Patent Publication Number: US-2022221259-A1

Title: Penetrator, use of a penetrator, and projectile

Description:
This nonprovisional application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/EP2020/074278, which was filed on Sep. 1, 2020, and which claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2019 126 604.1, which was filed in Germany on Oct. 2, 2019, and which are both herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a penetrator for a projectile with a tail assembly. The penetrator includes at least one solid main body that acts in a terminal ballistic manner for attacking an armored target, in particular a tank with reactive armor. In addition, the invention relates to a use of such a penetrator for attacking an armored target with a reactive armor module. Furthermore, the invention also relates to a projectile with a sabot and a tail assembly, wherein the projectile includes such a penetrator. 
     Description of the Background Art 
     A penetrator is a sub-caliber kinetic energy projectile that achieves its effects through kinetic energy. Such projectiles are usually fired at a target in direct fire by tanks or artillery with large-caliber guns. 
     Normal, sub-caliber penetrators are customarily used for attacking modern, reactive protection systems. One example of this type of penetrator is the DM 53/DM 63 production projectile from the Rheinmetall company. 
     Conventional penetrators are often designed in one piece as solid penetrators and have a homogeneous body. Such penetrators are known from DE 199 48 710 A1 and DE 40 28 409 A1, for example. 
     DE 40 42 344 discloses a penetrator that is formed from a multiplicity of cores that are nested in a sleeve. An energy absorbing device can be formed in the rear part of the projectile. 
     Known from the document DE 25 54 600 C1 is a kinetic energy projectile that has a hollow projectile case and a movable core arranged therein. Upon impact, the core is retarded within the projectile case and a sleeve is driven apart radially by the core in order to achieve a broad effect. 
     A penetrator is known from DE 39 33 442 A1 that has a separable tail assembly, wherein an explosive charge and a movable firing pin are provided in the interior of the projectile. 
     An active effective body that has an improved lateral effect is known from the documents WO 2004/003460 A1, which corresponds to US 2004/0069176, and from EP 1 316 774 A1, which corresponds to US 2003/0167956. The lateral effect is achieved by ignition of the active component of the effective body. 
     Moreover, a penetrator is known from EP 0 300 373 B1 that has a tracer composition in its rear. 
     A penetrator with a tail assembly screwed to the rear is known from DE 29 24 217 A1. 
     A penetrator is known from the document DE 33 39 078 A1 that is formed by two bodies connected to one another in a casing. Formed in the rear region of the penetrator is a tracer composition. 
     Moreover, penetrators are known, for example from DE 35 34 101 C1, that are composed of two projectiles, which is to say have a pre-penetrator and a following penetrator. These are connected before firing, and are intended to separate from one another in flight so that one shot causes two projectiles to strike a target in immediate succession. 
     It has become apparent that the terminal ballistic performance in the target depends not only on the geometry of the tip of the penetrator, but is also influenced by the geometry of the rear. Previous penetrators completely disregard this fact. The penetrator erodes in the target, and consequently the rear of the penetrator is very severely deformed. This deformed material from the rear region of the penetrator then has only poor terminal ballistic performance. The rear geometries of existing penetrators heretofore have not been optimized, and are intended only to accommodate a tail assembly or a tracer composition. The disadvantage is that heretofore, once the front part of the penetrator is eroded, the rear region no longer has a defined geometry. Good residual terminal ballistic performance of the rear region is therefore not predefined, but instead results more or less randomly, at best, on account of the erosion pattern of the penetrator. 
     It is a disadvantage of the known penetrators that, for this reason, they are not suitable to pierce a very heavily armored target or an armored target with reactive armor modules. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a penetrator that has improved penetrating power. 
     According to an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a penetrator for a projectile with a tail assembly is provided, wherein the penetrator comprises at least one solid main body that acts in a terminal ballistic manner for attacking an armored target, in particular a tank with reactive armor, wherein a rear region of the penetrator has, permanently connected to the main body, a hard core that acts in a terminal ballistic manner to improve the penetration effect. 
     In addition, a use of such a penetrator, or an improved penetrator as described below, for attacking an armored target with a reactive armor module is provided according to the invention. 
     Furthermore, a projectile with a sabot and a tail assembly is created according to the invention, wherein the projectile includes such a penetrator or an improved penetrator as described below. 
     This achieves the result that the outer body of the penetrator has an improved penetrating power as compared with a production penetrator, such as the applicant&#39;s DM53 or DM63, for example. 
     “Attacking an armored target” within the meaning of the invention provides for a destruction of a main target. 
     “Acting in a terminal ballistic manner” within the meaning of the invention means that a ballistic effect suitable for destroying the target is achieved by an element acting in a terminal ballistic manner. 
     The “rear region” of the penetrator within the meaning of the invention is preferably the last tenth, further preferably the last fifteenth, of the penetrator length. 
     “Permanently connected” within the meaning of the invention means that the hard core and the main body are connected to one another both during launching of the penetrator and during impact in the target. The hard core and main body are permanently connected in such a manner that the hard core and the main body act jointly in a terminal ballistic manner. 
