery engaged in almost all major military-industrial powers. The result of these works was the emergence a large number samples of anti-tank missiles, which quite successfully hit the tanks of that time.

Since the armor of the first tanks protected mainly from bullets, even a small-caliber cannon or anti-tank rifle. However, just before the war different countries the next generation of vehicles began to appear (English "Matilda", Soviet T-34 and KV, French S-35 and Char B1), equipped with a powerful engine and anti-cannon armor. This first-generation anti-tank defense could no longer be penetrated.

As a counter new threat designers began to increase the caliber of the anti-tank gun and increase the initial speed of the projectile. Such measures increased the effectiveness of armor penetration by several times, but also had significant side effects. The guns have become heavier, more complex, their cost has increased and maneuverability has sharply decreased. The Germans did not use a good life against the Soviet “thirty-fours” and KV 88-mm anti-aircraft guns. But they were not always applicable.

It was necessary to look for another way, and he was found. Instead of increasing the mass and speed of an armor-piercing blank, ammunition was created that provided armor penetration due to the energy of a directed explosion. Such ammunition is called cumulative.

Research in the field of directed explosion began in the middle 19th century. The laurels of the discoverer of the cumulative effect are claimed by several people in different countries who were engaged in work in this direction at about the same time. Initially, the effect of a directed explosion was achieved through the use of a special cone-shaped recess, which was made in an explosive charge.

Work has been carried out in many countries, but bottom line the Germans got it first. The talented German designer Franz Tomanek suggested the use of a metal recess lining, which made the shaped charge even more effective. In Germany, these works began in the mid-30s, and by the beginning of the war, the cumulative projectile was already in service with the German army.

In 1940, on the other side of the Atlantic, Swiss designer Henry Mohaupt created a rocket-propelled grenade with a cumulative warhead for the US Army.

At the beginning of the war Soviet tankmen encountered a new species German ammunition which came as a very unpleasant surprise to them. German cumulative shells, when hit, burned through tank armor and left holes with melted edges. Therefore, they were called "armor-burning".

However, already in 1942, the BP-350A cumulative projectile appeared in service with the Red Army. Soviet engineers copied captured German samples and created a HEAT projectile for a 76mm cannon and a 122mm howitzer.

In 1943, the PTAB cluster anti-tank cumulative bombs appeared in service with the Red Army, which were intended to destroy the upper projection of the tank, where the thickness of the armor is always less.

Also in 1943, the Americans first used the Bazooka anti-tank grenade launcher. It was able to penetrate 80 mm armor at a distance of 300 meters. The Germans studied the captured samples of the Bazooka with great interest, and soon a whole series of German grenade launchers, which we traditionally call " Faustpatron". The effectiveness of their use against Soviet armored vehicles is still a highly debatable issue: in some sources, the Faustpatrons are called almost a real “miracle weapon”, while in others they rightly point to their low firing range and unsatisfactory accuracy.

German grenade launchers were indeed very effective in urban combat, when the grenade launcher could fire at close range. Under other circumstances, he did not have many chances to get close to the tank at an effective shot distance.

The Germans also developed special anti-tank magnetic cumulative mines Hafthohlladung 3. Using the "dead space" around the tank, the fighter had to approach the car and strengthen the mine on any smooth surface. Such mines penetrated tank armor quite effectively, but getting close to the tank and setting the mine was a very difficult task, it required great courage and endurance from the soldier.

In 1943, several hand-held cumulative grenades were developed in the USSR, which were intended to destroy enemy armored vehicles at short range combat.

Even during the war, the development of the RPG-1 anti-tank grenade launcher began, which became the founders of a whole family of these weapons. Today RPG grenade launchers- this is a real global brand, which is not inferior in its recognition to the famous AK-47.

After the end of the war, work on the creation of new cumulative munitions was continued immediately in many countries of the world, and theoretical research was carried out in the field of directed explosions. Today cumulative warhead is traditional for grenades anti-tank grenade launchers, anti-tank systems, aviation anti-tank ammunition, tank shells, anti-tank mines. The protection of armored vehicles is constantly improving, and weapons are not lagging behind. However, the device and the principle of operation of such ammunition has not changed.

