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penetrates into the first NERA plate, and begins to compress the elastomer. The elastomer quickly reaches maximum compression and rapidly expands, pushing the two steel plates in opposite directions. It is the movement of the steel plates that disrupts the jet, both by feeding more material into the jet's path, and introducing lateral forces to break the jet apart. The effectiveness of the system was amply demonstrated in
182:
135:
193:
294:. Most composite armours are lighter than their all-metal equivalent, but instead occupy a larger volume for the same resistance to penetration. It is possible to design composite armour stronger, lighter and less voluminous than traditional armour, but the cost is often prohibitively high, restricting its use to especially vulnerable parts of a vehicle. Its primary purpose is to help defeat
321:) divided by the square root of the target density. On a weight basis, lighter targets are more advantageous than heavier targets, but using large quantities of lightweight materials has obvious disadvantages in terms of mechanical layout. Certain materials have an optimal compromise in terms of density that makes them particularly useful in this role.
460:
The
Soviets/Russians had a similar composite armour to the West's own "NERA", with rubber sandwiches between plates of steel. This armour was confirmed to be inside the T-72B's "Super Dolly Parton" armour, but is suspected to be inside the T-80A as well, since it is unlikely the Soviets would put
356:
was fitted with an armor “kit” incorporating a mixture of quartz gravel, asphalt and wood flour known as “HCR2.” This add-on armor was successfully live-fire tested in
September 1945 against both the German Panzerfaust and 76mm High-Velocity Armor Piercing (HVAP) ammunition. Aside from this early
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used armor composed of multiple layers of thinner armor bolted or welded together. The results were greatly less effective for a given overall thickness than a single plate, but was done because making thicker plates or plates with different metallurgical properties through their thickness (for
445:
components. Chobham uses multiple non-explosive reactive armour plates (NERA), which sandwich a layer of elastomer (like rubber) between two plates of steel armour. This was shown to dramatically increase the resistance to HEAT projectiles, even in comparison to other composite armour designs.
469:
Chobham armour defeats HEAT warheads by disrupting the high speed jet generated by the warhead. The outer steel "burster" plate detonates the shell and protects the composite array from the blast, increasing the armour's multi hit abilities. After making it through the burster plate, the jet
543:
tanks use a modular composite armour, where sections of the composite armour can be easily and quickly switched out or upgraded with armour modules. The adoption of modular composite armour design facilitates far more efficient and easier upgrades and exchanges of the armour.
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plates. The stopping power of glass exceeds that of steel armour on a thickness basis and in many cases glass is more than twice as effective as steel on a thickness basis. Although the T95 never entered production, a number of its concepts were used on the
623:("which he called the MK Tank and in popular culture, the Killdozer") used in a rampage in response to a dispute with the city he lived in over a zoning issue. The armour, at some places a 1 foot (30 cm) thick, consisted of a layer of
584:-sized automobiles. Many of these systems are applied as upgrades to existing armour, which makes them difficult to place around the entire vehicle. Nevertheless, they are often surprisingly effective; upgrades with
558:(ERA), making it hard for shaped charge munitions such as HEAT projectiles and missile warheads to penetrate the frontal and a portion of their side armour. The most advanced versions of these armours such as the
506:
All modern third-generation main battle tanks use composite armour arrays in their construction. While many of these vehicles feature the composite armour permanently integrated with the vehicle, the
Japanese
817:
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Applique armour has also been used in conjunction with composite armour to provide increased amounts of protection and to supplant existing composite arrays on a vehicle. The German
577:
featured distinctive arrowhead laminated armour modules that was mounted directly onto the turret composite arrays, increasing protection markedly above the previous 2A4 model.
775:
170:
has various extended armour elements such as bomb protection for the top, cage armour, extended mine protection (A6M) or additional armour in the form of composite armour
382:, and during the development stage (as the XM60) the siliceous-cored armour was at least considered for use, although it was not a feature of the production vehicles.
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plates in conjunction with composite armour, increasing overall vehicle protection. The
Leopard 2A4 is similar in its use of tungsten inserts.
