Dream Interpretation Udilova 

The principle of operation of an armor-piercing projectile. Armor-piercing projectile. Arrow-shaped bullets of handguns

And passive (pallet), made according to the caliber of the gun. In the first BPS, the pallet was an integral part of the projectile, but already in 1944, British ammunition designers developed their modern modification - armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile with a separating pallet from the active part after it exits the bore. BPS with separating pallet - basic anti-tank projectile in the ammunition of modern tanks. Armor-piercing sub-caliber shells with an integral pallet also continue to be used, but in more as ammunition for automatic small-caliber guns, where the implementation of a pallet separating from the active part is difficult or impossible. There are BPS stabilized in flight by rotation and plumage.

English designations for BPS types

In foreign, and after them in domestic publications on the relevant topic, the following abbreviations are often used English designations BPS types:

  • APCR - A rmour- P iercing C composite R igid (armor-piercing composite hard) - BPS with an integral pallet and more solid active part(core);
  • APCNR - A rmour- P iercing C composite N on- R igid (armor-piercing composite non-rigid) - BPS with an integral collapsible pallet and a harder active part (core) for artillery pieces with a conical bore;
  • APDS - A rmour- P iercing D iscarding S abot (armor-piercing sub-caliber with a detachable pallet);
  • APFSDS, APDS-FS - A rmour- P iercing D iscarding S abot- F in- S tabilized (armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber with a detachable pallet).

Armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber projectiles (BOPS, OBPS)

With the adoption of the T-62 medium tank, the USSR became the first country in the world to massively use armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber ammunition (BOPS) in tank ammunition. Thanks to its extremely high speed and long direct shot range.

Armor-piercing shells for the 115-mm gun U-5TS (2A20) were superior in armor penetration at an angle of 60 degrees. from the normal, the best sub-caliber shells for rifled guns by 30% and had a direct shot range 1.6 times greater than regular ones. However, unitary shots for the GSP U-5TS did not allow to fully realize the potential for rate of fire and reduce the internal reserved volume of a promising tank, in addition, due to increased gas contamination fighting compartment T-62 designers were forced to resort to a mechanism for removing spent cartridges, which somewhat reduced the rate of fire of the tank. Thus, the problem of automating the process of loading a tank gun became urgent, which, along with an increase in the rate of fire, significantly reduced the internal volume, and, consequently, security.

At the beginning of 1961, work began on the creation of 115-mm separate-loading rounds with OBPS, cumulative and high-explosive fragmentation shells for the D-68 (2A21) gun.

Completion of work on the creation of separate loading shots for the D-68 gun, installed in a new medium tank with mechanized loading, was successfully completed, and the newly created ammunition was put into mass production in 1964.

In 1966, the T-64 tank with the D-68 gun and new shots for it was put into service.

However, for a number of reasons, the 115 mm caliber gun of the T-64 tank was considered insufficient to ensure guaranteed destruction of promising foreign tanks. Perhaps the reason was an overestimated assessment of the armor resistance of the new, most powerful English tank of that period, the Chieftain, as well as fears of the imminent entry into service of the promising American-German MBT-70 tank, which was never put into service. For these reasons, an improved version of the T-64 tank was created, which received the designation T-64A and was adopted by the Soviet Army in May 1968. The tank was armed with a 125 mm D-81T (2A26) gun developed in 1962 at the plant number 172 (Perm) in OKB-9 under the leadership of F.F. Petrov.

Subsequently, this gun, which deserved a lot positive feedback for their high technical and performance characteristics underwent numerous upgrades aimed at further growth of its characteristics. Upgraded versions of the D-81T (2A26) cannon, such as 2A46M, 2A46M-1, 2A46M-2, 2A46M-4, are the main armament of domestic tanks to this day.

The beginning of the 60s and the end of the seventies, the adoption of OBPS stabilized by plumage.

The late 1960s and late 1970s were characterized by evolutionary development foreign tanks, the best of which had a homogeneous armor shield within 200 (Leopard-1A1), 250 (M60) and 300 (Chieftain) millimeters of armor. Their ammunition included BPS for 105 mm L7 guns (and its American counterpart M68) and 120 mm L-11 rifled gun of the Chieftain tank.

At the same time, a number of OBPS for 115 and 125 mm GSP tanks T-62, T-64 and T-64, as well as 100 mm smoothbore anti-tank guns T-12, entered service in the USSR.

Among them were shells of two modifications: solid-shell and having a carbide core.

One-piece OBPS 3BM2 for PTP T-12, 3BM6 for GSP U-5TS of the T-62 tank, as well as one-piece OBPS for 125 mm GSP 3BM17, which was intended primarily for export and crew training.

OBPS with a carbide core included 3BM3 for the GSP U-5TS of the T-62 tank, 125 mm OBPS 3BM15, 3BM22 for the T-64A / T-72 / T-80 tanks.

Second generation (late 70s and 80s)

In 1977, work began to improve the combat effectiveness of tank artillery rounds. The staging of these works was associated with the need to defeat new types of reinforced armor protection developed abroad for a new generation of M1 Abrams and Leopard-2 tanks. The development of new design schemes for OBPS has begun, ensuring the defeat of a monolithic combined armor in a wide range of angles of a projectile meeting with armor, as well as overcoming remote sensing.

Other tasks included improving the aerodynamic qualities of the projectile in flight in order to reduce drag, as well as increasing its muzzle velocity.

The development of new alloys based on tungsten and depleted uranium with improved physical and mechanical characteristics continued. The results obtained from these research projects made it possible at the end of the 70s to begin the development of new OBPS with an improved master device, which ended with the adoption of the Nadezhda, Vant and Mango OBPS for the 125-mm GSP D-81.

One of the main differences between the new OBPS compared to those developed before 1977 was a new master device with sectors of the "clamp" type using aluminum alloy and polymer materials.

In OBPS, before that, leading devices with steel sectors of the "expanding" type were used.

