Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #IAV2021
Most recents (2)
Following up on my bar armour thread (bit.ly/3h8nZIV), a shortish primer on explosive Reactive armour (ERA). Other reactive armours (NxRA, NERA, SLERA, Electric) to follow another day. No exciting tropes to quash like bar armour, but perhaps some useful nuance to offer. 
Usual disclaimer - this is Twitter, I don’t have much space and so some things are simplified or omitted for simplicity. This is a hugely complex science; I’m just giving a flavour of the considerations inherent in AFV design. With that out the way…
Discovered by Manfred Held in early 70s, ERA is simple and elegant. In basic form, a pair of steel plates sandwich a layer of high explosive. This sandwich is typically housed in a mild steel box to protect against damage and provide standoff from the vehicle hull as appropriate
APS are a step change capability in the world of protection, offering high probability defence against ATGM and RPG threats. However, reliable defence against kinetic energy APFSDS long rod penetrators remains challenging. A thread on why #miltwitter #tanktwitter
A successful APS defeat is the result of a sequence of key events – detection, tracking, intercept. Each of these is uniquely challenging when facing an APFSDS threat compared with an ATGM or RPG.
Detection of the APFSDS launch against the host platform is straightforward - optical sensors can detect the substantial infrared and thermal flare from a tank gun firing, and due to APFSDS being direct fire line of sight weapon it will always be in view of the defended platform
