"Kevin Brooks" wrote
"Paul Austin" wrote
"Kevin Brooks" wrote

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

Yes, I don't think anyone has done any EMI compatibility surveys yet.


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.

Since the external "capacitor" isn't where the energy is stored but
rather is a set of all-enveloping contacts, I don't think that's a
problem. The thing seems to work with a separate energy store like a
homopolar generator or internal capacitor bank.



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.

Every year when I'm faced with renewal, it's a struggle.


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.

There are_lots_of problems with this and frankly, I doubt it will ever
be fielded. If it were perfected, it would confer immunity to shaped
charge attack, leaving KE projectiles to be delt with by other armor.
The system does seem to be light though.