New electric armour developed for tanks

[Scott Levy <becubed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

 From http://www.washtimes.com/world/20020820-86081662.htm

    LONDON — An electric "force field" for armored vehicles that vaporizes 
anti-tank grenades and shells on impact has been developed by scientists at 
Britain's Ministry of Defense.
      The "electric armor" has been developed in an attempt to make tanks 
and other armored vehicles lighter and less vulnerable to grenade launchers 
such as those used by Taliban and al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.
      It could be fitted to the light tanks and armored personnel carriers 
(APCs) that will replace the heavy Challenger II tanks and Warrior APCs in 
one of the two British armored divisions.
      The ubiquitous RPG-7, a rocket-propelled grenade, can be picked up 
for a mere $10 in many of the world's trouble spots and is capable of 
destroying a tank and killing its crew.
      When the grenade hits the tank, its "shaped-charge" warhead fires a 
jet of hot copper into the target at about 1,000 mph. It is capable of 
penetrating more than a foot of conventional solid-steel armor.
      The new electric armor is made up of a highly charged capacitor that 
is connected to two separate metal plates on the tank's exterior. The outer 
plate, which is bulletproof and made from an unspecified alloy, is 
grounded, and the insulated inner plate is live.
      The electric armor runs off the tank's power supply. When the tank 
commander feels he is in a dangerous area, he simply switches on the 
current to the inner plate.
      When the warhead fires its jet of molten copper, it penetrates both 
the outer plate and the insulation of the inner plate. This makes a 
connection, and thousands of amps of electricity vaporize most of the 
molten copper. The rest of the copper is dispersed harmlessly against the 
vehicle's hull.
      Despite the high charge, the electrical load on the battery is no 
more than that caused by starting the engine on a cold morning.
      In a recent demonstration of the electric armor for senior army 
officers, an APC protected by the new British system survived repeated 
attacks by rocket-propelled grenades that would typically have destroyed it 
several times over.
      Many of the grenades were fired from point-blank range, but the only 
damage to the APC was cosmetic. The vehicle was driven away under its own 
power.
      Professor John Brown of the Defense Science and Technology 
Laboratory, which developed the "pulsed power system," said it was 
attracting a lot of interest from both the British Defense Ministry and the 
Pentagon.
      With the easy availability of RPG-7 rocket launchers, "it only takes 
one individual on, say, a rooftop in a village to cause major damage or 
destroy passing armored vehicles," he said.