In 1984, the OBPS 3VBM13 "Vant" was developed with a 3BM32 projectile of increased efficiency, "Vant" became the first domestic monoblock OBPS made of a uranium alloy with high physical and mechanical properties.

OBPS "Mango" was developed specifically to destroy tanks with combined and dynamic protection. The design of the projectile uses a highly effective combined core made of tungsten alloy placed in a steel casing, between which there is a layer of low-melting alloy.

The projectile is able to overcome dynamic protection and reliably hit the complex composite armor of tanks that entered service in the late 70s and until the mid-80s.

In terms of the development of BOPS, since the late nineties, a lot of work has been done, the backlog of which was BOPS 3BM39 "Anker" and 3BM48 "Lead". These projectiles were significantly superior to such BOPS as the Mango and Vant, the main difference was the new principles of the guidance system in the bore and the core with a significantly increased elongation.

The new projectile guidance system in the bore not only allowed the use of longer cores, but also made it possible to improve their aerodynamic properties.

It was these products that served as the basis for the creation of modern domestic OBPS of a new generation. The results obtained from these works served as a basis for the creation of new, modern projectiles.

After the collapse of the USSR in the early 90s, a sharp degradation of the domestic military-industrial complex began, which had a particularly painful effect on the industry for the production of new types of ammunition. During this period, the issue of modernizing the ammunition load of both domestic and exported tanks arose. The development, as well as small-scale production of domestic BPS, continued, however, mass introduction and large-scale production of new generation BPS samples were not carried out. Positive trends in some aspects of this issue have emerged only recently.

Due to the lack of modern BPS, a number of countries with a large fleet of domestic tanks armed with a 125 mm gun have made their own attempts to develop BPS.

What affects tanks besides grenade launchers and anti-tank systems? How does armor-piercing ammunition work? In this article, we will talk about armor-piercing ammunition. The article, which will be of interest to both dummies and those who understand the topic, was prepared by our team member Eldar Akhundov, who once again pleases us with interesting reviews on the topic of weapons.

Story

Armor-piercing shells are designed to hit targets protected by armor, as their name implies. They first began to be widely used in naval battles in the second half of the 19th century with the advent of ships protected by metal armor. The action of simple high-explosive fragmentation projectiles on armored targets was not enough due to the fact that during the explosion of the projectile, the energy of the explosion is not concentrated in any one direction, but is dissipated into the surrounding space. Only part shock wave affects the armor of the object trying to break through / bend it. As a result, the pressure created by the shock wave is not enough to penetrate thick armor, but some deflection is possible. With the thickening of the armor and the strengthening of the design of armored vehicles, it was necessary to increase the amount of explosives in the projectile by increasing its size (caliber, etc.) or developing new substances, which would be costly and inconvenient. By the way, this applies not only to ships, but also to land armored vehicles.

Initially, the first tanks during the First World War could be fought with high-explosive fragmentation shells, since the tanks had bulletproof thin armor only 10-20 mm thick, which was also connected with rivets, since at that time (early 20th century) welding technology solid armored hulls of tanks and armored vehicles has not yet been worked out. It was enough 3 - 4 kg of explosives with a direct hit to put such a tank out of action. In this case, the shock wave simply tore or pressed the thin armor inside the vehicle, which led to damage to equipment or the death of the crew.

An armor-piercing projectile is a kinetic means of hitting a target - that is, it ensures defeat due to the energy of the impact of the projectile, and not the explosion. In armor-piercing projectiles, energy is actually concentrated at its tip, where a sufficiently large pressure is created on a small area of ​​​​the surface, and the load significantly exceeds the tensile strength of the armor material. As a result, this leads to the introduction of the projectile into the armor and its penetration. Kinetic ammo were the first mass anti-tank weapon, which began to be used in series in various wars. The impact energy of the projectile depends on the mass and its speed at the moment of contact with the target. The mechanical strength, the density of the material of an armor-piercing projectile are also critical factors on which its effectiveness depends. Over the years of warfare, different types have been developed armor-piercing shells, differing in design and for more than a hundred years there has been a constant improvement of both shells and the armor of tanks and armored vehicles.

The first armor-piercing shells were all-steel solid projectile(blank) penetrating armor with impact force (thickness approximately equal to the caliber of the projectile)

Then the design began to get more complicated and for a long time the following scheme became popular: a rod / core made of hard hardened alloy steel covered in a shell of soft metal (lead or mild steel), or light alloy. The soft shell was needed to reduce wear on the gun barrel, and also because it was not practical to make the entire projectile from hardened alloy steel. The soft shell was crushed when hitting an inclined barrier, thereby preventing the projectile from ricocheting / slipping on the armor. The shell can also serve as a fairing at the same time (depending on the shape) that reduces air resistance during the flight of the projectile.

Another design of the projectile involves the absence of a shell and only the presence of a special soft metal cap as a projectile tip for aerodynamics and to prevent ricochet when hitting sloped armor.

The device of sub-caliber armor-piercing shells

The projectile is called sub-caliber because the caliber (diameter) of its combat / armor-piercing part is 3 less than the caliber of the gun (a - coil, b - streamlined). 1 - ballistic tip, 2 - pallet, 3 - armor-piercing core / armor-piercing part, 4 - tracer, 5 - plastic tip.

The projectile has rings around it made of soft metal, which are called leading belts. They serve to center the projectile in the barrel and obturate the barrel. Obturation is the sealing of the barrel bore when a gun (or a weapon in general) is fired, which prevents the powder gases (accelerating the projectile) from breaking through into the gap between the projectile itself and the barrel. Thus, the energy of the powder gases is not lost and is transferred to the projectile to the maximum possible extent.

Left- the dependence of the thickness of the armored barrier on its angle of inclination. A plate of thickness B1 inclined at some angle, a has the same resistance as a thicker plate of thickness B2 at right angles to the movement of the projectile. It can be seen that the path that the projectile must pierce increases with the increase in the slope of the armor.