Cumulative projectile: principle of operation

The cumulative effect means the strengthening of the action of a process due to the addition of efforts. This definition very accurately reflects the principle of the cumulative effect.

A funnel-shaped recess is made in the warhead of the charge, which is lined with a layer of metal one or several millimeters thick. This funnel is turned with a wide edge to the target.

After detonation, which occurs at the sharp edge of the funnel, blast wave extends to the side walls of the cone and collapses them to the axis of the ammunition. The explosion creates a huge pressure that turns the lining metal into a quasi-liquid and, under huge pressure, moves it forward along the axis of the projectile. Thus, a jet of metal is formed, which moves forward with hypersonic speed(10 km/s).

It should be noted that in this case, the lining metal does not melt in the traditional sense of the word, but deforms (turns into a liquid) under enormous pressure.

When a jet of metal enters the armor, the strength of the latter does not matter. Its density and thickness are important. The penetrating power of a cumulative jet depends on its length, the density of the lining material and the armor material. The maximum penetrating effect occurs when the ammunition explodes at a certain distance from the armor (it is called focal).

The interaction of the armor and the cumulative jet occurs according to the laws of hydrodynamics, that is, the pressure is so great that the strongest tank armor when hit by a jet, it behaves like a liquid. Typically, cumulative ammunition can penetrate armor, the thickness of which is from five to eight of its calibers. When facing from depleted uranium, the armor-piercing effect increases to ten calibers.

Advantages and disadvantages of cumulative ammunition

Such ammunition has both strengths and weaknesses. Their undoubted advantages include the following:

high armor-piercing;
armor penetration does not depend on the speed of the ammunition;
powerful armor action.

For caliber and sub-caliber shells, armor penetration is directly related to their speed, the higher it is, the better. That is why they are used artillery systems. For cumulative ammunition, speed does not play a role: a cumulative jet is formed at any speed of impact with the target. Therefore, a cumulative warhead is an ideal tool for grenade launchers, recoilless rifles and anti-tank missiles, bombs and mines. Moreover, too high a projectile speed prevents the formation of a cumulative jet.

The hit of a cumulative projectile or grenade in a tank often leads to an explosion of the vehicle's ammunition load and completely disables it. The crew at the same time has practically no chance of salvation.

Disadvantages of cumulative ammunition:

rather high manufacturing complexity;
complexity of application for artillery systems;
vulnerability to dynamic protection.

Rifled projectiles are stabilized in flight by rotation. However, the centrifugal force that arises in this case destroys the cumulative jet. Various tricks have been devised to get around this problem. For example, in some French ammunition, only the body of the projectile rotates, while its cumulative part is mounted on bearings and remains stationary. But almost all solutions to this problem significantly complicate the ammunition.

Ammunition for smooth-bore guns, on the contrary, has too high a speed, which is not enough to focus the cumulative jet.

That is why ammunition with HEAT warheads is more typical for low-velocity or stationary ammunition (anti-tank mines).

Against such ammunition, there are quite simple defense- the cumulative jet is dissipated with the help of a small counter-explosion that occurs on the surface of the machine. This is the so-called dynamic protection, today this method is used very widely.

To break through ERA, a tandem HEAT warhead is used, which consists of two charges: the first one eliminates ERA, and the second one penetrates the main armor.

Today there are cumulative ammunition with two and three charges.

Video about cumulative ammunition

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Cumulative ammunition is a special type of shells, rockets, mines, hand grenades and grenades for grenade launchers, designed to destroy enemy armored vehicles and its reinforced concrete fortifications. The principle of their operation is based on the formation after the explosion of a thin, narrowly directed cumulative jet that burns through the armor. The cumulative effect is achieved due to the special design of the ammunition.

Currently, cumulative ammunition is the most common and most effective anti-tank weapon. The mass use of such ammunition began during the Second World War.

