A HEAT round. The copper-lined conical shaped area can be clearly seen in this cutaway.

HEAT redirects here. It may also refer to the Miami Heat

High explosive anti-tank (HEAT) rounds are made of an explosive shaped charge that uses the Neumann effect (a development of the Munroe effect) to create a very high-velocity jet of metal in a state of superplasticity that can punch through solid armor. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1489x415, 202 KB) Copyright © 2005 David Monniaux File links The following pages link to this file: Shaped charge High explosive anti-tank User:Tom harrison/gravelpit ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1489x415, 202 KB) Copyright © 2005 David Monniaux File links The following pages link to this file: Shaped charge High explosive anti-tank User:Tom harrison/gravelpit ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Sectioned HEAT round with the inner shaped charge visible A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosives energy. ... The Munroe effect refers to the partial focusing of blast energy caused by a hollow or void cut into a piece of explosive, a property which is exploited by a shaped charge. ... In materials science, superplasticity is a state in which solid crystalline material is deformed well beyond its usual breaking point, usually over about 200% during tensile deformation. ... Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets or shells, protecting the soldiers inside from enemy fire. ...

The jet moves at hypersonic speeds (up to 25 times the speed of sound) in solid material and therefore erodes exclusively in the contact area of jet and armor material. Spacing is critical, as the jet disintegrates and disperses after a relatively short distance, usually well under 2 metres. The jet material is formed by a cone of metal foil lining, usually copper, though tin foil was common during the Second World War. Boeing X-43 at Mach 7 In aerodynamics, hypersonic speeds are speeds that are highly supersonic. ... General Name, Symbol, Number copper, Cu, 29 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 4, d Appearance metallic pinkish red Standard atomic weight 63. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tin, Sn, 50 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 5, p Appearance silvery lustrous gray Standard atomic weight 118. ...

The key to the effectiveness of a HEAT round is the diameter of the warhead. As the penetration continues through the armor, the width of the hole decreases leading to a characteristic "fist to finger" penetration, where the size of the eventual "finger" is based on the size of the original "fist". In general, HEAT rounds can expect to penetrate armor of 150% to 250% of their width, although modern versions claim numbers as high as 700%. A B61 nuclear bomb in various stages of assembly; the nuclear warhead is the bullet-shaped silver cannister in the middle-left of the photograph. ...

HEAT rounds are less effective if they are spinning, the normal method for giving a shell accuracy. The centrifugal force disperses the jet, so the warhead design needs to be modified for use with rifled guns, or fired from smoothbore weapons. A further problem is that if the warhead is contained inside the barrel, then its diameter is restricted to the caliber of the gun. Increasing the caliber to allow a greater diameter makes the gun heavier. Recoilless rifles using lighter barrels and mounts firing HEAT rounds (e.g. the British WOMBAT or Swedish Carl Gustav) have proven to be effective. Centrifugal force (from Latin centrum center and fugere to flee) is a term which may refer to two different forces which are related to rotation. ... Rifling is the means by which a firearm gyroscopically stabilizes a projectile. ... Smoothbore refers to a firearm which does not have a rifled barrel. ... The word calibre (British English) or caliber (American English) designates the interior diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod. ... M67 recoilless rifle. ... The L6 Wombat, (Weapon Of Magnesium, Batallion, Anti-Tank) was a 120 mm calibre recoilless anti-tank rifle used by the British armed forces. ... Carl Gustav recoilless rifle The Carl Gustav is the common name for the 84mm recoilless rifle anti-tank weapon from the Carl Gustav company in Sweden. ...

Where HEAT is used as the warhead for guided missiles, rifle grenades and spigot mortars, warhead size is not a limiting factor, as these are not contained within the firing weapon's barrel. A guided missile is a military rocket that can be directed in flight to change its flight path. ... A rifle grenade is a form of grenade that utilizes a rifle as a launch mechanism to increase the effective range of the grenade. ... US soldier loading a M224 60-mm mortar. ...

History

HEAT BK-14 soviet of 125 mm

The development of HEAT weapons was spurred by some Swiss inventors who exhibited a "new" weapon before the Second World War. Observers from several countries realised that the principle was not new but an application of the shaped charge. Image File history File links 125mm_BK-14m_HEAT.JPG 125mm BK-14M HEAT round from a pdf document on http://naveodtechdiv. ... Image File history File links 125mm_BK-14m_HEAT.JPG 125mm BK-14M HEAT round from a pdf document on http://naveodtechdiv. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... Sectioned HEAT round with the inner shaped charge visible A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosives energy. ...

