More on SF Casks & Anti-tank Missiles

[Tim <tstead@ntirs.org>]

One inexpensive way to protect the cask from a common

anti-tank round is by wrapping the cask in something

as simple as chicken coop wire.



Chicken coop wire you say? Yes. A couple feet's worth

of chicken coop wire will do the trick.



How?...do you ask...?



Many anti-tank rounds work by detonating when they

strick a surface whereupon it releases a very hot

stream of gas that melts the metal a few inches inward

and causes an explosion that way. If you make the 

round detonate a few feet OFF of the cask (as opposed

right on the cask) then that stream of gas looses it's

"fiss" long before it can reach the actual cask

surface and therefore maybe only scratches it's 

surface.



In either event, the simple chicken coop wire would

protect the cask - which is much lighter and cheaper

than some exotic IFC flak jacket.  The Israelies

learned this trick to protect their tanks long ago.



The other type of round uses DU and operates from just

shear force to wich chicken coop wire would have

little effect. How do you counter that type of round?

The cask surface is lined with low explosive material

that detonates when something hits it really hard (not

a huge detonation but just enough to distort the

incoming round and make it so that it cannot penetrate

the armor (e.g. cask). It works well with tanks -

should work well with casks also. The explosive shell

does not have enough explosive charge to cause any

damage to the cask itself - it's only purpose is to

disrupt the incoming shell's geometry.



Then the terrorist has to worry about striking the

cask PERFECTLY PERPENDICULAR so that the shell doesn't

just bounce off and go strike a nearby gasoline tanker

and do some real damage.



I think given the postulate that terrorists have a

missile and want to use it, I think we'd be lucky if

they chose a nuclear plant or fuel cask as opposed to

a target that would inflict real casualties - like say

a gasoline tanker sitting in rush hour traffic on the

golden gate bridge or the Holland tunnell or something

like that.  Would you rather terrorists target a spent

fuel cask shipment near a large city with an anti-tank

missile or a 14-story LNG tank at the port of NY or

Houston or some other similar place????



Of course, we probably will not put an explosive shell

around the cask for obvious perception probelm and I

doubt anyone will wrap them in chicken coop wire ...

they'll find a much more expensive material to do the

same job whose only benefit would be that it looks

prettier than chicken coop wire ;).



Tim





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