A Comparative Numerical and Experimental Study of Light Weight Materials for Neutralizing Explosive Reactive Armour

Explosive reactive armour (ERA) consists of an explosive sandwiched between two metal plates fitted on armoured vehicles to enhance their protection. To defeat an ERA mounted vehicle, its ERA must be neutralized first. A precursor fitted in a TANDEM warhead is used for this purpose in two modes. One is to detonate the ERA and the other is without detonation. This paper presents work performed on the ability of light-weight materials to neutralize the Kontakt-5 ERA without detonation. The precursor performing in this manner is known as a non-initiating precursor (NIP). Eight experiments were performed with aluminium, Teflon® and perspex as liners, against Kontakt-5 ERAs at about 90º and 30º inclination. In five of these experiments, the ERA did not detonate, however in three experiments it did detonated. In all of the experiments the precursor over-performed, producing a prominent hole in the target larger than that predicted by simulation. The over-performance was balanced by decreasing the angle of attack. These experiments demonstrated that an NIP depends strongly upon the ERA as well as on the angle of attack. The overall conclusion from this work is that an NIP is a promising technique to defeat a specific ERA without detonation.