Novel KE penetrator performance against a steel/ceramic/steel target at 0° over the velocity range 1800 to 2900 m/s

This paper presents scale size firings of two novel shape KE penetrators into a steel/ceramic/steel target at four velocities between 1.8 and 2.9 km/s. The two novel shapes were a three piece segmented rod and a telescopic rod/tube. Two unitary rod designs were also included in the assessment. All the penetrators had a similar mass of 60 grams. Test data against semi-infinite RHA was used to obtain the mass effectiveness (Em) of the ceramic target for each rod shape and velocity. The performance rankings of the penetrators against the ceramic target were found to be similar to those for semi-infinite RHA. In ascending order of penetration depth the ranking was the 10.6 mm unitary rod, segmented rod, telescopic rod and 6.5 mm unitary rod. It was found that the Em reached a maximum between 2.3 and 2.6 km/s depending on the penetrator type. The Em values ranged from 1.8 to 2.4. Hydrocode analysis of the experiments gave some valuable insights into the penetration processes of the two novel penetrator designs. Predicted depth of penetration compared very well with experimental values, but enhancements to the physics of the ceramic model are needed in order to simulate cover plate effects. Crown copyright