Inconsistent Performance of a Tandem-shaped Charge Warhead

Tandem shaped charge warhead is one of the efficient methods to defeat the explosive reactive armour (ERA) protected main battle tanks (MBT). In this concept, two shaped charges mounted in the same missile are initiated one after the other with certain time delay. First shaped charge jet would remove the ERA and the second jet would penetrate the bare armour. Both these explosive charges are mounted close to each other most of the time due to severe space constraints in the system. It is necessary to protect the second charge from the blast effects of first charge, during the time delay between the initiations of two charges. Blast effect of precursor charge on main charge is understood to have detrimental effects on the performance of warhead system.This paper presents a case study of an investigation into the inconsistent performance of a tandem warhead for a third generation antitank missile. The warhead generated a crooked jet resulting in inconsistent penetration performance. Typical crater profiles were observed when the penetration performance deteriorated. Systematic analysis was carried out and simulations were performed using Autodyn-3D to reproduce the phenomenon. Experiments were conducted using Flash X-ray which substantiated the assumptions made for simulation studies.Defence Science Journal, 2010, 60(2), pp.164-168, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.60.33