     The hard core and the main body should not be movable relative to one another in the connected state. 
     The connection between the main body and the hard core can be made in an integral manner, such as by adhesive bonding, for example. Moreover, the connection can be made in a frictional and/or interlocking manner. One example of an integral connection is gluing. One example of an interlocking connection is a screw connection, and one example of a frictional connection is a press fit. A combination of the abovementioned variants is likewise possible. 
     The main body is designed in one piece. 
     The penetrator is preferably a penetrator for large-caliber, armor-piercing kinetic energy munitions against reactive protection systems. 
     A good piercing effect in the main target is achieved by the design according to the invention. This is accomplished by optimization of the rear region of the penetrator with regard to terminal ballistic performance. In particular, the terminal ballistic performance of armor-piercing penetrators is improved by the invention. If the front region of the penetrator is eroded upon impact with a target, the remaining (residual) penetration is accomplished by a defined geometry of the hard core in the rear. 
     Another advantage is that the solution according to the invention has no moving parts and the construction of the penetrator has comparatively little complexity. 
     Moreover, it is possible by means of the hard core to optimally match the rear region of the penetrator to the targets to be attacked. Furthermore, the material of the rear region of the main body can be matched to the target to be attacked. 
     In an improvement of the invention, provision can be made that the rear region can taper toward the rear of the penetrator compared with the main body. The rear region can be tapered in a stepped or continuous manner in this case. 
     The fact that the rear region has a defined tapering geometry achieves the result that the rear region of the penetrator can pass with no great resistance through the passage already punched in the target by the front part of the penetrator. 
     Moreover, the penetrator can be an inert penetrator. The penetrator can thus be a passive penetrator that has no explosive charge. Both the hard core and the main body are inert. 
     In an advantageous improvement, the density of the hard core can be greater than the density of the main body. This achieves the result that the hard core has an improved penetrating power compared with the main body. 
     The hard core and the penetrator can be made of a metal. 
     In implementation of the penetrator, the hard core can be made of a high-strength material, in particular a sintered tungsten/heavy metal material. 
     Furthermore, provision can be made that the hard core can be made of tungsten carbide. 
     In implementation of the penetrator, the outer body can be manufactured from tungsten heavy metal. 
     Tungsten heavy metals are defined in the ASTM B777-07 material standard, for example. 
     The hard core and the main body can be designed to be metallically or metallurgically different in this case. 
     Provision can additionally be made that the main body can be composed of a sintered tungsten heavy metal and the hard core is composed of a sintered tungsten heavy metal, wherein the tungsten heavy metal of the hard core is more strongly compacted than the tungsten heavy metal of the main body. 
     In an improvement of the penetrator, provision can be made that the mass ratio of hard core to main body is greater than 1:10, preferably is greater than 1:15. 
     In an improvement, provision can be made that the hard core tapers toward the front. This shape that tapers toward the front achieves the result that the hard core has an improved residual penetration effect. 
     In implementation, provision can further be made that the hard core can have at least one step. This achieves the result that an improved penetration effect is achieved by the front of the hard core, but the hard core nevertheless still has sufficient mass on account of its larger rear region. 
     Provision can further be made that the front of the hard core can be pointed or rounded. 
     In an improvement, provision can additionally be made that the hard core can be arranged within the main body. 
     Furthermore, provision can be made that the penetrator can be lengthened by the hard core as compared with the main body. This achieves the result that the rear region of the penetrator is formed by the hard core, thereby forming the geometry of the rear region. 
     In an advantageous implementation of the penetrator, provision can be made that the mass of the penetrator is less than 7 kg, preferably less than 6 kg. 
     In an improvement of the penetrator, provision can be made that the main body and the hard core are constituted such that they have no fragmentation effect or only a negligible fragmentation effect on impact with a target. 
     Furthermore, in an implementation of the projectile, it is also possible to design the tail assembly in such a manner that the tail assembly of the projectile increases the terminal ballistic effect of the projectile by being modified such that the penetrating power is increased. 
     Furthermore, a hard core can be arranged in the rear region instead of a tracer composition. 
     Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes, combinations, and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitive of the present invention, and wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic sectional representation of a production penetrator according to the prior art; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic sectional representation of a penetrator according to the invention in accordance with an example; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic sectional representation of a penetrator according to the invention in accordance with an example; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic sectional representation of the penetrator according to the invention in accordance with  FIGS. 2 and 3  along the line I-I; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic sectional representation of the penetrator according to the invention in accordance with  FIGS. 2 and 3  along the line II-II; 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic sectional representation of a penetrator according to the invention in accordance with a third embodiment; 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic sectional representation of a penetrator according to the invention in accordance with a fourth embodiment; 
         FIG. 8 a    is a schematic sectional representation of an example of a hard core according to the invention; 
         FIG. 8 b    is a schematic sectional representation of another example of a hard core according to the invention; and 
         FIG. 8 c    is a schematic sectional representation of another example of a hard core according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  shows a schematic sectional representation of a projectile  1  with a production penetrator, which is to say a penetrator  10 , according to the prior art. The penetrator  10  is designed to be solid. 