The widespread use of cumulative munitions is facilitated by their simplicity, low cost and unusually high efficiency.

A bit of history

From the moment tanks appeared on the battlefield, the question of effective means of dealing with them immediately arose. The idea to use artillery to destroy armored monsters appeared almost immediately, guns began to be widely used for this purpose during the First World War. It should be noted that the idea to create a specialized anti-tank gun (ATW) first came to the mind of the Germans, but they could not immediately put it into practice. Until the very end of the First World War, the most common field guns were used very successfully against tanks.

In the interval between the two world massacres, developments in the field of creating specialized anti-tank artillery were carried out in almost all major military-industrial powers. The result of this work was the emergence of a large number of anti-tank weapons, which quite successfully hit the tanks of that time.

Since the armor of the first tanks protected mainly from bullets, even a small-caliber cannon or anti-tank rifle could cope with it. However, just before the war, next-generation vehicles began to appear in different countries (English Matildas, Soviet T-34s and KVs, French S-35s and Char B1s), equipped with a powerful engine and anti-cannon armor. This first-generation anti-tank defense could no longer be penetrated.

As a counter to the new threat, the designers began to increase the caliber of the anti-tank gun and increase the initial speed of the projectile. Such measures increased the effectiveness of armor penetration by several times, but also had significant side effects. The guns have become heavier, more complex, their cost has increased and maneuverability has sharply decreased. The Germans did not use good life against the Soviet "thirty-fours" and KV 88-mm anti-aircraft guns. But they were not always applicable.

Research in the field of directed explosion began in the middle of the 19th century. The laurels of the discoverer of the cumulative effect are claimed by several people in different countries who were engaged in work in this direction at about the same time. Initially, the effect of a directed explosion was achieved through the use of a special cone-shaped recess, which was made in the explosive charge.

The work was carried out in many countries, but the Germans were the first to achieve practical results. The talented German designer Franz Tomanek suggested the use of a metal recess lining, which made the shaped charge even more effective. In Germany, these works began in the mid-30s, and by the beginning of the war, the cumulative projectile was already in service with the German army.

In 1940, on the other side of the Atlantic, Swiss designer Henry Mohaupt created a rocket-propelled grenade with a cumulative warhead for the US Army.

At the beginning of the war, Soviet tankers were faced with a new type of German ammunition, which became a very unpleasant surprise for them. German cumulative shells, when hit, burned through tank armor and left holes with melted edges. Therefore, they were called "armor-burning".

Also in 1943, the Americans first used the Bazooka anti-tank grenade launcher. It was able to penetrate 80 mm armor at a distance of 300 meters. The Germans studied the captured samples of the Bazooka with great interest, and soon a whole series of German grenade launchers were born, which we traditionally call the Faustpatrons. The effectiveness of their use against Soviet armored vehicles is still a highly debatable issue: in some sources, the Faustpatrons are called almost a real “miracle weapon”, while in others they rightly point to their low firing range and unsatisfactory accuracy.

German grenade launchers were indeed very effective in urban combat, when the grenade launcher could fire at close range. Under other circumstances, he did not have many chances to get close to the tank at an effective shot distance.

In 1943, several hand-held cumulative grenades were developed in the USSR, which were intended to destroy enemy armored vehicles at short range combat.

Even during the war, the development of the RPG-1 anti-tank grenade launcher began, which became the founders of a whole family of these weapons. Today, RPG grenade launchers are a real global brand, which is not inferior in its recognition to the famous AK.

After the end of the war, work on the creation of new cumulative munitions was continued immediately in many countries of the world, and theoretical research was carried out in the field of directed explosions. Today, the cumulative warhead is traditional for grenades, anti-tank grenade launchers, anti-tank systems, aviation anti-tank ammunition, tank shells, anti-tank mines. The protection of armored vehicles is constantly improving, and weapons are not lagging behind. However, the device and the principle of operation of such ammunition has not changed.

