DE2832246C2 - Active body for combating armoured targets - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to an active body for combating armoured targets, according to the preamble of claim 1.

To combat armoured targets, it is known to use shaped charges, which consist of an explosive body with a conical recess. In the recess there is a conical metal insert, which when the shaped charge is ignited produces a sharply focused shaped charge jet, which consists of very fast but small particles. The high penetration effect of shaped charge projectiles is due to the strong concentration of the shaped charge jet. This concentration can be disrupted with modern armour, so that shaped charge projectiles can be rendered harmless with appropriate measures.

The projectile formed from a projectile-forming insert is less susceptible to interference than the particle beam produced by the explosive transformation of a shaped charge insert. However, its effective portion is much shorter than that of a shaped charge beam, with a correspondingly reduced depth of penetration through the armor of a target object.

To combat armoured targets, it is also known to fire arrow-shaped kinetic energy projectiles, so-called KE penetrators. Due to the shorter effective length and the lower speed, the effect on the target is less than that of a shaped charge jet or an explosive-shaped projectile; on the other hand, the effective power is increased by the greater mass of the kinetic energy projectile acting on the target.

The invention is based on the object of specifying an active body of the generic type which can be used against armoured targets as an effective weapon over short distances (namely over a distance of the order of magnitude of the use of projectile-forming charges).

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the generic active body is designed according to the characterizing part of claim 1.

The active body thus combines the advantages of a conventional kinetic energy projectile in terms of immunity to interference and long effective length with the advantages of a jet-forming or projectile-forming hollow charge in terms of the formation and acceleration of the active body (without the need for a launching device in the form of a gun). The actual active body is formed from plates, primarily rod-shaped plates like flat bars, by accelerating the plates towards one another with explosives in the symmetry axis of their original mutual angular position (by connecting the plates longitudinally in the symmetry and effective direction), which then acts on the target as an extra-long kinetic energy projectile, achieving a high penetration power due to its length, mass and high speed. Since it is a compact active body and not just a particle beam, the options for defense are limited, since the movement of this massive active body, which is equipped with high kinetic energy, can hardly be influenced.

Flat metal plates can be accelerated to speeds of around 2000 m/s by coating one of the flat sides with explosives. The direction of flight is, however, almost in the direction of the normal to the surface of the plate, i.e. in a direction in which the plate cannot develop any penetrating force. The difficulty that the direction of flight of a plate accelerated in this way is not parallel to the surface of the plate, but almost perpendicular to it, is eliminated according to the invention by using two plates that are arranged symmetrically to the intended direction of flight, inclined at an angle of slightly less than 90° to it. When the explosive layers on the back of the plate detonate, Similar to the projectile formation of flat cone shaped charges, the two plates are welded together to form a single plate, which moves like an extra-long projectile at high speed in the direction of the symmetry axis of the plate arrangement. The plates can be designed as flat bars, which fold against each other when the explosive layers detonate and move towards the target like an extra-long projectile fired from a cannon.

In the interest of a clearly elongated geometry of the active body acting on the target, rod-shaped plates in the form of flat rods are preferably used. They can, for example, have a length of 75 cm to 100 cm. The kinematics of the plates nestling against one another in the plane of symmetry with pressure welding to form the active body accelerated in this direction of symmetry is promoted if each of these rod-shaped plates is slightly convexly curved, i.e. represents a section of a cylindrical arch. If each of the plates has a thickness that decreases from the edges of the plates facing each other to the opposite, i.e. outer edges, this promotes the acceleration of the outer plate regions with less mass when the explosives are joined together and thus an elongation of the active body welded from the folded plates, so that a particularly stable projectile is produced with a tail that is more massive than the extended tip.

Good welding of the plates along the symmetry and effective axis is promoted if the plates striking each other here can no longer shift against each other; this can be ensured in particular by structuring the plate surfaces facing away from the explosive coating (opposite) with profiles that interlock like teeth and thus practically prevent longitudinal displacement of the plates against each other.