438:
478:
Challenger tank was lost to enemy tank fire. (However, one was destroyed by friendly fire on March 25, 2003, killing two crew members after a
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453:(MBT) as well. The need to mount multiple angled plates, along with an outer steel layer to protect the armour array, gives the
100:
72:
732:
79:
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309:. The capability of most materials for defeating HEAT follows the "density law", which states that the penetration of
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305:. Lightweight and small, HEAT projectiles could nevertheless penetrate hundreds of millimetres of the most resistant
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53:
86:
17:
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was used to sandwich layers that could not be easily fitted together, or provide a backing to catch splinters.
57:
68:
486:.) Chobham-type armour is currently in its third generation and is used on modern western tanks such as the
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were carried out in the 1990s, after it was realized that it would offer more protection than newly built
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projectile detonated on the commander's hatch causing high-velocity fragments to enter the
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fire and small explosives used by law enforcement in an attempt to stop the vehicle.
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HEAT had posed a serious threat to armoured vehicles since its introduction in
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into curved shapes. Later models of the T-64, along with newer designs, use a
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426:, which allowed them some ability to control quality, even after production.
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sandwiched between inner and outer steel layers. Through a mechanism called
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Composite armour has since been applied to smaller vehicles, right down to
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The first widespread use of a composite armour appears to have been on the
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Composite ceramic armor tested in accordance with STANAG 4569 requirements.
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light (5t) military vehicle featuring integrated composite armoured body
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for greatly improved protection . The
Soviets also invested heavily in
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Chobham was such an improvement that it was soon used on the new U.S.
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changes to a fluid under constant pressure, allowing the armour to be
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armour provide protection not only against shaped charges but also
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Us and the
Chinese Type 96/99s use composite armour in tandem with
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jets is proportional to the square root of the shaped charge liner
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Ceramic-aramid composite laminate armour, ballistic test results
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437:, first developed and used by the British in the experimental
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818:"UK Ministry of Defence : Army Board of Inquiry Report"
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by using the explosive force to shear the projectile apart.
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During WWII, in an effort to provide protection against the
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experimental series from the mid-1950s. The T95 featured
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test, the first serious development began as part of the
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Among NATO nations and allies, the most common type of
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was the first mass-produced tank with composite armour
733:
Evaluation of
Siliceous Cored Armor for the XM60 Tank
800:"T-72B MBT – The First Look at Soviet Special Armor"
278:
consisting of layers of different materials such as
631:, successfully rendering the vehicle impervious to
60:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
846:
494:. The Abrams is also unique in its usage of
750:
196:Vehicle add-on armour kit manufactured by
547:Soviet/Russian main battle tanks such as
120:Learn how and when to remove this message
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847:
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461:worse armour in their "premier" tank.
166:Depending on the operating state, the
757:Proceedings of the US Naval Institute
457:and Abrams their "slab sided" look.
58:adding citations to reliable sources
29:
776:"ARMOR Magazine Jul-Aug 1999, p.16"
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645:Advanced Modular Armor Protection
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158:(Non-explosive reactive armour)
45:needs additional citations for
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792:
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13:
1:
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627:sandwiched between layers of
603:
392:. It used an armour known as
804:Journal of Military Ordnance
7:
638:
588:ceramic armour to Canadian
369:which contained a plate of
10:
876:
705:www.tanks-encyclopedia.com
701:"Leclerc Main Battle Tank"
568:kinetic energy penetrators
324:
556:explosive reactive armour
464:
253:tiles for vehicles (e.g.
753:"Armor for Ships of War"
616:composite armour on his
400:glass-reinforced plastic
296:high-explosive anti-tank
496:depleted uranium armour
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398:, which apparently is
367:siliceous-cored armour
266:
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238:Ceramic tiles for the
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27:Type of vehicle armour
738:June 5, 2011, at the
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373:glass between rolled
352:anti-tank weapon, an
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806:: 4–8. 12 June 2015.