Cumulative projectile: principle of operation

The cumulative effect means the strengthening of the action of a process due to the addition of efforts. This definition very accurately reflects the principle of the cumulative effect.

A funnel-shaped recess is made in the warhead of the charge, which is lined with a layer of metal one or several millimeters thick. This funnel is turned with a wide edge to the target.

After detonation, which occurs at the sharp edge of the funnel, the blast wave propagates to the side walls of the cone and collapses them to the axis of the ammunition. The explosion creates a huge pressure that turns the lining metal into a quasi-liquid and, under huge pressure, moves it forward along the axis of the projectile. Thus, a jet of metal is formed, which moves forward at a hypersonic speed (10 km/s).

It should be noted that in this case, the lining metal does not melt in the traditional sense of the word, but deforms (turns into a liquid) under enormous pressure.

The interaction of armor and the cumulative jet occurs according to the laws of hydrodynamics, that is, the pressure is so great that the strongest tank armor behaves like a liquid when hit by a jet. Typically, cumulative ammunition can penetrate armor, the thickness of which is from five to eight of its calibers. When facing from depleted uranium, the armor-piercing effect increases to ten calibers.

Advantages and disadvantages of cumulative ammunition

Such ammunition has both strengths and weaknesses. Their undoubted advantages include the following:

high armor-piercing;
armor penetration does not depend on the speed of the ammunition;
powerful armor action.

For caliber and sub-caliber shells, armor penetration is directly related to their speed, the higher it is, the better. That is why artillery systems are used for their application. For cumulative ammunition, speed does not play a role: a cumulative jet is formed at any speed of impact with the target. Therefore, a cumulative warhead is an ideal tool for grenade launchers, recoilless rifles and anti-tank missiles, bombs and mines. Moreover, too high a projectile speed prevents the formation of a cumulative jet.

Cumulative ammunition has a very high armor-piercing. Some modern anti-tank systems penetrate homogeneous armor with a thickness of more than 1000 mm.

Disadvantages of cumulative ammunition:

rather high manufacturing complexity;
complexity of application for artillery systems;
vulnerability to dynamic protection.

Ammunition for smooth-bore guns, on the contrary, has too high a speed, which is not enough to focus the cumulative jet.

That is why ammunition with HEAT warheads is more typical for low-velocity or stationary ammunition (anti-tank mines).

There is a fairly simple defense against such ammunition - the cumulative jet is dissipated with the help of a small counter-explosion that occurs on the surface of the vehicle. This is the so-called dynamic protection, today this method is used very widely.

To break through ERA, a tandem HEAT warhead is used, which consists of two charges: the first one eliminates ERA, and the second one penetrates the main armor.

Today there are cumulative ammunition with two and three charges.

The mechanism of action of the shaped charge

Cumulative jet

Cumulative effect

scheme for the formation of a cumulative jet

The wave, propagating towards the lateral generatrix of the cladding cone, collapses its walls towards each other, while as a result of the collision of the cladding walls, the pressure in the cladding material increases sharply. The pressure of the explosion products, reaching ~10 10 N/m² (10 5 kgf/cm²), significantly exceeds the yield strength of the metal. Therefore, the movement of the metal lining under the action of the explosion products is similar to the flow of a liquid and is associated not with melting, but with plastic deformation.

Similarly to a liquid, the lining metal forms two zones - a large mass (about 70-90%), a slowly moving "pestle" and a smaller mass (about 10-30%), thin (about the thickness of the lining) hypersonic metal jet moving along the axis. In this case, the jet velocity is a function of the explosive detonation velocity and funnel geometry. When using funnels with small corners at the top, it is possible to get extremely high speeds, but at the same time, the requirements for the quality of manufacturing of the lining increase, since the probability of premature destruction of the jet increases. Modern ammunition uses funnels with complex geometry (exponential, stepped, etc.), with angles in the range of 30 - 60 degrees, and the speed of the cumulative jet reaches 10 km / s.

