Re: More on SF Casks & Anti-tank Missiles

[Ted de Castro <tdc@XRAYTED.COM>]

WRT to protection against DU rounds ....



I did some consulting for FMC and was surprised to find that tanks are

now made of Al!!!!



For armor they use multiple layers of thick Al - like a about 2 inches -

with air space in between.



The Al doesn't cause enough friction to ignite the DU but it causes

enough deflection of the path so that it hits the next plate at a less

square angle - thus sort of "diffracting" the round.  Apparently it

works - since that is how they are building them.



Tim wrote:

> 

> 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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