On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 09:25:37 -0700, Wes Stewart
wrote:

That may be true for RPGs but other shaped charges can't be dismissed
so easily. TOW missiles use shaped-charge warheads. We (Hughes
Aircraft) learned and/or predicted that it was actually better to
start the plasma earlier, not later,

Depends on the thickness of the target. The optimum is some classified
number (about 2.1, AFAIK) times the max armour thickness. TOW is a
heavy missile intended for heavy armour. RPGs are a much lighter thing
- there's no point in giving them a long standoff, they'd just lose
the jet's cohesion.

The point of the spaced armour though is not to provide a "long"
standoff, so much as a "different" standoff from the one designed for.

--
Smert' spamionam