1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to armor piercing projectiles, and more particularly, to a reinforced long rod penetrator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Armor-penetrating long rod penetrators made of tungsten or other hard material generally tend to be brittle and fracture readily upon hitting a target armor at an oblique angle. Thus, the more oblique the attack angle, the more tendency there is to shattering of the long rod and therefore the smaller the probability of target armor penetration.
Various attempts have been made to reinforce long rod penetrator projectiles. One reinforced projectile is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,180 to Wallow et al. This penetrator projectile has a central threaded connecting bolt between a nose and the main body of the penetrator and a plurality of funnel-shaped reinforcing elements stacked on the bolt. The main body of the penetrator via the bolt, pre-stressing the funnel-shaped elements therebetween. Upon impact, the funnel-shaped elements tend to enlarge the penetration hole or channel so that the following main penetrator body is not hindered in its penetration. This design does not, however, reinforce the main penetrator body itself.
Another reinforced armor penetrating projectile is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,569 to Montier et al. This patent discloses a high density tubular penetrator body with a central through bore containing a tightly held bundle of core wires, having a greater strength than the tubular portion. THe core wires are in tight radial contact with the the tubular penetrator portion. This design is intended to strengthen the tubular penetrator body but dos not affect the performance against a target at high obliquity.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,242 to Katzmann discloses a sub-caliber penetrator having a tubular, hard brittle core fastened between two end pieces by a tie rod. This tie rod compresses the brittle penetrator between the end pieces to pre-stress the intermediate component in order to maintain penetrator integrity during initial target penetration.
One further reinforced rod penetrator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,868 to Jackson. This patent discloses a composite long rod penetrator made of depleted uranium and titanium reinforced with 45% by volume of tungsten wire filaments, having a longitudinally hardness ingredient as a result of varying the volume percent of the reinforcing filaments within the depleted uranium/titanium rod.
All of these approaches are generally complex approaches to enhancing the penetrating capability of rod shaped penetrators. In addition, none improve the high obliquity response of the penetrator. Accordingly there continues to be a need for a simple reinforcement solution for long rod penetrators to enhance penetration and performance at large oblique attack angles against armored targets.