20mm antitank rifles with HEAT rounds?

clu2415 · 07-26-2017, 08:11 PM

The penetration of a HEAT warhead is directly related to the diameter of the warhead. If you look at the panzerfaust or RPG-7, you'll see the bulge to make room for a higher diameter.

When you fire ammunition containing explosives out of a rifled barrel, you have to design the projectile with a thick shell to stand up to the stresses of spinning induced by the rifling. Higher the muzzle velocity, the faster the spin and the more shell you have to add, which eats into your space for explosives.

When you combine an already small diameter projectile with the need to thicken the projectile walls, you end up with a very small HEAT mechanism. I suspect that the two factors combined are enough to make it impractical.

The 40mm HEDP (HEAT with extra fragmentation) can work because it's lobbed at low velocity (therefore needs minimum extra shell) and it has enough diameter to make a potent HEAT warhead.

07-26-2017, 08:11 PM	#14
clu2415 Join Date: Jun 2016	Re: 20mm antitank rifles with HEAT rounds? The penetration of a HEAT warhead is directly related to the diameter of the warhead. If you look at the panzerfaust or RPG-7, you'll see the bulge to make room for a higher diameter. When you fire ammunition containing explosives out of a rifled barrel, you have to design the projectile with a thick shell to stand up to the stresses of spinning induced by the rifling. Higher the muzzle velocity, the faster the spin and the more shell you have to add, which eats into your space for explosives. When you combine an already small diameter projectile with the need to thicken the projectile walls, you end up with a very small HEAT mechanism. I suspect that the two factors combined are enough to make it impractical. The 40mm HEDP (HEAT with extra fragmentation) can work because it's lobbed at low velocity (therefore needs minimum extra shell) and it has enough diameter to make a potent HEAT warhead.