       FIG. 2  shows a schematic sectional representation of a projectile  1  comprising a penetrator  10  according to the invention in accordance with a first embodiment. The projectile  1  has a tail assembly  3 . The penetrator  10  has at least one main body  11  that acts in a terminal ballistic manner for attacking an armored target, in particular a tank with reactive armor. 
     A rear region  15  of the penetrator  10  has, permanently connected to the main body  11 , a hard core  13  that acts in a terminal ballistic manner to improve the penetration effect. 
     As is evident from  FIG. 2 , the hard core  13  is arranged within the main body  11 . 
     The penetrator  10  is implemented as an inert penetrator, which is to say that it has no explosive or other active agent. 
     The density of the hard core  13  is greater than the density of the main body  11 . 
     The main body  11  can be composed of a sintered tungsten heavy metal and the hard core  13  is composed of a sintered tungsten heavy metal, wherein the tungsten heavy metal of the hard core  13  is more strongly compacted than the tungsten heavy metal of the main body  11 . 
     As is evident from  FIG. 2 , the hard core  13  tapers toward the front F. 
     The front F of the hard core  13  is pointed in design. 
     In implementation, the hard core is at least partially or else entirely conical or designed as a truncated cone. 
       FIG. 3  shows a schematic sectional representation of a penetrator  10  according to the invention in accordance with a second embodiment. The second embodiment is based on the first embodiment, with only the differences from the first embodiment being discussed below. 
     In accordance with the second embodiment, the rear region  15  is designed to be tapered toward the rear of the penetrator  10  as compared with the main body  11 . Consequently, the rear part of the penetrator, which is to say the rear region  15 , is tapered as compared with an essentially cylindrical region located in front thereof. 
     In a similar manner as in the embodiment in accordance with  FIG. 2 , the hard core  13  is arranged within the main body  11 . 
     Furthermore, the hard core  13  has a tip at the front F. 
       FIG. 4  shows a schematic sectional representation of the penetrator  10  according to the invention in accordance with  FIGS. 2 and 3  along the line I-I. In this depiction, the main body  11  of the penetrator  10  is sectioned. As is evident from  FIG. 4 , the cross-section of the main body  11  is circular. It can also be a trapezoidal or a polygonal cross-section, however. 
       FIG. 5  shows a schematic sectional representation of the penetrator  10  according to the invention in accordance with  FIGS. 2 and 3  along the line II-II. In this depiction, both the main body  11  of the penetrator  10  and the hard core  15  are sectioned. 
     As stated above, the penetrator  10  has, arranged at least partially in the main body  11 , a hard core  13  that acts in a terminal ballistic manner. 
     So that the outer body  11  and the hard core  13  both act together in a terminal ballistic manner, they are connected to one another in an interlocking and/or frictional and/or integral manner. 
     The hard core  13  is made, for example, from a high-strength material, in particular a sintered tungsten/heavy metal material or a high-strength steel. 
     As is evident from  FIG. 5 , the cross-section of the hard core  13  is circular. It can also be a trapezoidal or a polygonal cross-section, however. 
     In accordance with  FIG. 6 , a schematic sectional representation of a penetrator  10  according to the invention is shown in accordance with a third embodiment. The third embodiment is based on the second embodiment, with only the differences from the second embodiment in accordance with  FIG. 3  being discussed below. 
     In accordance with the third embodiment, the penetrator  10  is lengthened by the hard core  13  as compared with the main body  11 . The hard core  13  thus forms the rear of the penetrator  10 . 
       FIG. 7  shows a schematic sectional representation of a penetrator  10  according to the invention in accordance with a fourth embodiment. The fourth embodiment is based on the first embodiment, with only the differences from the first embodiment in accordance with  FIG. 2  being discussed below. 
     In a departure from the first exemplary embodiment, the penetrator  10  is lengthened by the hard core  13  as compared with the main body  11 . The hard core  13  thus forms the rear of the  10  penetrator. 
       FIG. 8 a    shows a schematic sectional representation of an example of a hard core  13  according to the invention. The hard core  13  has a rounded front F, and tapers toward the rounded front. The hard core  13  is therefore partially cylindrical in design, wherein a rounded cone adjoins the cylindrical part. 
     In accordance with  FIG. 8 b   , a schematic sectional representation of another example of a hard core according to the invention is depicted. The front F of the hard core  13  is rounded and the hard core  13  has a step S. The hard core  13  is therefore cylindrical in sections, wherein the front rear, cylindrical part has a chamfer, and the front F of the front, cylindrical part is rounded. 
       FIG. 8 c    shows a schematic sectional representation of another example of a hard core  13  according to the invention. The front F of the hard core  13  is pointed. The hard core  13  has a step S. The hard core  13  is therefore cylindrical in sections, wherein the front rear, cylindrical part has a chamfer, and the front F of the front, cylindrical part is pointed. 
     The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to be included within the scope of the following claims.