APFSDS Impact Effect

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Thanks to whoever sent me this (sorry, at this point I have huge mess in e-mails, practically impossible to find the original one).

Uglegorsk, Ukraine.

So this is what happens, when an APFSDS shell from a tank hits a metal column. You can clearly see the impact hole the fins of the projectile made (no, this was not a RPG, that would just explode upon impact, this was a subcaliber core with fins) and the massive exit hole. Note how the path of the projectile deformed within the column, so the projectile didn’t exit directly on the opposite side.

 

50 thoughts on “APFSDS Impact Effect”

  2. Honestly I think it’s impressive how the massive heat and energy makes such a clean entry hole… Glad Im not standing in it’s way

      • Balance it out with increased rate of fire maybe? You know, so the dpm would stay at the same level. Just a random idea.

        • Good idea as a whole, however i could see some problems with the mechanic being abused, as there are some occasions where i would gladly trade off damage per hit for rof and pen, (ie hitting fast moving tanks or having to deter something from occupying a corner that i may eventually need/currently scraping and/or hugging.)

          but again, fundimentally, in my opinion, a good idea.

    • If you neglect the fact that there is allways someone or something in the tank and it’s not just a empty shell.
      Just take a look at how WT GF did it with introduction of the kill cam – APCR can wreck a tank just like AP can do. That’s why it is used as common ammo type in modern MTBs when facing enemy armor.

      • I play WTGF. APCR still does damage, but it hits in a straight line.

        APCBC does tons more damage if you make it pen. The 76mm shermans are a great example of this. 2-3 hits of APCBC will kill a tank. APCR will only really do major damage if you use X-ray cam to target weakpoints. I’ve also had plenty of APCR shells “miss” and do no module damage, but that’s really due to WT’s lack of a proper shell spalling system.

        Yes, IRL any tank would be abandoned after 1 hit. But this would be boring/frustrating in a game, so I’m ok with WT’s crews staying till the last man.

        The simplified “do less damage” model would be great for WoT. APCR really needs a downside other than cost. It shouldn’t be strictly better in 99% of situations.

      • Yes, I’m aware. But the basic principle is still the same. Speedy subcaliber rod of hardened metal with no HE filler.

        • you do realize that in real life the shell can bounce around on the inside of the tank doing massive dmg without exploding right? and apcr is basicly ap with tungsten in the core, while apfsds is totally different, i mean both are kinetic rounds but developed in different situations, now you need 600mm penetration for modern tanks its not like any apcr round could pen modern armour that easy, just because the surface of the round is way to big and the energy doesnt get distributed into a small enough point with ap (mass of apfsds is alot more than of apcr too)

  4. Interesting but also kind of scary….If you miss with one of these , the houses nearby better be evacuated, because the projectile is going right through at least 3-4 of them

    • Brick wall effects an APFSDS shell for about 5% of its force. So those are plenty and plenty of soft brick walls before it comes to a hold.

  6. Metal column? It looks more like a tree to me to be honest. Did the impact make the paint chip on the whole column due to the high energy? It really makes it look like a tree if you couldn’t see the rust and the holes. :)

    And looking at the entry hole, it looks like its path was not deflected at all. It went straight through, it was simply not going through the middle of it, just a little bit to the left side.

    • Yeah, it looks like a tree bark, while in fact it is layer upon layer of old and not-fully torn-off leaflets :)

    • Arbor Stalinium
      A rare endemic wood, located only in glorious land of soviet union. Primary used in tank development. There was a picture IIRC of some Soviet tank with clear AP bounce of side log, unfortunately cant find it.

      • It isn’t.
        It’s a rusted metal pole.

        If it were wood, the exit hole would be splintered all to hell.
        Wood doesn’t deform itself like that. It bends, then breaks.

  9. “Note how the path of the projectile deformed within the column, so the projectile didn’t exit directly on the opposite side.”

    It just didn’t hit center of that pole in 90 degree angle. Rounds like that don’t deform when hitting soft light pole.

  10. Actually it can be also an rpg nade…saw in iraq few wholes made by rpg…imagine truck cabin and impact was on driver door and nade managed get out trough the other door ;-)
    srry for english is not my native

      • RPG heads can go through soft thin metal surfaces before detonating. The fins on the other hand are very flimsy and spring loaded, so they would not have the impact or durability to make holes in metal. Also, iirc, RPG heads had 4 fins.

        • But this is a rather thick metal column. If a RPG can penetrate this twice (!!!) it would not detonate on brickwalls, too.
          So i don’t think it’s an RPG…

      • fuses dont always work. in my country (Belgium) we still collect every day unexploded ordonance from both world wars.
        And yes, eaven when they hit hard objects this is possible.

        http://1.nieuwsbladcdn.be/Assets/Images_Upload/2013/05/10/31281984-b984-11e2-9c2f-d09a42cdc0c1_original.jpg?maxheight=460&maxwidth=629&format=jpg

        this is a picture of Leuven. The cityhall (building in the back right) was hit by one off the bombs during areal bombing in 1944. The diagonal line you see on the building is from a bomb wich hit, but failed to detonate, despite substantional damage to the statues and the wall.

      • That depends on the type of head you use, AT heads don’t always function like that, some aren’t event explosive, like the head that uses super heated copper-jet created off of impact that made the stupid thing dangerous in the first place. Hense the spaced Armour that is commonly used on vehicles in combat zones. The list does not show darts, which iv’e had family members encounter on the field in the military.(and yes, we know its darts or the things equivalent, as any explosive rounds would have killed anyone in the cabin in a humvee, as well as it leaves a very characteristic hole in materials.)

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPG-7#Ammunition
        (sorry for the wikipedia page, don’t have a lot of time to find better example for the argument.)

        • Referring to rpgs of the 7 variety, aside from the above, the size of the hole is rather small, even for a very diminutive grenade head.

  11. It didnt deform while going through it, it was just the camera angle. A pole like this is way too soft for the Penetrator to deform, also, the “spear” is mostly a little shorter than arm-long, that thing went through the pole in a straight line there.

  12. what nonsense am i looking at?

    The fins are only on the projectile as it is too long and thin to be spin stabilised.

    The fins would never penetrate metal like this unless the metal is very, very soft.

    I suggest this has been doctored by someone with no clue as to the make-up/design of fin projectiles.

    Oh the projectile would never “deform”. it is made up of , probable, tungsten carbide and therfore far far denser than the pole.

  14. The round didn’t change trajectory within the column. It wouldn’t.
    It did not enter the center of the entry side. It hit LEFT of center. This is why the left fin “slot” that was carved, is so lengthy – It basically cut through more of the curvature of the cylinder.

    Spacial relations, Engineering, Science. :D