Electical Charged Armour Vehicles?

serf

It seems the British and The Germans have designed a new type of Armour defense for it's heavy vehicles,anybody know of any US involvement?

serf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_armour#Electrically_charged

Electrically charged

Electrically charged Armour is a recent development in the United Kingdom by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] A vehicle is fitted with two thin shells, separated by insulating material. The outer shell holds an enormous electric charge, while the inner shell is at ground. If an incoming HEAT jet penetrates the outer shell and forms a bridge between the shells, the electrical energy discharges through the jet, disrupting it. Trials have so far been extremely promising, and it is hoped that improved systems could protect against KE penetrators. Developers of the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES) series of armoured vehicles are considering this technology.

charliemeyer007

So how big a capacitor are you going to need to vaporize a 20# depleted Uranium dart traveling at 4000 feet per second?

Hawk Carse

Powered by your onboard fusion plant?

11b6r

The jet from a shaped charge (HEAT round) is relatively easy to disrupt- although it travels at an ungodly speed. Don't need to stop it, just spoil the perfect shape of it. The kinetic energy round (the Depleted Uranium dart) has a mass that is several orders of magnitude higher that the HEAT round jet, and will be a lot harder to disrupt.

I can also see losing your crew to a short circuit.

Don McManus

quote:Originally posted by charliemeyer007
So how big a capacitor are you going to need to vaporize a 20# depleted Uranium dart traveling at 4000 feet per second?


The dart is defeated by the armor under the capacitor.

Bottom Gun

What about multiple hits?

rsnyder55

quote:Originally posted by Bottom Gun
What about multiple hits?


They could have it seperated into grids, but once a grid has been penetrated it would be useless. I imagine that even a hit to a grid could disable adjacent grid from debris from the original hit.

I thought that reactive armour could defeat the HEAT round. Again a one off defense. But then maybe there is a huge weight savings with the electrically charged armour.

beantownshootah

To answer the original question, I've never heard of this before and don't know of US involvement. Apparently this thing is still in trials. . .lots of "promising" technology never makes it to "prime time" and this whole concept may not pan out. . .or not anytime soon.

quote:Originally posted by Bottom Gun
What about multiple hits?

Of course, if you keep hitting with enough AP rounds, eventually something will get through. IE, no armor is really ever going to make anything 100% "bulletproof".

But still, these AP rounds are fairly specialized, and are going to be of limited availability to many combatants facing tanks. In that scenario, multiple potential "kill" hits are going to be a lot scarcer than single ones. Also, tanks themselves are scarce and valuable. Even if you can't save every single tank this way, you really wouldn't have to save many for this type of armor to be a big benefit.

I'd say the biggest potential problem here isn't multiple hits with HEAT rounds, but instead just some newer/better HEAT round that defeats the electrical armor.

EG, what if you designed a "duplex" round that launched two separate projectiles at once, or in quick succession, to hit near the same spot? First one is lighter, just to discharge the electrical protection, second one packs the "punch".

Obviously that adds complexity and cost, but that's how arms races go!

11b6r

Beantown, the Improved TOW 2 sort of did that for reactive armor. On the tip of the fuse spike is a small explosive charge- which detonates the reactive armor. Riding right behind that is a rather good sized shaped charge and a copper liner. When THAT hits, it hits where the RA has just been popped.

Make something idiot proof, they make a better idiot.