The simulation presents the unique 3BM26 APFSDS projectile impacting the composite turret cheek armour of the Leopard 2AV, at 2km.

The Leopard 2AV's armour array has been based on available sources, including a Polish magazine article: [ Ссылка ]
All plates have been modelled as High-Hardness Armour (HHA), ranging from 440BHN to 490BHN hardness (the 25, 30, and 35mm plates have been modelled as 440BHN hardness, with the 12mm ones being 490BHN). The NERA panels are angled at 60°, being HHA-Rubber-HHA in construction. Both NERA arrays have a 4mm rubber interlayer, with the forward NERA array having 4mm bulging plates, while the rear array has 1.5mm bulging plates. The bulging plates have been modelled as 500BHN HHA.

Documents available online show that the turret was rated at ~350mm RHAe protection across a 60° frontal arc. This was supposedly determined through trials against a monolithic tungsten alloy 105mm DM23 projectile, where the cheeks were struck near-perpendicularly. This actually gives the armour array a mass effectiveness of less than 1, as more than 350mm of steel is in the projectile's path. Being hit in the axis of the vehicle, the turret cheek is angled at 35°, providing more than 400mm RHAe protection. Its hard to approximate an exact value from the simulation, as the 3BM26 projectile behaves differently to a monolithic APFSDS projectile, as well as it's nominal penetration values being uncertain. However, in the simulation, the projectile only penetrated a LoS thickness of ~380mm of steel: [ Ссылка ]

The 3BM26 Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilised Discarding-Sabot (APFSDS) projectile entered service in 1983, featuring a unique design with a penetrating core mounted in the rear, with an air gap in front of it. This was done to avoid the issues that front-mounted cores faced, where they could be dislodged or shattered when striking oblique or spaced armour. Based on information on Tankograd (thesovietarmourblog), the core was also changed to a tungsten alloy (WHA) to increase its toughness and density over tungsten carbide (WHA would almost certainly offer better penetration against the armour array shown here). A steel follower rod is placed behind the core to increase its penetrative power. The air gap is to allow the core and follower to maintain their terminal velocity while the body decelerated during penetration. It is intended that they will only stike the armour once the body has eroded, maximising their penetration. A thin aluminium spacer has been placed in the cavity which acts to retain the core during transport and flight, but is not strong enough to impede it during penetration. The front of the projectile features a tungsten alloy penetrating cap to increase penetration and to prevent the steel body from shattering upon impact. Its quoted that 3BM26 can penetrate 420-490mm of Rolled Homogenous Armour (RHA) at 2km, at 0°.

Amazing thumbnail artwork from: mrgn [ Ссылка ]

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