Tungsten and uranium: NATO tank munitions in Ukraine
Challenger 2. Source: wikipedia.org
NATO "crowbars"
Equipment concept tank ammunition in the West is somewhat different from the Russian approach.
For example: the T-90 tank gun can work on targets with four types of ammunition - a sub-caliber armor-piercing feathered projectile (BOPS), a cumulative, high-explosive fragmentation and an Invar-M guided missile. NATO armored vehicles in different variations are equipped with BOPS, multi-purpose cumulative, buckshot, full-fledged high-explosive fragmentation, high-explosive fragmentation with plastic explosives and, in some models, guided anti-tank missiles.
Let's start with the most dangerous ammunition from the tank arsenal - highly specialized sub-caliber anti-tank shells.
The main difference between Western "crowbars" is the presence of two-base leading devices resembling a coil, while the Russian analogues are characterized by a single-base device. Automatic loading of domestic tanks imposes restrictions on the length of the sub-caliber projectile. For example, the length of the tungsten cores 3BM-42 "Mango" - 547 mm, 3BM-60 "Lead-2" - 640 mm, and the length of the uranium "scrap" M829A3 from the Abrams ammunition reaches almost 800 mm. However, export restrictions apply to this ammunition model, and they are unlikely to appear in Ukraine.
The Americans developed the M829A3 to combat the Kontakt-5 DZ - for this, 100 mm of the leading part of the core are made of steel. According to the idea, the steel destroys and absorbs the energy of the explosion of dynamic protection units, and the uranium rod pierces the already cleaned tank armor.
The armor penetration of the projectile, according to experts of the Moscow State Technical University. N. E. Bauman, at a distance of 2 km is 830 mm along the normal and 420 mm at an angle of 60 degrees. At the same time, the “scrap” does not have an outstanding initial flight speed at all - only about 1 m / s. For comparison, the Leopard 640A2 sub-caliber DM6 accelerates to 53 m/s, and the Russian Mango to 1 m/s.
The Americans did not have the opportunity to lengthen the gun barrel, like the Germans, up to 55 calibers, so they had to increase the length and weight of the rod. Abrams delivers an eight-kilogram rod to enemy armor, DM53 pulls 5 kg, and the active part of the Mango is even less - 4,85 kg.
Again, the appearance in Ukraine of the М829А3, one of the best ammunition in the world in its class, is unlikely. At the same time, there is an even more powerful version of the A4, but this ammunition is not yet widely distributed even in the United States.
Source: rostislavddd.livejournal.com
Armor-piercing shells with a depleted uranium core pose the greatest danger to domestic armored vehicles. Despite all assurances, there is no guarantee that such a highly effective weapon will not appear in the ammunition of tanks supplied to Ukraine.
Stabilla depleted uranium alloy cores are present in the M829A1 and A2 sub-caliber projectiles from the Abrams ammunition load. These are "crowbars" in terms of lethal force a couple of steps lower than the A3 version described above - no more than 500-700 mm of armor at a distance of 2 meters. According to some reports, most of this ammunition has been withdrawn from service and disposed of.
Uranium in armor-piercing rods is good due to its high density and tensile strength, as well as reactive activity. Squeezing through the thickness of the armor, the rod enters into a chemical reaction with the metal, accompanied by a significant release of heat.
But uranium, albeit depleted, remains a radioactive metal. When hitting a tank, contamination of the area with fine particles is inevitable.
Export American BOPS. Source: rostislavddd.livejournal.com
In the export version, Abrams are equipped with armor-piercing shells with tungsten cores. They developed ammunition for the Egyptian army back in the mid-90s - early 2000s. For example, KEW-A2 (KEW - Tungsten Kinetic Energy round for Egyp) is an analogue of the uranium BOPS М829А2.
German tungsten cores.
In the list of announced NATO tanks for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Leopard 2A6 stands out, primarily due to the 120-mm gun with a length of 55 calibers. As mentioned above, this allows you to shoot sub-caliber DM53 with an initial speed of 1 m / s. Normally, at a two-kilometer distance, the projectile strikes up to 750 mm of armor, at an angle of 730 degrees - up to 60 mm.
The Leopard 2A4, promised to Ukraine from Poland, performs more modestly in this discipline. The tank has a 44-caliber gun and the muzzle velocity of the DM53 drops to 1 m/s, respectively, and armor penetration is also reduced. The German “scrap” has a WSM IV tungsten alloy core, and it is highly likely to appear in Ukraine. More advanced armor-piercing shells DM670 and DM63 increase the power on the target mainly due to a more powerful propelling charge.
British tungsten "scrap" L28A1 for Challenger 2. Source: wikipedia.org
British Challenger 2s are equipped with 120-mm rifled guns, which the Royal Armed Forces intend to abandon in the near future. The use of feathered sub-caliber projectiles on such guns is associated with a more complicated design - in particular, the leading belt is made to rotate so that the barrel rifling does not transmit rotation to the armor-piercing rod.
The most modern BOPS for the Challenger 2 is the L28A2 APFSDS. The abbreviation APFSDS stands for Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot or Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot. This is a common name for all NATO "crowbars".