On right- blunt projectiles A and B at the time of contact with sloping armor. Below - a sharp-headed arrow-shaped projectile. Due to the special shape of projectile B, its good engagement (biting) on ​​sloping armor is visible, which prevents ricochet. Pointed Projectile less prone to ricochet due to its sharp shape and very high contact pressure when hitting armor.

The damaging factors when such projectiles hit the target are fragments and fragments of armor flying at high speed from its inner side, as well as the flying projectile itself or its parts. Particularly affected equipment located on the trajectory of breaking through the armor. In addition, due to the high temperature of the projectile and its fragments, as well as the presence of a large amount of flammable objects and materials inside the tank or armored vehicle, the risk of fire is very high. The image below shows how this happens:

A relatively soft projectile body is visible, crushed during impact and a hard-alloy core that penetrates armor. On the right, a stream of high-velocity fragments is visible from the inside of the armor as one of the main damaging factors. In all modern tanks there is a tendency for the most dense placement of internal equipment and crew to reduce the size and weight of tanks. back side of this medal is that if the armor is penetrated, it is almost guaranteed that some important equipment will be damaged or a crew member will be injured. And even if the tank is not destroyed, it usually becomes incapacitated. On modern tanks and armored vehicles, a non-combustible anti-fragmentation lining is installed on the inside of the armor. As a rule, this is a material based on Kevlar or other high-strength materials. Although it does not protect against the core of the projectile itself, it retains some of the armor fragments, thereby reducing the damage done and increasing the survivability of the vehicle and crew.

Above, on the example of an armored vehicle, one can see the armored effect of the projectile and fragments with and without the lining installed. On the left, fragments and the shell itself that pierced the armor are visible. On the right, the installed lining delays most armor fragments (but not the projectile itself), thereby reducing damage.

An even more effective type of shells are chamber shells. Chamber armor-piercing projectiles are distinguished by the presence of a chamber (cavity) inside the projectile filled with explosives and a delayed detonator. After penetrating the armor, the projectile explodes inside the object, thereby significantly increasing the damage dealt by fragments and a shock wave in a closed volume. In fact, this is an armor-piercing landmine.

One of the simple examples of a chamber projectile scheme

1 - soft ballistic shell, 2 - armor-piercing steel, 3 - explosive charge, 4 - bottom detonator, working with slowdown, 5 - front and rear leading belts (shoulders).

Chamber shells are not used today as anti-tank shells, since their design is weakened by an internal cavity with explosives and is not designed to penetrate thick armor, that is, a shell tank caliber(105 - 125 mm) will simply collapse in a collision with a modern frontal tank armor(equivalent to 400 - 600 mm of armor and above). Such shells were widely used during the Second World War, since their caliber was comparable to the thickness of the armor of some tanks of that time. In naval battles of the past, chamber shells were used from large caliber 203 mm and up to a monstrous 460 mm (battleship of the Yamato series), which could well penetrate thick ship steel armor comparable in thickness to their caliber (300 - 500 mm), or a layer of reinforced concrete and stone several meters.

Modern armor-piercing ammunition

Despite the fact that various types of anti-tank missiles were developed after the Second World War, armor-piercing ammunition remains one of the main anti-tank weapons. Despite the indisputable advantages of missiles (mobility, accuracy, homing capabilities, etc.), armor-piercing shells also have their advantages.

Their main advantage lies in the simplicity of design and, accordingly, production, which affects the lower price of the product.

In addition, an armor-piercing projectile, unlike an anti-tank missile, has a very high approach speed to the target (from 1600 m / s and above), it is impossible to “leave” it by maneuvering in time or hiding in a shelter (in a certain sense, when launching a rocket, such there is a possibility). In addition, an anti-tank projectile does not require the need to keep the target on sight, like many, though not all, ATGMs.

It is also impossible to create radio-electronic interference against an armor-piercing projectile due to the fact that it simply does not contain any electronic devices. In the case of anti-tank missiles, this is possible; such complexes as Shtora, Afghanit or Zaslon * are created specifically for this.

A modern armor-piercing projectile widely used in most countries of the world is actually a long rod made of a high-strength metal (tungsten or depleted uranium) or composite (tungsten carbide) alloy and rushing to the target at a speed of 1500 to 1800 m / s and higher. The rod at the end has stabilizers called plumage. The projectile is abbreviated as BOPS (Armor Piercing Feathered Sub-caliber Projectile). You can also just call it BPS (Armor Piercing Sub-caliber Projectile).

Almost all modern armor-piercing ammunition shells have the so-called. "Plumage" - tail flight stabilizers. The reason for the appearance of feathered shells lies in the fact that the shells of the old scheme described above after the Second World War exhausted their potential. It was necessary to lengthen the shells for greater efficiency, but they lost their stability when big length. One of the reasons for the loss of stability was their rotation in flight (since most of the guns were rifling and informed the shells rotary motion). The strength of the materials of that time did not allow the creation of long projectiles with sufficient strength to penetrate thick composite (puff) armor. The projectile was easier to stabilize not by rotation, but by plumage. An important role in the appearance of plumage was also played by the appearance of smooth-bore guns, the shells of which could be accelerated to more high speeds than when using rifled guns, and the problem of stabilization in which began to be solved with the help of plumage (we will touch on the topic of rifled and smooth-bore guns in the next article).

Especially important role materials play in armor-piercing shells. Tungsten carbide** (composite material) has a density of 15.77 g/cm3, which is almost twice that of steel. It has great hardness, wear resistance and melting point (about 2900 C). Recently, heavier alloys based on tungsten and uranium have become especially widespread. Tungsten or depleted uranium has a very high density, which is almost 2.5 times higher than that of steel (19.25 and 19.1 g/cm3 versus 7.8 g/cm3 for steel) and, accordingly, greater mass and kinetic energy while maintaining minimal dimensions. Also, their mechanical strength (especially in bending) is higher than that of composite tungsten carbide. Thanks to these qualities, it is possible to concentrate more energy in a smaller volume of the projectile, that is, to increase the density of its kinetic energy. Also, these alloys have tremendous strength and hardness compared to even the strongest existing armor or specialty steels.