If the plates consist of individual rod sections that are loosely coupled together in the longitudinal direction of the plate, the target is not hit by a continuous (massive) overlong rod, but by a series of individual shorter impact projectiles in the same direction of impact. This has the advantage, on the one hand, that clearer (less disruptive) explosive welding effects occur for the formation of each of these shorter impact projectiles; and, on the other hand, that a defensive measure taken by the target on the impact body only affects one of these individual shorter impact projectiles, while the others are very likely to reach the target undisturbed.

In addition, a greater depth of penetration into the armoured target is achieved when several impact bodies hit the same spot one after the other, compared to the effect of a single impact projectile of the sum of the length of the individual shorter impact projectiles.

By appropriately staggering the coating of the backs of the plates with layers of explosives, it is also possible to ensure that each of these shorter impact projectiles is welded together from two colliding rods with less energy than the previous one and is therefore somewhat slower than the previous impact projectile; with the desirable effect that the individual shorter impact projectiles penetrate the target in the same direction of action but clearly staggered in time. This staggering of the energy when welding and accelerating the individual short impact projectiles can be achieved in practice by coating the succession of individual rod sections away from the axis of action and symmetry with increasingly thinner layers of explosives and thus striking and accelerating them less intensively for welding than the previous ones.

The latter applies not only to plates divided into individual rod sections, but also to continuous flat rods. A corresponding effect can be achieved if detonation wave guidance is caused in the longitudinal direction of the plates by coating them with layers of explosives with different detonation speeds, i.e. an acceleration process in the manner of a so-called "draw wave" is generated in order to form a stretched and therefore flight-stable projectile. The dimensioning via the explosive is easier to reproduce than via a defined reduction in the explosive layer thickness.

In order to avoid physical losses at the edges of the plates (for example due to chipping or fraying of the explosive layers along the plate edges), it is advisable to pull the explosive layers around the front sides of the plate edges and thereby cause an explosive damming in the longitudinal direction of the plates towards their center.

On the back of the explosive layers facing away from the plates, a barrier, for example in the form of a thin sheet metal jacket, can be expediently arranged in order to provide mechanical protection for the explosive coating on the one hand and to promote the targeted course of the detonation for the movement of the plates towards each other and their welding together on the other hand.

For the practical application of an active body according to the invention, the individual plates can be movably connected to one another via a joint device in the area of the symmetry axis of their mutually adjusted angular position. This makes it possible to put the plates together parallel to one another and to the symmetry axis for transport, for example to eject the active body from a tube of relatively small caliber. In good time before the explosive layers arranged on the back of the individual plates in their areas adjacent to the symmetry axis are jointly detonated, the individual flat bars are then spread around this joint connection like a folded umbrella, i.e. unfolded into their angular position oriented symmetrically to the symmetry axis. When the explosive layers are detonated, the plates are then accelerated symmetrically towards one another in the direction of their surface normals in order to fold together in the symmetry axis and weld together as described, resulting in an acceleration in the symmetry axis for the extra-long kinetic energy projectile formed in this way (possibly consisting of individual successive sections).

In the following, some embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail with reference to the figures.

Fig. 1 shows schematically a first embodiment of the active body with two flat bars in the functional position.

Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment of the active body with two bent flat bars whose thickness decreases towards the outside.

Fig. 3 shows a third embodiment with profiled bar surfaces.

Fig. 4 shows a fourth embodiment in which the rods and the explosive layers are divided and

Fig. 5 shows schematically a connection of the plates via a joint device.

According to Fig. 1, an active body has two plates (in the form of flat bars) 10, 11 , which are made of metal and abut against each other with their front sides. The backs of the plates 10, 11 are each covered with an explosive layer 12, 13. The explosive layers 12, 13 overlap the edges of the plates.

