Re: [GZG] Slightly OT - Hypothetical weapon question

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RPG round weighing several pounds arriving with a velocity of 2-300 m/s
has quite a bit of kinetic energy to apply, and all of it concentrated
at
the point of the nose which is usually less than an inch across... and
once
the point breaks through, it takes far less energy to widen the hole
than it
would to create an instant several-inches wide breach.

[TomB] That's a good point too. I'm thinking about trying to force
several
inches in diameter through a hull that can take the sizable sea forces,
but
the contact point is a fair bit smaller.

>Get it off angle and it'll reflect off it does not detonate.

Don't bet too much on that. Several types of RPG rounds - I'd expect all
of
them, but don't know that for certain - are equipped with a biting edge
to
ensure that they don't glance off even if they hit at quite acute
angles...
and while those biting edges are there to increase the chances that the
round will detonate successfully, they also greatly improve the rounds'
chances of smashing through thin obstacles if they fail to detonate
properly.

[TomB] Really? I've handled several of these (RPGs) and I don't ever
recall
noticing that. I do know that we used to have our M-72 rockets bounce
off
the ground, terrain, obstacles, etc. If you got a good face on impact,
you
got the detonation, but it seemed like if you didn't get a good shot
with
the M-72 or the Carl Gustav, you could get a skipping miss. That's what
I
saw on the range, whether this is typical of today's rounds is a whole
other
story I suppose.

>[Tomb] True enough. But if I can match  your course at a distance of
15'
>in a motor launch

...you'd better pray that you are inside the round's arming distance so
it
won't detonate	(or that it is a dud, giving the same result), because
if
it does go off you'll get killed yourself when the round's rocket
booster,
fin assembly and all other parts located behind the warhead come back at
high speed and hit you in the face.

[TomB] Okay, call it 50' then Mr. Picky. At 50', I'd imagining you are
outside of a dangerous launch distance. And the 34' keelboat's side
isn't
going to be a hard target at 50', even manouvering, because your launch
is
faster and more manouverable if it is driven by anyone who knows what
they
are doing.

-- 
"Now, I go to spread happiness to the rest of the station. It is a
terrible
responsibility but I have learned to live with it."
   Londo, A Voice in the Wilderness, Part I

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like
administering medicine to the dead."  --  Thomas Paine

   Thomas Paine