The projectile is called sub-caliber because the caliber (diameter) of its combat / armor-piercing part is less than the caliber of the gun. Typically, the diameter of such a core is 20 - 36 mm. Recently, projectile developers have been trying to reduce the diameter of the core and increase its length, if possible, maintain or increase mass, reduce drag during flight and, as a result, increase contact pressure at the point of impact with armor.

Uranium ammunition has 10 - 15% greater penetration with the same dimensions due to an interesting feature of the alloy called self-sharpening. The scientific term for this process is "ablative self-sharpening". As a tungsten projectile passes through the armor, its tip is deformed and flattened due to the enormous drag. When flattened, its contact area increases, which further increases the resistance to movement and, as a result, penetration suffers. When a uranium projectile passes through the armor at speeds greater than 1600 m/sec, its tip does not deform or flatten, but simply breaks down parallel to the movement of the projectile, that is, it peels off in parts and thus the rod always remains sharp.

In addition to the already listed damaging factors of armor-piercing projectiles, modern BPSs have a high incendiary ability when penetrating armor. This ability is called pyrophoricity - that is, self-ignition of projectile particles after breaking through armor ***.

125 mm BOPS BM-42 "Mango"

The design is a tungsten alloy core in a steel shell. Visible stabilizers at the end of the projectile (empennage). The white circle around the stem is the obturator. On the right, the BPS is equipped (drowned) inside the powder charge and in this form is delivered to the tank troops. On the left is the second powder charge with a fuse and a metal pan. As you can see, the whole shot is divided into two parts, and only in this form it is placed in the automatic loader of tanks of the USSR / RF (T-64, 72, 80, 90). That is, first the loading mechanism sends the BPS with the first charge, and then the second charge.

The photo below shows parts of the obturator at the moment of separation from the rod in flight. A burning tracer is visible at the bottom of the rod.

Interesting Facts

*The Russian Shtora system was designed to protect tanks from anti-tank guided missiles. The system determines that a laser beam is aimed at the tank, determines the direction of the laser source, and sends a signal to the crew. The crew can maneuver or hide the car in a shelter. The system is also connected to a smoke rocket launcher that creates a cloud that reflects optical and laser radiation, thereby knocking the ATGM missile off the target. There is also an interaction of "Curtains" with searchlights - emitters that can interfere with the device of an anti-tank missile when they are directed at it. The effectiveness of the Shtora system against various latest-generation ATGMs is still in question. There are controversial opinions on this matter, however, as they say, its presence is better than complete absence. The last Russian tank "Armata" has a different system - the so-called. the Afganit complex active protection system, which, according to the developers, is capable of intercepting not only anti-tank missiles, but also armor-piercing shells flying at speeds up to 1700 m/s (in the future it is planned to increase this figure to 2000 m/s). In turn, the Ukrainian development "Barrier" operates on the principle of detonating ammunition on the side of an attacking projectile (rocket) and informing it powerful impulse in the form of a shock wave and fragments. Thus, the projectile or missile deviates from the originally given trajectory, and is destroyed before meeting the target (or rather, its target). Judging by the technical characteristics, the most effective this system maybe against RPGs and ATGMs.

**Tungsten carbide is used not only for the manufacture of projectiles, but also for the manufacture of heavy-duty tools for working with extra hard steels and alloys. For example, an alloy called "Pobedit" (from the word "Victory") was developed in the USSR in 1929. It is a solid homogeneous mixture/alloy of tungsten carbide and cobalt in a ratio of 90:10. Products are obtained by powder metallurgy. Powder metallurgy is the process of obtaining metal powders and manufacturing various high-strength products from them with pre-calculated mechanical, physical, magnetic, and other properties. This process makes it possible to obtain products from mixtures of metals and non-metals that simply cannot be joined by other methods, such as fusion or welding. The mixture of powders is loaded into the mold of the future product. One of the powders is a binding matrix (something like cement), which will firmly connect all the smallest particles / grains of the powder to each other. Examples are nickel and cobalt powders. The mixture is pressed in special presses under pressure from 300 to 10,000 atmospheres. The mixture is then heated to a high temperature (70 to 90% of the melting point of the binder metal). As a result, the mixture becomes denser and the bond between the grains is strengthened.

*** Pyrophoricity is the ability of a solid material to self-ignite in air in the absence of heating and being in a finely divided state. The property can manifest itself upon impact or friction. One material that satisfies this requirement well is depleted uranium. When breaking through the armor, part of the core will just be in a finely divided state. Add to this the same high temperature at the point of penetration of the armor, the impact itself and the friction of many particles, and we get ideal conditions for ignition. Special additives are also added to tungsten alloys of shells to make them more pyrophoric. As the simplest example of pyrophoricity in everyday life, one can cite the silicon of lighters, which are made of an alloy of cerium metal.

Armor-piercing piercing sub-caliber projectile (arrow-shaped feathered projectile) - a type of projectile for barreled weapons, stabilized in flight due to aerodynamic forces (similar to stabilization in flight of an arrow). This circumstance distinguishes this type of ammunition from projectiles stabilized in flight by rotation due to gyroscopic forces. Arrow-shaped feathered projectiles can be used both in hunting and military firearms, and in cannon artillery. The main area of ​​application of such projectiles is the destruction of heavily armored vehicles (in particular, tanks). Arrow-shaped feathered projectiles are, as a rule, kinetic-action ammunition, but may also contain an explosive charge.

120 mm shots of the Israeli company IMI. In the foreground is an M829 shot (USA), manufactured by IMI under license.

Terminology

Armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber projectiles (arrow-shaped) can be abbreviated as BOPS, OBPS, OPS, BPS. Currently, the abbreviation BPS is also applied to feathered sabot arrow-shaped projectiles, although it should be correctly used to designate sabot armor-piercing projectiles of the usual elongation for rifled artillery projectiles. The name of the armor-piercing feathered arrow-shaped ammunition applicable to rifled and smoothbore artillery systems.