The plates 10, 11 form an angle of slightly less than 180°. During detonation, the explosive layers 12, 13 are simultaneously ignited at the point 14 where the adjacent front sides of the plates 10, 11 collide. As the explosive layers 12, 13 explode outwards, the plates 10, 11 are accelerated almost perpendicularly to the plane of the plates. They collide and are welded together along the angle's center plane. This creates an extra-long projectile that moves at high speed along this axis of symmetry 15 .

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the rod-shaped plates 101, 111 are slightly cylindrically curved and their thickness decreases towards the edge. These rod-shaped plates 101 and 111 also have an explosive layer 12, 13 on their back. The behavior of the active body during detonation is similar to that of an active body according to Fig. 1.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3, the plates 102 and 112 have profiles 16, 17 on the forward-facing surfaces, for example in the form of teeth, corrugations, waves or the like. These profiles have the effect of promoting the welding of the plates 102, 112 which are continuously pressed against one another by the detonation.

Fig. 4 shows an embodiment in which the plates 103 and 113 also consist of flat bars, but which are divided into individual bar sections 18, 19, 20. These sections 18, 19, 20 are loosely joined together. When the explosive layers 12, 13 are detonated, the inner sections 18 are continuously pressed against one another and welded together. Independently of this, the middle sections 19 are then welded together and, again independently of this, the outer sections 20 are finally welded together. In this embodiment, this creates three independent kinetic energy projectiles that hit the same spot on the target in quick succession. The division of the plates 103, 113 has the advantage that irregularities during detonation do not affect the function of the entire active body, but only the relevant pair of bar sections. In order for the individual pairs of rod sections to combine separately from one another, the explosive layers 12, 13 , which are also divided according to the sections 18, 19, 20 , decrease continuously, so that in the sequence of individual projectiles, the following one is always a little slower than the previous one.

Fig. 5 shows schematically the attachment of the active body, generally designated 21 , to the front end of a base 22. The two plates 10, 11 of the active body 21 are connected to one another via a joint device 23 , so that they can be placed against one another in the wrong way. Before ignition, the joint device 23 opens so that the plates 10, 11 spread apart as shown in Fig. 1 and assume the functional position shown in Fig. 1.

Claims (10)

1. An active body ( 21 ) for combating armoured targets at short distances, characterised in that it is formed by at least two plates ( 10, 101, 102, 103; 11, 111, 112, 104 ) which have layers of explosives ( 12, 13 ) on their surfaces facing away from the direction of action (axis of symmetry 15 ), which are arranged at an angle of less than 180° to one another and whose layers of explosives ( 12, 13 ) are detonated simultaneously. 2. Active body according to claim 1, characterized in that the plates ( 101, 111 ) are approximately cylindrically curved. 3. Active body according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the thickness of the plates ( 101, 111 ) decreases from the mutually facing edges towards the outside. 4. Active body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plates ( 102, 112 ) have profiles ( 16, 17 ) such as in the form of teeth on their surfaces facing away from the explosive layers ( 12, 13 ). 5. Active body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plates ( 103, 113 ) are grouped from loosely successive rod sections ( 18, 19, 20 ). 6. Active body according to claim 5, characterized in that the thickness of the explosive layers ( 12, 13 ) on the successive rod sections ( 18, 19, 20 ) differs by a small amount. 7. Active body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the explosive layers ( 12, 13 ) each consist of explosives with different detonation velocities. 8. Active body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the explosive layers ( 12, 13 ) also overlap the edges of the plates ( 10, 101, 102, 103; 11, 111, 112, 113 ). 9. Active body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the outer surfaces of the explosive layers ( 12, 13 ) facing away from the plates ( 10, 101, 102, 103; 11, 111, 112, 113 ) are each provided with a coating which causes a sealing effect. 10. Active body according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plates ( 10, 101, 102, 103; 11, 111, 112, 113 ) are connected to one another in the region of the axis of symmetry ( 15 ) by a joint device ( 23 ) on which they can be pivoted from a mutually parallel orientation into the angularly spread orientation of the active position.