How good is Chobham Armour?
How good is Chobham Armour?
Protective qualities. Due to the extreme hardness of the ceramics used, they offer superior resistance against a shaped charge jet and they shatter kinetic energy penetrators (KE-penetrators). The (pulverised) ceramic also strongly abrades any penetrator.
What tanks use Chobham armor?
Chobham-type armour is currently in its third generation and is used on modern western tanks such as the British Challenger 2 and the American M1 Abrams. The Abrams is also unique in its usage of depleted uranium armour plates in conjunction with composite armour, increasing overall vehicle protection.
How is Chobham armor made?
The exact composition is still secret, but Chobham armour is believed to consist of layers of nylon micromesh, titanium and ceramic material bonded together. Each tile is sandwiched between steel plates, so when a Heat round strikes one it detonates and the steel plate is projected through the armour-piercing jet.
Which MBT has the best armour?
The Challenger 2 has the latest Chobham armor and is one of the most protected MBTs in the world today. It offers very high level of protection against direct fire weapons. This British tank is armed with a very accurate 120 mm rifled gun. Its gun is rifled as opposed to smoothbore guns used by all other modern MBTs.
How strong is Chobham armor?
Depending on the exact penetration, the armor array provides 5.35 to 7.14 times as much protection as a single plate of steel armor of the same weight (for an estimated penetration of 300 to 400 mm steel armor).
What tank has the strongest armor?
But the title for tank with thickest effective armor (in service) goes to the British Challenger II.
How heavy is Chobham armor?
The glacis (upper front plate) and noseplate of the Chieftain tanks was to be fitted with Chobham armor. This armor consisted of three sandwich plates in a spaced configuration with a combined weight of 0.75 tons. The addition of a burster plate increases the total weight of the additional armor to 1.05 tons.
What was the first tank protected by Chobham armor?
An American M1 Abrams of the pre-series, the first main battle tank type to be protected by Chobham armour. The British Army’s Challenger 1 was the second main battle tank to use Chobham armour. Chobham armour is the informal name of a composite armour developed in the 1960s at the British tank research centre on Chobham Common, Surrey.
What is the difference between Chobham armour and special armour?
The name has since become the common generic term for composite ceramic vehicle armour. Other names informally given to Chobham Armour include “Burlington” and “Dorchester.” “Special armour” is a broader informal term referring to any armour arrangement comprising “sandwich” reactive plates, including Chobham Armour.
What was the first tank to be fully armored?
The armour was first tested in the context of the development of a British prototype vehicle, the FV4211, and first applied on the preseries of the American M1. Only the M1 Abrams, Challenger 1, and Challenger 2 tanks have been disclosed as being thus armoured.
Can composite ceramic materials be used as vehicle armor?
Since the early sixties there were, in the US, extensive research programmes ongoing aimed at investigating the prospects of employing composite ceramic materials as vehicle armour. This research mainly focused on the use of an aluminium metal matrix composite reinforced by silicon carbide whiskers, to be produced in the form of large sheets.