Device

Ammunition of this type They consist of an arrow-shaped feathered projectile, the body (body) of which (or the core inside the body) is made of a durable and high-density material, and the feathers are made of traditional structural alloys. The materials most used for the body include heavy alloys (of the VNZh type, etc.) and compounds (tungsten carbide), uranium alloys (for example, the American Stabilloy alloy or the domestic analogue of the UNC alloy type). The plumage is made of aluminum alloys or steel.

With the help of annular grooves (forgings), the BOPS body is connected to a sector pallet made of steel or high-strength aluminum alloys (type V-95, V-96Ts1 and similar). A sector pallet is also called a master device (VU) and consists of three or more sectors. The pallets are fastened to each other by leading belts made of metals or plastics and in this form are finally fixed in a metal sleeve or in the body of a burning sleeve. After leaving the gun barrel, the sector pallet is separated from the body of the BOPS under the action of the oncoming air flow, breaking the leading belts, while the body of the projectile itself continues to fly towards the target. Dropped sectors, having high aerodynamic drag, slow down in the air and fall at some distance (from hundreds of meters to more than a kilometer) from the muzzle of the gun. In the event of a miss, the BOPS itself, which has low aerodynamic drag, can fly away to a distance of 30 to more than 50 km from the muzzle of the gun.

The designs of modern BOPS are extremely diverse: the bodies of shells can be either monolithic or composite (a core or several cores in a shell, as well as longitudinally and transversely multilayered), plumage can be almost equal to the caliber of an artillery gun or sub-caliber, made of steel or light alloys. Leading devices (VU) can have a different principle of distribution of the vector of action of gas pressure on sectors (VU of the "expanding" or "clamping" type), a different number of places for conducting sectors, be made of steel, light alloys, and also composite materials - for example, from carbon composites or aramid composites. Ballistic tips and dampers can be installed in the head parts of the BOPS bodies. Additives can be added to the material of tungsten alloy cores to increase the pyrophoricity of the cores. Tracers can be installed in the tail parts of the BOPS.

The mass of BOPS bodies with plumage ranges from 3.6 kg in old models to 5-6 kg or more in models for advanced tank guns of 140-155 mm caliber.

The diameter of BOPS bodies without plumage ranges from 40 mm in older models to 22 mm or less in new promising BOPS with a large elongation. The elongation of BOPS is constantly increasing and ranges from 10 to 30 or more.

In the USSR and Russia, several types of BOPS are widely known, created in different times and having proper names, which originated from the name / cipher R & D . The following are BOPS in chronological order from old to new. The device and material of the BOPS body are briefly indicated:

  • "Hairpin" 3BM-23 - a small core of tungsten carbide in the head of the steel body (1976);
  • "Nadfil-2" 3BM30 - uranium alloy (1982);
  • "Hope" 3BM-27 - a small tungsten alloy core in the tail section of a steel body (1983);
  • "Vant" 3BM-33 - a monolithic body made of a uranium alloy (1985);
  • "Mango" 3BM-44 - two elongated tungsten alloy cores in a steel body jacket (1986);
  • "Lead" 3BM-48 - a monolithic body made of a uranium alloy (1991);
  • Anker 3BM39 (1990s);
  • "Lekalo" 3BM44 M? - improved alloy (details unknown) (1997); perhaps this BOPS is called the "Projectile of increased power";
  • "Lead-2" - judging by the index, a modified projectile with a uranium core (details unknown).

Other BOPS also have proper names. For example, a 100 mm anti-tank smoothbore gun has the Valshchik ammunition, a 115 mm tank gun has the Kamerger ammunition, etc.

Armor penetration indicators

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This mark is set July 13, 2012.

Comparative evaluation of armor penetration indicators is associated with significant difficulties. Enough influence on the assessment of armor penetration indicators different techniques tests of BOPS in different countries, the absence in different countries of a standard type of armor for testing, different conditions for placing armor (compact or spaced), as well as constant manipulations by developers of all countries with firing distances for test armor, angles of armor installation before testing, various statistical methods for processing results tests. As a material for testing in Russia and NATO countries, homogeneous rolled armor is adopted, to obtain more accurate results, composite targets are used. For example, for testing Russian projectiles, the P11 multilayer barrier, developed at the Research Institute of Steel, is used, imitating the frontal armor of the M1 Abrams tank. However, the real indicators of the armor resistance of composite armor and its equivalent homogeneous armor nevertheless, sometimes they differ, which makes it difficult to accurately assess the armor penetration of a particular projectile. In addition, the characteristics of armor penetration, as well as the protection parameters of armored vehicles, are traditionally classified.

As an example, we can take the Spanish BOPS guns of the 105 mm caliber of the company "Empersa Nacional Santa Barbara", which at a speed of 1500 m / s from a distance of 5000 m pierces a NATO standard target at an angle of 60 ° from the line of fire and consisting of an armor plate 120 mm thick and ten additional armor plates of 10 mm, located at a distance of 10 mm from each other.

According to published data, an increase in the elongation of the flight part to a value of 30 made it possible to increase the relative thickness of the RHA homogeneous rolled armor pierced (the ratio of armor thickness to gun caliber) to values: 5.0 in caliber 105 mm, and 6.8 in caliber 120 mm.

Story

The emergence of BOPS was due to the lack of armor penetration of conventional armor-piercing and sub-caliber rounds for rifled artillery in the years following World War II. Attempts to increase the specific load (that is, to lengthen their core) in sub-caliber projectiles ran into the phenomenon of loss of stabilization by rotation with an increase in the length of the projectile over 6-8 calibers. Strength modern materials not allowed to increase angular velocity projectile rotation.

Arrow-shaped and feathered projectiles for ultra-long-range guns

In the rocket and artillery design bureau of the Peenemünde training ground Peenemünde-Heeresversuchsanstalt by the end of World War II, the German designer Hanns Gessner designed a series of arrow-shaped feathered shells of the PPG index (Peenemünder Pfeilgeschosse) for smooth-bore 310 mm caliber barrels from Krupp and Hanomag, mounted on a carriage of a 28-cm ultra-long-range railway installation K5 (E). The 310-mm high-explosive fragmentation projectile index Sprenge-Granate 4861 had a length of 2012 mm and a mass of 136 kg. The arrow body diameter was 120 mm, the number of stabilizer feathers was 4 pcs. The initial speed of the projectile is 1420 m / s, the mass of the explosive charge is 25 kg, the firing range is 160 km. The shells were used against the Anglo-American troops in the battles near Bonn.

