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For many years, homogenous rolled steel (RHA) provides the basic
most commonly used armored hull structure. High Hardness Steel Armor
(HHS) is employed primarily with light weight AFVs. Among other
materials used for lightweight protection of AFVs is the aluminum
armor, originally used with the M113 vehicles and the USMC’s
Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV). In some variants,
primarily with add-on and up-armor suits, aluminum armor is combined
with outer layers of hard steel or perforated steel (as implemented
on Israeli M-113 APCs in 1982). Other versions of lightweight
protection are the use of titanium armor, are used on Canadian
M-113. Metal plate armor provides effective defense against kinetic
energy penetration, when applied in adequate strength (effective
armor mass). The major advantages of steel, aluminum or titanium
armor are its low cost and the fact that the basic protection level
does not deteriorate even after multiple hits. However, its main
deficiencies remain their heavy weight and vulnerability to shaped
charges penetration.
To reduce the total weight of an armor protection suites, and
improving survivability against all types of threats, designers are
introducing add-on "alternatives" to part of the basic plating of
the armor suit. Add-ons versions include
Explosive Reactive Armor
(ERA) blocks, and composite elements made of ceramic-faced layer,
applied on top of the base (steel) armor. For example, a combination
of ceramic tiles with aluminum armor can be as effective as HSS at
considerably lower weight. However, a major drawback is the fact
that the ceramic material disintegrates on a projectile impact and
therefore, loses its effect when facing multiple hits. Therefore,
the most common application in ceramic armor is the use of ceramic
tiles, composed of cylindrical pellets or mosaics of small cubes,
embedded in energy absorbing matrix, which provide effective
protection against multiple hits.
Despite the high level of protection provided by composite armor, it
is effective primarily against small and medium caliber, kinetic
energy threats, but is less efficient against anti-tank weapons
using shaped charges (such as RPGs and HEAT mounting Tnti-Tank
Guided Missiles - ATGM). The most effective countermeasure against
these weapons is the modern ERA, which provides effective protection
for heavy or light armored vehicles (excluding soft-skinned
vehicles). While most modern versions of anti-tank weapons are using
tandem warheads, capable of defeating basic ERA, the new protection
modules use layered explosive as well as non-explosive reactive
armor (NERA), which are initiated in sequence, to defeat the tandem
warheads.
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