![]() ![]() The German Panzerschreck was lethal at close range against armored vehicles In mid-1941, Germany started the production of HEAT rifle-grenades, first issued to paratroopers and, by 1942, to the regular army units ( Gewehr-Panzergranate 40, 46 and 61), but, just as did the British, soon turned to integrated warhead-delivery systems: In 1943, the Püppchen, Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust were introduced. Detonation occurred on impact, when a striker in the tail of the grenade overcame the resistance of a creep spring and was thrown forward into a stab detonator.īy mid-1940, Germany introduced the first HEAT round to be fired by a gun, the 7.5 cm Gr.38 Hl/A, (later editions B and C) fired by the KwK.37 L/24 of the Panzer IV tank and the Stug III self-propelled gun. Simple fins gave it stability in the air and, provided the grenade hit the target at the proper angle of 90 degrees, the charge would be effective. The fuze of the grenade was armed by removing a pin in the tail which prevented the firing pin from flying forward. The design of the warhead was simple and was capable of penetrating 52 millimetres (2.0 in) of armor. This has some claim to have been the first HEAT warhead and launcher in use. 68 /AT which was first issued to the British Armed Forces in 1940. The first British HEAT weapon to be developed and issued was a rifle grenade using a 63.5 millimetres (2.50 in) cup launcher on the end of the rifle barrel the Grenade, Rifle No. ![]() Ĭlaims for priority of invention are difficult to resolve due to subsequent historic interpretations, secrecy, espionage, and international commercial interest. Concurrent development by the German inventors’ group of Cranz, Schardin, and Thomanek led to the first documented use of shaped charges in warfare, during the successful assault on the fortress of Eben Emael on. Before 1939, Mohaupt demonstrated his invention to British and French ordnance authorities. Shaped charge warheads were promoted internationally by the Swiss inventor Henry Mohaupt, who exhibited the weapon before World War II. HEAT warheads were developed during World War II, from extensive research and development into shaped charge warheads. ![]() ![]() The performance of HEAT weapons has nothing to do with thermal effects, with HEAT being simply an acronym. Thus they can be fired by lower-powered weapons that generate less recoil. The shaped charge jet armor penetration effect is purely kinetic in nature the round has no explosive or incendiary effect on the armor.Īs they rely on the kinetic energy of the shaped charge jet for their penetration performance, HEAT warheads do not have to be delivered with high velocity, as an armor-piercing round does. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity shaped charge jet this is capable of penetrating armor steel to a depth of seven or more times the diameter of the charge (charge diameters, CD). High-explosive anti-tank ( HEAT) is the effect of a shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. 1: Aerodynamic cover 2: Air-filled cavity 3: Conical liner (Often copper) 4: Detonator 5: Explosive 6: Piezo-electric trigger ![]()
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