The first HEAT warhead was a rifle grenade, the British No. 68 grenade. It was followed by more effective combinations of warhead and delivery systems in the US "Bazooka", and the British PIAT spigot mortar. Germany introduced already in summer 1940 the first HEAT round fired by a gun, the 7.5 cm Gr. 38 fired by the 7.5 cm Kw.K. of the Pz-IV and the Stug-III. In summer 1941 the first HEAT rifle-grenade for paratroopers and the improved design 7.5 cm Gr. 38 Hl/A followed. In 1942 Germany started the production of HEAT rifle-grenades for normal army units and introduced another improved design, the Gr. 38 Hl/B. In 1943 finally the Puppchen, Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck were introduced together with the design of the Gr. 38 HL/C. Rifle No. ... For other uses, see Bazooka (disambiguation). ... PIAT in Canadian War Museum The PIAT, for Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank, was one of the earlier anti-tank weapons based on a HEAT (high-explosive anti-tank) projectile. ... 4 Panzerfausts in the original casing, displayed in Helsinki Military Museum Panzerfaust. ... Panzerschreck team The Panzerschreck (German: tank terrorizer; lit. ...

The need for a large bore made HEAT rounds relatively ineffective in existing small-caliber anti-tank guns of the era. The Germans were able to capitalize on this, however, introducing a round that was placed over the end on the outside of their otherwise outdated (and basically useless) 37 mm anti-tank guns to produce a medium-range low-velocity weapon. A more convincing system was created by making a much larger tripod-mounted version of the Panzerschreck, producing the 7,5 cm Leichtgeschütz 40, what is today known as a recoilless rifle. The recoilless rifle had the range to stay easily hidden on the battlefield, was light enough to be portable by a small team, but had the performance needed to defeat any tank. M67 recoilless rifle. ...

Adaptations to existing tank guns were somewhat more difficult, although all major forces had done so by the end of the war. Since velocity has little effect on the armor-piercing capability of the round, which is defined by explosive power, HEAT rounds were particularly useful in long-range combat where the slower terminal velocities were not an issue. The Germans were again the ones to produce the most capable gun-fired HEAT rounds, using a driving band on bearings to allow it to fly unspun from their existing rifled tank guns. HEAT was particularly useful to them because it allowed the low-velocity large-bore guns used on their numerous assault guns to become useful anti-tank weapons as well. Likewise, the Germans, Italians, and Japanese had many obsolescent "infantry guns" in service (short-barreled, low-velocity artillery pieces capable of both direct and indirect fire and intended for infantry support, similar in tactical role to mortars; generally an infantry battalion had a battery of four or six). HEAT rounds for these old infantry guns made them semi-useful anti-tank guns, particularly the German 150 mm guns (the Japanese 70 mm and Italian 65 mm infantry guns also had HEAT rounds available for them by 1944 but they were not very effective). The driving band is part of an artillery shell, a band of soft metal near the middle of the shell, typically made of copper or lead. ... German StuG III with high-velocity 75 mm gun, 1943 An assault gun is a gun or howitzer mounted on a motor vehicle or armored chassis, designed for use in the direct fire role in support of infantry when attacking other infantry or fortified positions. ... US soldier loading a M224 60-mm mortar. ... Model 92 Howitzer built in 1932. ... The 65 mm mountain gun was a valuable artillery piece developed by Italy for use with its mountain and infantry units. ...

HEAT rounds caused a revolution in anti-tank warfare when they were first introduced in the later stages of World War II. A single infantryman could effectively destroy any existing tank with a handheld weapon, thereby dramatically altering the nature of mobile operations. After the war HEAT became almost universal as the primary anti-tank weapon. HEAT rounds of varying effectiveness were produced for almost all weapons from infantry weapons like rifle grenades and the M203 grenade launcher, to larger dedicated anti-tank systems like the Carl Gustav recoilless rifle. When combined with the wire-guided missile, infantry weapons were able to operate in the long-range role as well. Anti-tank missiles altered the nature of tank warfare throughout the 1960s and into the 80s, and remain an effective system today. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... A rifle grenade is a form of grenade that utilizes a rifle as a launch mechanism to increase the effective range of the grenade. ... M203 generally refers to the U.S. Militarys designation for a single shot 40 mm grenade launcher that attaches to the M16 assault rifle or the M4 Carbine. ... A grenade launcher is weapon that fires or launches a grenade to longer distances than a soldier could throw by hand. ... Carl Gustav recoilless rifle The Carl Gustav is the common name for the 84mm recoilless rifle anti-tank weapon from the Carl Gustav company in Sweden. ... A wire-guided missile is a missile guided by signals sent to it via thin wires reeled out during flight. ...

Armor developments in response to HEAT rounds

Increased size and changes to the armor of main battle tanks have reduced the usefulness of HEAT to a degree, by making the needed warhead size large enough to be no longer man portable. Today HEAT rounds are primarily used in shoulder-launched and in jeep- and helicopter-based missile systems. (Tanks mostly use the more effective APFSDS rounds) This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Jeep is an automobile marque (and registered trademark) of DaimlerChrysler. ... A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors consisting of two or more rotor blades. ... A kinetic energy penetrator, long-rod penetrator, or APFSDS (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot) is a type of ammunition which, like a bullet, does not contain explosives, but uses kinetic energy to penetrate the target. ...

