"Paul Austin" wrote in message . ..
"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
om...
"Thomas Schoene" wrote in message
k.net...
"Kevin Brooks" wrote in message
om
Think of it as another system using the same
concept as current spaced armor and ceramic composites, which
also
hinge upon diffusing the jet over a larger area, a;beit one with
extremely fine tolerances for successful initiation.

As I understand it, the system actually self-initiates -- the
plasma jet
actually bridged the gap and shorts out the capacitor on impact.
No timing
mechanism required.

OK, I can see where that would complete the circuit, though now you
are left with a plate capacitor with a hole in one plate, if I am
understanding this properly--how well is it going to work a second
time? How much power is required? How are other systems to be
protected from your own protective capacitance discharge? Sorry, but
this does not sound like the most promising of developments against
the HEAT round, and I can't see how it would be that effective
against
a kinetic round, so is this another wonderful research project that
sees little opportunity of realistic fielding?

It seems far-fetched to me as well although for long rod rounds. I
went back and re-read the article and the jet "is virtually
instantaneously dispersed by the high temperatures and powerful fields
generated by a pulsed power system carried by the vehicle". A Warrior
was used as the testbed and it was subjected to multiple attacks with
no major damage.

I would imagine a significant discharge is required; do we really want
that kind of discharge going off around our nifty battle command
computer, computerized weapons sight, radios, etc.? Not to mention the
effect on the now-ubiquitous Palm Pilot found in many, if not most,
platoon leaders shirt pockets...g


As far as holes in the capacitor are concerned, an enemy may have
difficulty hitting the same spot twice. I would have said "unlikely"
except last week's AwWeek mentioned that two JASSMs hit the same spot
in rapid succession without benefit of a LASER spot. If the optical
tracker used for precision targeting for JASSM can do that, a similar
seeker can do that for ATGMs. Which also means "let reactive armor
designers beware".

Actually, I was thinking more along the line of degraded capacitor
performance due to a hole being in one of the two plates, not so much
the "in the same spot" issue.


Power apparently isn't a problem. The IDR article says that the
electrical load is "no more arduous than starting the engine on a cold
morning"

OK, makes sense.


If you're interested, the (brief) description is found in the current
IDR (September) on page 55.

I stopped getting IDR many years ago; it was good, but it was also
rather pricey.

I still can't see this being very useful against KE rounds, or for
that matter the lower caliber IFV killers like the 20, 25, and 30mm.
And how do you bleed off the capacitors if they are not used? That
would be one heck of a nasty shock awaiting the troopie who shorts it
out with his rifle muzzle or wrench.

Brooks