Like the earlier L28A1 design, the projectile core is made of tungsten. For internal consumption, depleted uranium L26 and L27 sub-caliber projectiles are used, which are more suitable for destroying modern combined armor. The armor penetration of these ammunition is comparable to similar shells of the 120 mm Abrams M1A2 and Leopard 2A4 smoothbore guns.
Universal soldiers
As mentioned above, a distinctive feature of the NATO tank ammunition is the presence of cumulative fragmentation ammunition. A number of domestic authors believe that in such universal projectiles, high-explosive fragmentation is in the background. Nevertheless, the appearance of combined action shells is not accidental.
In short-term combat, especially in urban areas, it is preferable to always keep a tank gun loaded. In order to suppress a machine-gun point or a sniper prone in a building, an OFS is needed, but another tank can jump out from around the corner, against which such ammunition is practically useless. That is why NATO tanks are equipped with cumulative fragmentation projectiles that can effectively work both on buildings and on tanks. They are called HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank Warhead).
Considering the low probability of a meeting between NATO tanks and Russian tanks in battle, it is the HEAT series of ammunition that will play the main role in Ukraine.
M830. Source: rostislavddd.livejournal.com
Abrams is equipped with three types of HEAT. The first and oldest is the M830, which is a copy of the German DM12A1 projectile and, unlike the original, is equipped with a fuse capable of being triggered by a tangential hit. To the target, he carries a cumulative warhead and 1,95 kg of explosives. For comparison, the classic OFS of Russian tanks 30F26 is equipped with 3,4 kg of explosives.
The M830A1 projectile is more compact and is actually made in a sub-caliber format, due to which its initial speed has increased to 1 m/s. The Russian OFS is much slower - at the muzzle no more than 400 m / s. But you have to pay for everything, and the American cumulative fragmentation projectile is equipped with only 850 kg of explosives.
Among the undoubted advantages is a proximity fuse capable of shooting down helicopters in Air mode even with a slight miss.
Thus, Abrams gets the opportunity to work not only on armored vehicles and manpower, but on slow air targets. In the M908 model, the head fuse is replaced with a steel tip - this allows the projectile to play the role of a concrete-piercing one. It is good when you need to make a neat passage for the infantry in the wall and at the same time not kill the infantry themselves nearby.
The universal M830A1 can hit both tanks and helicopters. Source: rostislavddd.livejournal.com
The Germans with cumulative-fragmentation shells are simpler - in fact, only the DM12A1 is represented with an initial speed of 1 m / s and nearly two kilograms of explosives.
One thing can be said about the armor penetration of shells - the frontal armor of domestic tanks with a high degree of probability will withstand the blow of "universal soldiers".
DM11. Source: topwar.ru
The relatively new DM11 projectile from Rheinmetall, from which the cumulative funnel was seized, can compete with the Russian OFS. They added 6 thousand tungsten balls, explosives and a three-mode fuse capable of detonating in the air over sheltered infantry.
In addition, DM11 can explode in front of the target, as well as with some slowdown in walls and shelters. This high-tech projectile is very expensive, and if it appears in Ukraine, it will be in small quantities.
Satisfied British tankers with shells (from left to right) - BOPS, smoke with white phosphorus and armor-piercing with plastic explosives.
The British, as always, are original.
HEAT ammunition for a rifled gun is highly undesirable - rotation creates harmful centrifugal force, and the cumulative jet does not focus well on armor. You can, of course, organize compensating rotation of the bearings, but this will complicate the design and eat up the useful volume of the projectile.
Therefore, it was decided to create, as it seemed to the British, an effective analogue under the name HESH (High-Explosive Squash Head), better known to us as a projectile with plastic explosives. Here, the rotation from the rifling of the barrel plays into the hands of the armor-piercers - upon impact, the centrifugal force gently spreads a pancake of plastic explosives over the armor. Then detonation follows, a compression and tension wave passes through the armor, and a mass of fragments is formed on the inner surface. In this case, no penetration is observed.
Only now the combined armor of modern tanks dampens the compression wave well - HESH has chances only against the frontal projection of the T-62. The sides of the tanks, although devoid of damping layers, are reliably protected from the British "armor-piercing" shells L31A7 HESH by bulwarks.
M1028. Source: pngkit.com
NATO smoothbore guns have one very dangerous ammunition for manpower under the symbol M1028, better known as Canister. This is a shotgun projectile that hits a maximum of 600 meters and creates a deadly field of 1 tungsten balls. Given the ubiquity of anti-tank weapons, an Abrams or Leopard would still have to approach infantry unharmed within effective range of the Canister. The developers claim that the M150 can effectively mow down excess vegetation and make passages in brick walls.
NATO tanks, the appearance of which was announced in Ukraine, are, first of all, a good anti-tank weapon and only then a universal armored gun, so valuable at the front. The specific ammunition load of tanks has only recently begun to be replenished with ammunition that is truly effective against manpower and shelters.
In any case, the best NATO tank in Ukraine should not burn on the battlefield, but on a railway platform or on a tanker somewhere west of the Dnieper. As well as ammunition for them.
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