Since the speed of the cumulative jet exceeds the speed of sound in the metal, the jet interacts with the armor according to hydrodynamic laws, that is, they behave as if ideal liquids collided. The strength of the armor in its traditional sense in this case practically does not play a role, and the indicators of the density and thickness of the armor come first. The theoretical penetration of HEAT projectiles is proportional to the length of the HEAT jet and the square root of the funnel lining density to armor density ratio. The practical depth of penetration of a cumulative jet into monolithic armor for existing ammunition varies in the range from 1.5 to 4 calibers.

When the conical shell collapses, the velocities of the individual parts of the jet turn out to be different and the jet stretches in flight. Therefore, a small increase in the gap between the charge and the target increases the depth of penetration due to elongation of the jet. At significant distances between the charge and the target, the jet is torn apart, and the penetration effect is reduced. The greatest effect is achieved at the so-called "focal length". To maintain this distance, use Various types tips of the appropriate length.

The use of a charge with a cumulative recess, but without a metal lining, reduces the cumulative effect, since a jet of gaseous explosion products acts instead of a metal jet. But at the same time, a significantly more destructive armor effect is achieved.

impact core

Formation of the "shock core"

For the formation of an impact core, the cumulative recess has an obtuse angle at the top or the shape of a spherical segment of variable thickness (thicker at the edges than in the center). Under the influence of the shock wave, the cone does not collapse, but turns inside out. The resulting projectile with a diameter of a quarter and a length of one caliber (the original diameter of the recess) accelerates to a speed of 2.5 km / s. The armor penetration of the core is less than that of the cumulative jet, but it remains at a distance of up to a thousand calibers. Unlike a cumulative jet, which consists of only 15% of the mass of the lining, the impact core is formed from 100% of its mass.

Story

In 1792, mining engineer Franz von Baader suggested that the energy of an explosion could be concentrated on a small area using a hollow charge. However, in his experiments, von Baader used black powder, which cannot explode and form the necessary detonation wave. For the first time, it was possible to demonstrate the effect of using a hollow charge only with the invention of high explosives. This was done in 1883 by the inventor von Foerster.

The cumulative effect was rediscovered, investigated and described in detail in his works by the American Charles Edward Munro in 1888.

In the Soviet Union, in 1925-1926, professor M. Ya. Sukharevsky studied explosive charges with a notch.

In 1938, Franz Rudolf Thomanek in Germany and Henry Hans Mohaupt in the USA independently discovered the effect of increasing penetrating power by applying a metal cone liner.

For the first time in combat conditions, a shaped charge was used on May 10, 1940 during the assault on Fort Eben-Emal (Belgium). Then, to undermine the fortifications, the German troops used portable charges of two varieties in the form of hollow hemispheres with a mass of 50 and 12.5 kg.

X-ray pulse photography of the process, carried out in 1939 - early 1940s in laboratories in Germany, the USA and Great Britain, made it possible to significantly refine the principles of the shaped charge (traditional photography is impossible due to flashes of flame and a large amount of smoke during detonation).

One of the unpleasant surprises of the summer of 1941 for the tankers of the Red Army was the use of cumulative ammunition by the German troops. Holes with melted edges were found on wrecked tanks, so the shells were called "armor-burning". On May 23, 1942, a cumulative projectile for a 76-mm regimental gun, developed on the basis of a captured German projectile, was tested at the Sofrinsky training ground. According to the test results, on May 27, 1942, the new projectile was put into service.

In the 1950s, tremendous progress was made in understanding the principles of the formation of a cumulative jet. Methods for improving shaped charges with passive liners (lenses) are proposed, optimal shapes of cumulative funnels are determined, methods for compensating the rotation of the projectile by corrugating the cone are developed, and more powerful explosives are used. Many of the phenomena discovered in those distant years are being studied to this day.

Notes

Links

Theory of the process of armor penetration of cumulative and sub-caliber shells Tank power
V. Murakhovsky, Courage 2004 website Another cumulative myth.

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Types of tank ammunition