751:P. R. Alger (1895).
488:British Challenger 2
298:(HEAT) projectiles.
54:improve this article
860:Composite materials
774:Warford, James M.
711:on 2 February 2019
608:In 2004, American
267:
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69:"Composite armour"
676:Plastic composite
490:and the American
154:is equipped with
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16:(Redirected from
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838:
836:
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829:
823:. Archived from
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781:. Archived from
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720:
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707:. Archived from
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513:Type 90 Kyū-maru
451:main battle tank
433:armour today is
272:Composite armour
216:main battle tank
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740:Wayback Machine
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661:Compound armour
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610:Marvin Heemeyer
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504:
467:
424:reactive armour
327:
269:
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251:silicon carbide
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109:
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63:
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51:
39:
28:
23:
22:
18:Composite armor
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12:
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855:Vehicle armour
841:
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809:
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788:on 2017-01-25.
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666:Kanchan armour
663:
658:
653:
651:Chobham armour
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605:
602:
503:
500:
466:
463:
443:Chieftain tank
435:Chobham armour
418:-filled resin
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276:vehicle armour
220:Chobham armour
186:Plasan SandCat
132:
131:
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110:September 2009
42:
40:
33:
26:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
872:
861:
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830:on 2012-10-26
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656:Combination K
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618:Komatsu D355A
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515:MBTs, French
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416:boron carbide
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395:combination K
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368:
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355:
351:
348:
347:German Army’s
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311:shaped charge
308:
307:steel armours
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274:is a type of
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255:Mowag Piranha
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71: –
70:
66:
65:Find sources:
59:
55:
49:
48:
43:This article
41:
37:
32:
31:
19:
832:. Retrieved
825:the original
812:
803:
794:
783:the original
769:
760:
756:
746:
713:. Retrieved
709:the original
704:
695:
613:
607:
579:
572:
546:
535:and Chinese
505:
476:British Army
472:Desert Storm
468:
459:
439:FV 4211 tank
428:
393:
384:
371:fused silica
366:
344:
336:Harvey armor
328:
303:World War II
300:
271:
270:
213:Challenger 2
209:British Army
152:Leclerc tank
116:
107:
97:
90:
83:
76:
64:
52:Please help
47:verification
44:
575:Leopard 2A5
350:Panzerfaust
329:Some early
317:(typically
198:Composhield
138:The Soviet
849:Categories
834:2016-07-06
687:References
633:small arms
604:Improvised
598:M2 Bradley
531:, Italian
523:, Turkish
519:, Iranian
455:Challenger
404:thixotropy
380:M60 Patton
80:newspapers
621:bulldozer
596:like the
564:Kontakt-5
527:, Indian
492:M1 Abrams
448:M1 Abrams
431:composite
420:aggregate
331:ironclads
240:ATF Dingo
168:Leopard 2
736:Archived
715:27 April
639:See also
625:concrete
612:used an
539:/98 and
334:example
288:ceramics
284:plastics
249:SICADUR
681:Pykrete
541:Type 99
537:Type 96
517:Leclerc
509:Type 10
412:moulded
359:US Army
325:History
315:density
94:scholar
647:(AMAP)
614:ad hoc
560:Relikt
533:Ariete
521:Karrar
484:turret
465:Design
406:, the
387:Soviet
319:copper
280:metals
96:
89:
82:
75:
67:
828:(PDF)
821:(PDF)
786:(PDF)
779:(PDF)
671:MEXAS
629:steel
590:M113s
586:MEXAS
549:T-90s
529:Arjun
525:Altay
408:resin
375:steel
218:uses
172:MEXAS
101:JSTOR
87:books
717:2022
594:IFVs
582:jeep
562:and
552:T-80
511:and
480:HESH
390:T-64
354:M4A3
340:Teak
207:The
176:AMAP
156:NERA
150:The
140:T-64
73:news
502:Use
363:T95
361:'s
292:air
290:or
211:'s
174:or
56:by
851::
802:.
761:21
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725:^
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