Experiments with arrow-shaped feathered sub-caliber projectiles for high-altitude anti-aircraft artillery were carried out at a training ground near the Polish city of Blizna under the guidance of designer R. Herman ( R. Hermann). have been tested anti-aircraft guns caliber 103 mm with a barrel length of up to 50 calibers. During the tests, it turned out that arrow-shaped feathered projectiles, which reached very high speeds due to their small mass, have insufficient shrapnel action due to the impossibility of placing a significant explosive charge in them. In addition, they demonstrated extremely low accuracy due to rarefied air at high altitudes and, as a result, insufficient aerodynamic stabilization. After it became clear that swept finned shells were not applicable for anti-aircraft fire, attempts were made to use high-velocity finned piercing shells to fight tanks. The work was stopped due to the fact that serial anti-tank and tank guns at that time had sufficient armor penetration, and the Third Reich was living out its last days.

Arrow-shaped bullets of handguns

Russia is developing arrow-shaped (needle-shaped) underwater ammunition without plumage, which are part of the SPS cartridges of 4.5 mm caliber (for special underwater pistol SPP-1; SPP-1M) and MPS cartridges of 5.66 mm caliber (for special underwater machine APS). Non-feathered arrow-shaped bullets for underwater weapons, stabilized in water by a cavitation cavity, practically do not stabilize in the air and require not regular, but special weapons for use under water.

Currently, the most promising underwater-air ammunition, which can be fired with equal efficiency both under water at a depth of up to 50 m, and in the air, are cartridges for regular (serial) machine guns and assault rifles, equipped with a Polotnev arrow-shaped feathered bullet developed by at the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "TsNIIKhM". Stabilization of Polotnev's bullets under water is carried out by the cavitation cavity, and in air - by the plumage of the bullet.

One of the tasks of the modern basic battle tank is the destruction of similar enemy equipment, for which he needs a powerful weapon and appropriate armor-piercing shells. Russian tanks are armed with several anti-tank munitions that allow them to deal with well-protected enemy vehicles. In addition, in the near future, new samples intended for use with weapons of advanced technology should go into large-scale production.

Armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber projectiles (BOPS) show the highest armor penetration characteristics. Such ammunition appeared several decades ago, and later proved to be a convenient means of destroying armored vehicles with powerful protection. different types. As a result, at present, it is BOPS that turn out to be the main tool for tanks to fight other tanks. The development of this class of projectiles continues.


Serial "Mango"

According to various sources, Russian armored units are currently armed with several types of BOPS, and the most widespread representative of this class is the 3BM-42 Mango product. The development of a new projectile with increased power under the code "Mango" began in the first half of the eighties. Through the use of certain materials, technologies and solutions, it was necessary to increase armor penetration in comparison with existing projectiles. The future projectile 3BM-42 was supposed to be used with the existing tank guns of the 2A46 family.

The T-72B3 main tank carries an improved automatic loader compatible with extended projectile lengths. Photo Vitalykuzmin.net

A few years later, the 3VBM-17 round with the 3BM-42 BOPS entered service. It includes the so-called. a burning cylinder, inside of which a driving device with a projectile is rigidly attached. Also, a separate partially combustible cartridge case with means of ignition is used for the shot. The cavities of the sleeve and cylinder are filled with tubular powder, which ensures the acceleration of the projectile.

The creators of the Mango projectile coped with the task of increasing armor penetration, and they did it very interesting way. The projectile has a special design, due to which an increase in the main characteristics is achieved. At the same time, outwardly, 3BM-42 is almost no different from other products of its class. This BOPS is a hollow cylindrical body of small diameter, made of steel and equipped with a tail stabilizer. The front end of the body is closed with a ballistic cap and the so-called. armor-piercing damper. Two tungsten cores are located one behind the other in the housing cavity, held in place by a low-melting metal jacket.

A resettable lead device made of aluminum is installed on the projectile. It has a conical shape with a widening front. Interaction with the bore is provided by several rings on the outer surface of the device. Shot 3VBM-17, including a cylinder, a projectile and a leading device, has a length of 574 mm with a diameter of 125 mm. The mass of the projectile itself is 4.85 kg.


Shot 3VBM-17 with a projectile 3BM-42 "Mango". Photo Fofanov.armor.kiev.ua

The combustion of gunpowder in the sleeve and cylinder makes it possible to accelerate the projectile with the driving device to a speed of no more than 1700 m / s. After exiting the barrel, the master device is reset. Upon hitting the target, the holding jacket melts, after which tungsten cores can pierce armor. The maximum armor penetration at a distance of 2 km is determined as 500 mm. With a meeting angle of 60 ° at the same distance, this characteristic is reduced to 220 mm.

The 3VBM-17 shot with the 3BM-42 projectile was put into service in 1986 and had a noticeable effect on fighting qualities all existing main tanks Soviet army. This product is still used in tank troops and is almost the basis of their arsenals. Subsequently, modernization was carried out, which consisted in increasing the length of the body and cores. As a result, "Mango-M" weighs 5 kg and can penetrate up to 270 mm of armor at an angle of 60 °.

Long way "Lead"

Soon after the appearance of the Mango BOPS, well-known unpleasant events began in our country that hit a lot of areas, including the development of promising shells for tank guns. Only towards the end of the 1990s was it possible to obtain real results in the form of another projectile with enhanced performance. This ammunition was the result of development work with the code "Lead".


Scheme of the product "Mango". Figure Btvt.narod.ru

Experience has shown that a further increase in the main combat characteristics is associated with a mandatory increase in the length of the projectile. This parameter was increased to 740 mm, but this fact did not allow the use of the future projectile with existing tank loaders. As a result, the next project for the modernization of armored vehicles had to include an update of the automation that serves the gun.

