WHy are SABOT rounds so awesome? why

[Carbon]

especially the kinds they shoot outta tanks. I mean seriously brute force refined, its like a finest example of newtonian physics. Take a heavy metal dart, make it go fast = flawless victory.

[lopxtc]

I was never a tanker myself, my job was to take out tank and let me tell you its easier than you think :) ... but I did love all the acronym's they had for most of their rounds. My favorite ...

APFSDS-DU ...

Armor
Piercing
Fin
Stabilized
Discarding
Sabot
-
Depleated
Uranium

Now if that doesnt just sound like an absolutly killer piece of ammo :) ...

The best round was the bee-hive round though ... image basically a 105/120mm shotgun round :) ... it launched literally hundred of small metal darts from the main gun. Basically a great anti-personal round.

Aaron

[CaptaiN_JacK]

OHHHH so THAT'S what they do. I didn't know the sleeve came off like that in midair, that's sweet. It IS like a big dart! do they have explosives in the tip or anything, or what? Do they pierce tanks or what else are they used for? More info please!

[lopxtc]

"Sabot rounds work like a basic arrow. They don't have any explosive power; they penetrate armor with shear momentum. The heart of the sabot round is the penetrator -- a narrow metal rod (typically depleted uranium) with a pointed nose on one end and stabilizing fins on the other. Before the round is fired, the rear part of the penetrator is attached to a propellant case, and the front part is attached to the sabot structure. The sabot's purpose is to keep the narrow penetrator centered in the wide gun barrel.

On firing, the propellant casing remains in the chamber, and the expanding gas pushes the sabot and attached penetrator down the barrel. The sabot is attached to the penetrator with relatively flimsy plastic, so it falls away as soon as the round leaves the cannon. The heavy penetrator flies through the air at high speed toward its target tank. Because of its narrow shape, the penetrator focuses its full force into a very small area, plowing straight through heavy armor. As the penetrator enters the tank, heated fragments of metal fly off in all directions, hitting anybody and anything inside."

Quoted from http://science.howstuffworks.com/m1-tank3.htm


Aaron

OHHHH so THAT'S what they do. I didn't know the sleeve came off like that in midair, that's sweet. It IS like a big dart! do they have explosives in the tip or anything, or what? Do they pierce tanks or what else are they used for? More info please!

[kosmo]

Yeah... these things are crazy. They work by focusing a massive amount of kinetic energy in a really small spot, so its just like a needle on your skin. It goes right through. Only thing is, at the size that it is and the velocity its traveling, it creates a vacuum effect inside the tank. Theres no explosives in it or anything, it just goes through both sides of the tank, and it sucks EVERYTHING out the other side. It seems rather unsuspecting walking up to a tank thats been shot by one of those. Theres no incredible damage to it, just a little hole on one side, and a little hole on the other side only this other one is covered in blood where it sucked the crew out. And the uranium may be depleted, but when it hits something with that kind of force, theres enough energy in it that it leaves the whole tank radioactive. So you really shouldnt mess around with it.

[Carbon]

man, i cant really put into prespective one of those things goin about 1 mile a sec

[Will Wood]

I saw a specail on these things on the History Channel once, it's pretty damn cool stuff.

[CaptaiN_JacK]

Can a decent sabot round shoot through the armor of an Abram tank?

[lopxtc]

Yes, depending on area of impact and energy remaining in the round. Chobam (I believe thats how its spelled) armour is nice, but its not "bullet proof" even with reactive armor attached. The M1 and M1A1 is a great vehicle but can still be taken out by even older tanks ... hell you dont need to penetrate the armour to kill a tank. Hit it hard enough on the outside and you can still disable to crew without actually penetrating the tank. Remember in the first desert storm we lost a couple M1's to older Russian T-64 / T-72 tanks.

I used to love showing tankers how easy it was to take out their vehicle :) ... usually took them down a notch or two on the ego scale.

Aaron

Can a decent sabot round shoot through the armor of an Abram tank?

[purple]

wow, so people and tanks react similarly to flechette darts, they die!

seriously, that's cool, makes model rocktery a tad more interesting.
estes should make a rocket called sabot

purple

[Army]

There were NO tank on tank enemy kills of US armor assets in '91. Some were disabling shots, but the US tanks were all able to return fire and kill their adversary. No penetration of M1 front armor is possible with current main gun ammo of any country.

The Sabot itself is not plastic, but aluminum with a plastic weather coating.

105mm rounds can reach 4800 feet per second.

120mm rounds can reach 5400 feet per second.

There is no vacuum effect from penetration, this is a myth. The energy transfer from the penetrator to the steel of the target results in tremendous heat and spalling effects (the breaking off of metal pieces of the armor as the penetrator impacts. These pieces are white hot), which near instantly ignites everything inside the vehicle. The exploding fuels, oils, hydrualic fluid, small arms ammo, and main gun ammo creates the over-pressure situation.

[lopxtc]

Yes I stand corrected, should have clarified that the tank was not destroyed, they were m-kills and not k-kills :). Most anti-tank troops know not to engage a tank head on, at least they should if they have been trained properly.

Aaron

[bjjb99]

There is no vacuum effect from penetration, this is a myth. The energy transfer from the penetrator to the steel of the target results in tremendous heat and spalding effects (the breaking off of metal pieces of the armor as the penetrator impacts. These pieces are white hot), which near instantly ignites everything inside the vehicle. The exploding fuels, oils, hydrualic fluid, small arms ammo, and main gun ammo creates the over-pressure situation.

In addition, depleted uranium is pyrophoric, meaning it can spontaneously burst into flame when finely powdered/pulverized and then exposed to air... just a bit more stuff for the occupants to deal with, as if the bits of white hot metal and burning fuel/oil/ammunition weren't enough. I don't know whether the older tungsten rod penetrators had similar properties, but the DU ones are just plain nasty.

BJJB

[kosmo]

There is no vacuum effect from penetration, this is a myth. The energy transfer from the penetrator to the steel of the target results in tremendous heat and spalling effects (the breaking off of metal pieces of the armor as the penetrator impacts. These pieces are white hot), which near instantly ignites everything inside the vehicle. The exploding fuels, oils, hydrualic fluid, small arms ammo, and main gun ammo creates the over-pressure situation.

Myth??? I saw pictures on siprnet a couple years ago... maybe they were mislabeled though and caused by something else though.