Can we leave politics out of this discussion, please?
Soory, but I don't have a photo of the troop target that I shot with a Sabot. I left my digital camera in Austin when I was on Leave. I'll ask if any buddies have a camera.
Posts: 7654 | Location: near Austin, Texas, USA | Registered: 15 December 2000
I have seen the 120mm practice round hit a variety of God's fuzzy little creatures, and it ain't pretty. For some, godawful reason, critters are drawn to the downrange targets at night and like to eat, there. I've seen a BIG wild boar at Grafenwoehr hit by 120 with a "Texas Heart Shot". He was a lot longer and kind of 'hollow'. I guess you'd say he was a 'shell' of himself. I've also seen Red Dear hit broadside, which resulted in the front legs straight up and the hind legs stretched out, and he was gutted, skinned and cleaned in one brief moment.
I'm FROM Varina area. I'm supposed to be living in Newton, where my wife and children keep the faith. I'm currently living in Balad, Iraq, home of the latest infantry vs. tank ambush went tragically wrong for the infantry.
IT'S A SMALL TOWN 20 MI. SO OF FT DODGE. MY FRIEND WHO HAS A WELDING SHOP HERE IN TOWN WAS IN IRAQ IN 91.HE BROUGHT HOME SOME KIND HUGE ARTILLERY SHELL.
THE 2ND AMENDMENT DOSEN'T PROTECT IRAQI AMBUSHERS VERY WELL........
STAY SAFE,COME HOME ALIVE, THANKS FOR BEING THERE ......
Heard this from a guy I used to know, who was a Leopard I commander in the Norwegian Army:
They were being sent out on the firing range in the mountains early one morning with a tankload of old 105mm White Phosphorus rounds to use up. Three things one needs to understand about this situation if one is not Norwegian: Norwegian tank commanders are usually straight out of one-year's officers academy and not career officers; the tank gunnery range in question is on the Dovre mountain massif; and on Dovre lives musk-oxen.
According to the guy I know, who was on one of the three lead tanks, this big bull oxen just plain disappeared.
Just one one of the figures quoted for the Du penetrator. The temperature at impact of 1 million degrees? Are you sure that is correct as that is atomic bomb/centre of star type temperature isn't it?
Karl.
Posts: 3533 | Location: various | Registered: 03 June 2000
The DU penetrator works on a purely kinetic principle, not heat. The HEAT round uses chemical energy to create a very hot self-forging projectile. I think we're a little confused on this issue, here.
Oxyacetylene torches burn at 6500-8500 degrees and take quite awhile to burn through armor.
quote:Originally posted by 120mm: The DU penetrator works on a purely kinetic principle, not heat. The HEAT round uses chemical energy to create a very hot self-forging projectile. I think we're a little confused on this issue, here.
Umm - HEAT creates a jet of molten metal, self-forging projectiles are rather different; a solid slug is created.
Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum
Posts: 238 | Location: Derbyshire, UK | Registered: 24 May 2002
quote:Originally posted by 120mm: The DU penetrator works on a purely kinetic principle, not heat. The HEAT round uses chemical energy to create a very hot self-forging projectile. I think we're a little confused on this issue, here.
Oxyacetylene torches burn at 6500-8500 degrees and take quite awhile to burn through armor.
The kinetic energy of the penetrator insantly melts the armour at the point of impact. If you look at the entrance 'wound' you will see that the armour has melted.
Posts: 2258 | Location: Bristol, England | Registered: 24 April 2001
Tony and 1894 - You are both technically correct, but... There are two kinds of self-forging projectiles, both of which work on the same principle. The HEAT round may be molten when it enters the armor, but then it is forged by the focus of the explosive cone. Thus, "self-forging". This differs from various "top-attack" projectiles which, instead of travelling down the channel of the probe and contact the armor in their molten state, are launched through the air and strike the top armor, (where it is thinnest) as a solid projectile. Both are, (at least to the US Army) considered self-forging projectiles. Oh, and the top attack weapons, like the TOW IIB are also considered as High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT).
As far as SABOT is concerned, I understand a lot of heat is created by impact, but I seriously doubt the heat can travel fast enough to precede the kinetic energy of impact. What you are seeing with the "melted" edges of the armor breech occurs after the projectile has penetrated. I have seen multiple instances of Sabot penetration that have resulted in a square hole, with angular spalling, which indicates linear failure of the metallic crystal structure, without the accompanying heat in evidence.
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