From the point of view of the general appearance, the 3VBM-20 shot with the 3BM-46 "Lead-1" projectile is somewhat similar to the older 3VBM-17 and also consists of a projectile in a burning cylinder and a cartridge case with a metal pallet. At the same time, the design of the projectile itself is seriously different from the existing one. This time it was decided to use a monolithic depleted uranium core (according to other sources, from a tungsten alloy), which is actually the basis of the projectile. A ballistic cap and tail stabilizers are attached to the metal core, the diameter of which is less than the caliber of the barrel.

For a longer projectile, an improved lead device was created. It is distinguished by its large length and the presence of two contact zones. In front of the device there is a large cylinder of the usual type, and the second zone is created by three rear supports. After exiting the barrel, such a master device is reset and releases the projectile.


"Mango-M" and a cartridge case with a propelling charge. Photo btvt.narod.ru

According to available data, Lead-1 has a mass of 4.6 kg and is capable of accelerating to a speed of 1750 m/s. Due to this, it penetrates up to 650 mm of homogeneous armor at a shot distance of 2000 m and a zero encounter angle. It is known about the existence of the "Lead-2" project, which provided for the replacement of the core with a product made of another material. Thus, similar shells from uranium and tungsten could appear in the arsenals.

Due to its long length, the new type of projectile could not be used with the existing automatic loaders of mass-produced tanks. This problem was solved in the middle of the 2000s. The T-90A armored vehicles of the new series were equipped with modified machine guns compatible with "long" shells. In the future, the upgraded T-72B3 began to receive similar equipment. Thus, a significant part of the equipment of the armored forces can use not only the relatively old "Mango" with limited characteristics.

"Vacuum" for "Armata"

Observed increase in tank protection characteristics potential adversary is a real challenge for weapons developers. Further research work led to the conclusion about the need for a new increase in the length of the ammunition. The BOPS 1000 mm long could show the optimal ratio of characteristics, but such a projectile, for obvious reasons, could not be used with the 2A46 gun and its automatic loader.


Projectile 3BM-46 with a leading device. Photo Fofanov.armor.kiev.ua

The way out of this situation was the creation of a completely new weapon with additional equipment. The promising gun later became known under the index 2A82, and the new projectile received the code "Vacuum". From a certain time new complex weapons began to be considered in the context of the project of the promising Armata tank. In case of successful completion of work on the gun and BOPS, new tank could get them as the main weapon.

According to some sources, the Vacuum project was turned off in favor of new developments. In connection with the start of the development of the 2A82-1M gun, instead of such a projectile, it was proposed to create a smaller BOPS with the code "Vacuum-1". It was supposed to have a length of "only" 900 mm and be equipped with a carbide core. In the recent past, representatives of the defense industry mentioned that organizations from Rosatom were involved in the development of a new projectile. Their participation is due to the need to use depleted uranium.

According to some reports, a projectile called "Vacuum-2" is being created in parallel. In its design, it should be similar to a product with a unit, but at the same time differ in material. It is proposed to make it from a tungsten alloy, more familiar to domestic BOPS. Also, for use with the 2A82-M gun, a high-explosive fragmentation munition with a controlled detonation with the Telnik code and a 3UBK21 Sprinter guided missile are being created. Accurate information about the creation of a new 125-mm cumulative projectile is not yet available.


Main tank T-14 with 2A82-1M gun. Photo by NPK "Uralvagonzavod" / uvz.ru

Appearance and accurate specifications promising BOPS of the Vacuum family have not yet been specified. It is only known that a projectile with a uranium core will penetrate about 900-1000 mm of homogeneous armor. Probably, such characteristics can be obtained with an ideal angle of impact. Other details are missing.

Promising "Slate"

According to various reports of past years, promising domestically developed tanks were also supposed to receive an armor-piercing projectile called the Lead. However, there was not too much information about him, which led to confusion and misconceptions. So, for some time it was believed that the "Slate" was intended for new 125-mm guns. It is now known that this product is planned to be used with a more powerful 152 mm 2A83 gun.

Apparently, the projectile for high-powered cannons will be similar in appearance to other representatives of its class. It will receive a high elongation core equipped with a ballistic cap and an armor-piercing damper in the head part, as well as a relatively small-caliber stabilizer. Earlier it was reported that the "Grifel-1" and "Grifel-2" projectiles will be equipped with tungsten and uranium cores. At the same time, there are no data on the parameters of the armor penetration of new shells.


Models of 125-mm guns 2A82-1M. Photo Yuripasholok.livejournal.com

According to various estimates, based on the caliber and estimated energy indicators, the Leads will be able to penetrate at least 1000-1200 mm of homogeneous armor at the optimal angle of impact. However, there are reports of some characteristic problems in the development of such ammunition. Due to certain objective limitations, the efficiency of using shot energy for 152-mm guns may be lower than for systems of a smaller caliber. Whether it will be possible to cope with such problems and fully use the energy reserve of the propellant charge is unknown.

The promising 2A83 tank gun is currently being developed in the context of further development unified tracked platform "Armata". The already created main tank T-14 is equipped with an uninhabited turret with a 2A82-1M gun. In the foreseeable future, it is expected that new version tank, featuring a different fighting compartment and a more powerful 2A83 gun. Along with them, the improved Armata will also receive the BOPS of the Grifel line.

Shells of the present and future

Currently, the armored forces are armed with several armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber projectiles designed for use with guns of the rather old but successful 2A46 line. A significant part of the main tanks of existing models has a relatively old automatic loader, and therefore can only use Mango shells and older products. At the same time, late-series T-90A tanks, as well as modernized T-72B3 tanks, are equipped with improved automatic loaders, thanks to which they can use relatively long shells of the Lead line.


