Mega Joules on the Eastern front.

[RichardB]

For those interested in the heavy metal, I hope you'll find the following comparitive picture of interest.

• On the left is the German 12,8cm Pzgr43 (APCBC/HE) which with a total weight of around 28.35Kg and velocity of 950 m/s would carry a muzzle energy of around 12.79MJ of energy and penetrate around 210mm armour at 500yrs and 30° obliquity
• On the right is the Russian BR-471 (APHE) which with a total weight of around 25Kg and velocity of 800 m/s would carry a muzzle energy of around 8MJ of energy and penetrate around 140mm armour at 500yrs and 30° obliquity

For comparison if I assume (I've had to guess) the British Challenger 2 using CHARM has penetrating rod weight of around 10Kg and velocity of around 1600 m/s it would carry a muzzle energy of around 12.8MJ of energy which coincidentally is almost identical to that of the PJK44 in the Jagdtiger (or Pak44/80), but I have a wee inkling it significantly outperforms the old German beast..

...and finally the little 2.8 cm sPzB 41 would carry around 0.13MJ energy (Vo 1400 m/s and mass of 0.132kg - thanks StrakV)...not quite Pzgr40/42 writeups, but I hope you find interesting.

 

[strakv]

I guess, the mass of the 2,8cm applies to the complete round. The projectile itself weighs 132g

V.

 

[RichardB]

Your probably correct, I did a quick search for it.... in hindsight it does seem rather high
I'll re-edit my thread. Thank you

 

[Snufkin]

The kinetic energy at impact is of course only one part of the story. More to the point is the energy per unit area, and hence one key reason for the development of discarding sabot ammunition. A heavy metal penetrator of given energy with smaller incident area will deliver a greater force (pressure) than an equivalent energy penetrator of bigger area.





Tom.

 

[RichardB]

....not to mention losing a lot less velocity (and therefore energy) on the way to the target, due to its smaller cross section

 

[thehairbarebunch]

And having a infinitely flatter trajectory.