The reason for the ineffectiveness of HEAT-munitions against modern main battle tanks can be attributed in part to the use of new types of armor. The jet created by the explosion of the HEAT-round must have a certain distance from the target and must not be deflected. Reactive armor attempts to defeat this with an outward directed explosion under the impact point, causing the jet to deform and so penetration power is greatly reduced. Alternatively, composite armor featuring ceramics erode the liner jet more quickly than rolled homogeneous armor steel, the then preferred material in the construction of armored fighting vehicles. This article or section should include material from Explosive reactive armour Reactive armor or explosive reactive armour (ERA), is a type of armour used primarily on tanks to lessen the damage from explosions caused from missile warheads, exploding shells, grenades, or dropped bombs. ... Composite armour is a type of armour consisting of layers of different material such as metals, plastics, ceramics or air. ... Fixed Partial Denture, or Bridge The word ceramic is derived from the Greek word κεραμικός (keramikos). ... RHA stands for Rolled Homogeneous Armour. ... An armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) is a military vehicle, equipped with protection against hostile attacks and often mounted weapons. ...

Variations

A Russian 3BK29 HEAT round

Many HEAT-missiles today have two (or more) separate warheads (known as a tandem charge) to be more effective against reactive or multilayered armor; the first, smaller warhead initiates the reactive armor, while the second (or other), larger warhead penetrates the armor below. This approach requires highly sophisticated fuzing electronics to set off the two warheads the correct time apart, and also special barriers between the warheads to stop unwanted interactions; this makes them rather more expensive to produce. Image File history File links 125mm_3BK29_HEAT.JPG 125mm 3BK29 HEAT round from a pdf document on http://naveodtechdiv. ... Image File history File links 125mm_3BK29_HEAT.JPG 125mm 3BK29 HEAT round from a pdf document on http://naveodtechdiv. ... A tandem-charge is a weapon that has two stages of detonation. ...

Some anti-armor weapons incorporate a variant on the shaped charge concept that, depending on the source, can be called a Self Forging Fragment (SFF), Explosively Formed Projectile (EFP), SElf FOrging Projectile (SEFOP), plate charge, or Misznay Schardin (MS) charge. This warhead type uses the interaction of the detonation wave(s), and to a lesser extent the propulsive effect of the detonation products, to deform a dish/plate of metal (iron, tantalum, etc) into a slug shaped projectile of low length to diameter ratio (L to D) and project this towards the target at around two kilometres per second. The SFF is relatively unaffected by first generation reactive armor, it can also travel up to, and above 1000 cone diameters (CDs) before its velocity becomes ineffective at penetrating armor due to aerodynamic drag, or hitting the target becomes a problem. The impact of a SFF normally causes a large diameter, but relatively shallow hole (in comparison to a shaped charge) of, at best, a few CDs. If the SFF perforates the armor, extensive behind armor damage (BAD), also called behind armor effect (BAE) occurs. The BAD is mainly caused by the high temperature and velocity armor and slug fragments being injected into the interior space and also overpressure (blast) caused by the impact. More modern SFF warhead versions, through the use of advanced initiation modes, can also produce rods (stretched slugs), multi-slugs and finned projectiles, and this in addition to the standard short L to D ratio projectile. The stretched slugs able to penetrate a much greater depth of armor, at some loss to BAD, multi-slugs are better at defeating light and/or area targets and the finned projectiles have greatly enhanced accuracy. The use of this warhead type is mainly restricted to lightly armored areas of MBTs (Main Battle Tanks), the top, belly and rear armored areas for example. Its use in the attack of other less heavily armored AFVs (armored fighting vehicles) and in the breaching of material targets (buildings, bunkers, bridge supports, etc), it is well suited. The newer rod projectiles may be effective against the more heavily armored areas of MBTs. Weapons using the SEFOP principle have already been used in combat; the smart submunitions in the CBU-97 cluster bomb used by the US Air Force and US Navy in the 2003 Iraq war used this principle, and the US Army is reportedly experimenting with precision-guided artillery shells under Project SADARM (Seek And Destroy ARMor). There are also various other projectile (BONUS, DM 642) and rocket submunitions (Motiv-3M, DM 642) and mines (MIFF, TMRP-6) that use SFF principle. An Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) or Self Forging Fragment is a special type of shaped charge that is designed to penetrate effectively at long standoff (distance from the charge). ... The SADARM submunition, above, with the ram air parachute deployed, below with the ring vortex parachute deployed. ...

With the effectiveness of gun-fired single charge HEAT rounds being lessened, or even negated by the increasingly sophisticated armoring techniques, a class of HEAT rounds known as high explosive anti-tank multi-purpose, or HEAT-MP, has become more popular. These are essentially HEAT rounds which are effective against older tanks and other armored vehicles, but have improved fragmentation, blast and fuzing. This gives the projectiles an overall reasonable light armor and anti-personnel/materiel effect so that they can be used in place of conventional high explosive rounds against infantry and other battlefield targets. This reduces the total number of rounds that need to be carried for different roles, which is particularly important for modern tanks like the M1 Abrams, due to the sheer size of 120 mm rounds used. The M1 tank can carry only 40 rounds for its 120 mm M256 gun - the M60A3 tank (the Abrams' predecessor), carried 63 rounds for its 105 mm M68 gun.

See also

• HESH
• KE-penetrator