The alleged appearance of the BOPS type "Slate". Picture Otvaga2004.mybb.ru

BOPS 3BM-42 and 3BM-46 have fairly high performance, and due to this they are able to deal with a wide range of targets present on the battlefield. At the same time, sub-caliber ammunition is not the only means of combating enemy tanks. For the same purposes, our tanks can use guided missiles and cumulative shots. Thus, "Mango", "Lead" and other tank ammunition ensure the fight against various targets in a wide range of ranges.

The next generation of Russian tanks, so far represented only by the T-14 Armata, is equipped with a new 2A82-1M gun, which shows higher performance and is compatible with new ammunition. The new family of shells and missiles will provide a noticeable increase in combat qualities and is quite capable of bringing the Armata to a leading position in the world.

It is no secret that in the recent past there has been a significant lag of domestic BOPS from modern foreign models. However, the situation is gradually changing, and new models of this kind are coming into service. In the foreseeable future, armored units will receive fundamentally new combat vehicles with modern weapons and ammunition. There is every reason to believe that the gap will at least narrow. Moreover, one cannot rule out the possibility of being ahead of foreign competitors with understandable consequences for the combat capability of the army.

According to the websites:
http://vpk.mane/
http://ria.ru/
http://tass.ru/
http://otvaga2004.ru/
http://btvt.narod.ru/
http://russianarms.ru/
http://fofanov.armor.kiev.ua/
http://gurkhan.blogspot.com/
http://bmpd.livejournal.com/

The term "sub-caliber projectile" is most often used in tank forces. Such shells are used along with cumulative and high-explosive fragmentation. But if earlier there was a division into armor-piercing and sub-caliber ammunition, now it makes sense to talk only about armor-piercing sub-caliber projectiles. Let's talk about what a subcaliber is and what are its key features and principle of operation.

basic information

The key difference between sub-caliber shells and conventional armored shells is that the diameter of the core, that is, the main part, is less than the caliber of the gun. At the same time, the second main part - the pallet - is made according to the diameter of the gun. The main purpose of such ammunition is to defeat heavily armored targets. Usually these are heavy tanks and fortified buildings.

It is worth noting that the armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile has increased penetration due to the high initial flight speed. Also increased the specific pressure when breaking through the armor. To do this, it is desirable to use materials having the highest possible specific gravity as the core. For these purposes, tungsten and depleted uranium are suitable. Stabilization of the flight of the projectile is implemented by plumage. There is nothing new here, since the principle of the flight of an ordinary arrow is used.

Armor-piercing sub-caliber projectile and its description

As we noted above, such ammunition is ideal for firing at tanks. It is interesting that the subcaliber does not have the usual fuse and explosive. The principle of operation of the projectile is completely based on its kinetic energy. In comparison, it is something like a massive high-velocity bullet.

The subcaliber consists of a coil body. A core is inserted into it, which is often made 3 times smaller than the caliber of the gun. High-strength metal-ceramic alloys are used as the core material. If earlier it was tungsten, today depleted uranium is more popular for a number of reasons. During the shot, the pallet takes on the entire load, thereby providing initial speed flight. Since the weight of such a projectile is less than a conventional armor-piercing one, by reducing the caliber, it was possible to increase the flight speed. These are significant values. So, a feathered sub-caliber projectile flies at a speed of 1,600 m/s, while a classic armor-piercing projectile flies at 800-1,000 m/s.

The action of a sub-caliber projectile

Quite interesting is how such ammunition works. During contact with the armor, it creates a small diameter hole in it due to high kinetic energy. Part of the energy is spent on the destruction of the target's armor, and the projectile fragments fly into the armored space. Moreover, the trajectory is similar to a divergent cone. This leads to the fact that the mechanisms and equipment of the equipment fail, the crew is affected. Most importantly, due to the high degree of pyrophoricity of depleted uranium, numerous fires occur, which in most cases leads to the complete failure of the combat unit. We can say that the sub-caliber projectile, the principle of which we have considered, has increased armor penetration at long distances. Evidence of this is Operation Desert Storm, when the US Armed Forces used sub-caliber ammunition and hit armored targets at a distance of 3 km.

Varieties of PB shells

Currently, several effective designs of sub-caliber projectiles have been developed, which are used by the armed forces of various countries. In particular, we are talking about the following:

  • With non-separable tray. The projectile passes all the way to the target as a single whole. Only the core is involved in the penetration. This solution has not received sufficient distribution due to increased aerodynamic drag. As a result, the armor penetration rate and accuracy drop significantly with the distance to the target.
  • With non-detachable tray for conical implements. The essence of this solution is that when passing through the conical shaft, the pallet is crushed. This allows you to reduce aerodynamic drag.
  • Sub-caliber projectile with detachable pallet. The bottom line is that the pallet is torn off by air forces or by centrifugal forces (with a rifled gun). This allows you to significantly reduce air resistance in flight.

About cumulatives

For the first time, such ammunition was used by Nazi Germany in 1941. At that time, the USSR did not expect the use of such shells, since their principle of operation, although known, was not yet in service. The key feature of such projectiles was that they had high armor penetration due to the presence of instantaneous fuses and a cumulative recess. The problem, which was encountered for the first time, was that the projectile rotated during the flight. This led to the dispersion of the cumulative arrow and, as a result, reduced armor penetration. In order to exclude negative effect, it was proposed to use smoothbore guns.

Some interesting facts

It is worth noting that it was in the USSR that arrow-shaped armor-piercing sub-caliber shells were developed. This was a real breakthrough, as it was possible to increase the length of the core. Almost no armor protected from a direct hit of such ammunition. Only a successful angle of inclination of the armor plate and, consequently, its increased thickness in the reduced state could help out. In the end, BOPS had such an advantage as a flat flight path at a distance of up to 4 km and high accuracy.

Conclusion

A cumulative sub-caliber projectile is somewhat similar to a conventional sub-caliber. But in its body it has a fuse and an explosive. When breaking through the armor, such ammunition provides destructive action both equipment and manpower. Currently, the most common shells for cannons with a caliber of 115, 120, 125 mm, as well as artillery pieces of 90, 100 and 105 mm. In general, this is all the information on this topic.