h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Colonel and Hoovooloo,

I have now updated the article to include a section on starshell. I hope you like it

Cestus

I don't know if they did, but I do

you've covered everything I'd thought of in reading through it. Well put together and interesting to read. I now know what they're talking about in those contempory war novels

I like it.

Many thanks for the kind words, I must confess to having never quite got over my childhood fascination with big metal things

Cestus

Nice overview article.

A minor factual correction - HESH is still in production by Royal Ordnance, for the 120mm Gun on the Challenger 2. You might also mention its dual capability - it offers an HE effect surpassing shaped charge, and therefore it can be used against soft targets.

Oh, I believe that rifled stability greatly assists the spread of the HESH warhead over the target, but interfers with the development of the shaped charge jet, therefore making HESH suitable for the rifled RO guns, rather than the Fin Stablised Rheinmetal (sp?) ones used by the US and Germany (for which HEAT is more appropriate). Indeed HEAT is not availible for the RO 120mm Guns.

The other thing you may mention is White Phosphorus. Obviously although a 'smoke' warhead it has been used in the past as a rather erm... unpleasant ... antipersonel round.

Konrad

Oh, and do flechette and canister deserve a mention - technically not warheads, I know.

Konrad

Konrad,

Thanks for the info, I had believed that HESH was essentially past its sell-by date as a technology. Update to follow......

Cestus

Cestus,

Well, as you know, at least with developed countries, APFSDS(+DU if you are risking gulf war syndrome!) dominates the gun delivered anti-armour role, particularly as modern armour types are reasonably good at defeating explosive penetration, so yeah, HESH is probably on its way out. However, according to Janes ([url removed by moderator]) it is the only explosive munition being produced for the RO 120mm gun.

Konrad

Konrad,

Cheers,

I have vague recollections of there being a HESH round for the low-pressure 76 on Scorpions, subsequently replaced with more potent HEAT, the muzzle-v not being high enough to permit APDS.

I will also add a section on WP, I am convinced that its uses are more than varied enough to justify it being listed under the title 'warhead'.

Cestus

An interesting bit of info you may wish to include (BTW I haven't read all of these postings, so I hope I am not repeating) is that during the Gulf War a reward was offered for designing a bomb that would penatrate hardened bunkers (since that was were Sadam supposedly was) and one of the submissions was a "shaped" nuke. You also may consider adding Neutron bombs...

The winner of the competition to bunker-bust was a naval gun barrel filled with explosive and dropped from a very great height. It always struck me as something of a blunt implement

I did (I think) mention neutron bombs (three stage high yield U238 devices). I'll check to make sure.

Cestus

They could have used barnes-wallis' tall boy/grand slam for bunker busting had we retained any from WWII.

Konrad

Now that was an impressive piece of hardware. five and a half tons of hardened steel bomb with a one and a half second armoured delay fuse. Serious earthquake makers.

Cestus

I have now changed the HESH entry, added WP and Napalm (how did I forget that one....).

I'm still unconvinced about flechette though

Cestus

Looking good!

However, saying HEAT 'burns' through the armour is a little inaccurate, although temperature is a factor AFAIAA it is the velocity of the jet which does the damage; thus engineering and mining shaped charges work against stone, masonry, etc even though they are not 'burnt through'.

Konrad

Looking good!

However, saying HEAT 'burns' through the armour is a little inaccurate, although temperature is a factor AFAIAA it is the velocity of the jet which does the damage; thus engineering and mining shaped charges work against stone, masonry, etc even though they are not 'burnt through'.

Konrad

I have to say that was one of the best entries I have ever read. Very comprehensive and incredibly informative. I have no doubts this will make it into the edited guide. Thanks for a good read

- Matt

Oh, and another thing I was going to suggest was reordering the mass penetrators together, and the explosive penetrators together, rather than leaping from HESH to simple AP to HEAT to modern AP.

Konrad

Konrad,

About HEAT you're right, it is somewhat misleading. Having said that, the temperature is actually the principle factor in the penetration of purely steel armours, the velocity much the greater factor in composite armours. When dealing with masonry charges the shock from the impact effectively shatters the granular components of the structure, the shaping is generally used for efficiency in terms of quantity of explosive needed and for the fact that there is much more control with precision explosions.

I will modify the entry accordingly.

As to reordering, I set the article out in that order more to illustrate the developmental sequence of the warhead types, to try and give a picture of the succession of improvements undertaken to overcome developments in armour. I will look at it again to see if there is a clearer way this could be explained.

Many thanks for your feedback, you've helped to make this a far better article

Matt,

Cheers, it's always good to feel appreciated

Cestus

Cheers mate!

Interestingly, if you handle it chronologically shaped charges could come in quite early as a technology, the Monroe effect being discovered in the 1880s.

You could also add shrapnel shells but I believe the last of them were used up in WWII, after being replaced by HE. I suppose that is too much into history.

Konrad