Are we talking about the same Challie 2 hit that cost a poor lad his foot.
RPGs vs Leo2, RPGs vs M-2001 (how many of them to do the job)
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Could it be the reason why they replaced it was due to design flaws that made it prone to stress cracks due to terrian and/or a lucky shot that hit where there this package did not offer protection.
I am sure that this also played a role.
The penetration just made the program more urgent.
In the end I also always thought that ERA is not the best idea on such a location.
If I think about how often one bumps into the earth (sometimes with a lot of speed) with this part of the hull it is hard to imagine that the ERA bricks don't suffer from this stress.
That it wasn't the tandem warhead which rendered the ERA useless but just a malfunction/weakpoint between the bricks may also be possible. Not that a modern tandem warhead wouldn't be sufficient enough to overcome the older Challi ERA.
The penetration just made the program more urgent.
In the end I also always thought that ERA is not the best idea on such a location.
If I think about how often one bumps into the earth (sometimes with a lot of speed) with this part of the hull it is hard to imagine that the ERA bricks don't suffer from this stress.
That it wasn't the tandem warhead which rendered the ERA useless but just a malfunction/weakpoint between the bricks may also be possible. Not that a modern tandem warhead wouldn't be sufficient enough to overcome the older Challi ERA.
I really dont think any sane amount of passive armor in that particular place will make it better resistant against RPG-29. Even old ERA should have at least not worse effect on RPG-29 warhead than (relative small) addition of passive armor.
Btw, regarding wrong location - this might be true for "thin" examples of ERA. But more rugged "internal" examples have up to 20-30mm steel before ERA. I'm pretty sure that is enough to be safe with most obstacles.
This is the very reason why other countries including Russia do not place individual ERA brick systems on the front lower hull of tanks, as far as a RPG7V or RPG29 having the capability to fully penetrate this part of a Challenger 2`s armor with the type of ERA package that they were sporting at the time is pure speculation, I am leaning towards the gap between the mounting and track which may of caused this, this was one hell of a lucky hit. Plus I do not find it correct that the projectile deflected off of the ground and struck this certain MBT in the belly, not with a Tandem warhead.
@Chrom
Why is it that difficukt to think that the engineers added some passive armor to this area which is able to resist a RPG-29 or RPG-7V?
Maybe they added some passive armor which is especially designed to help against CE threats. Remember that a KE hit in this area is even more unlikely than a CE hit.
@Eckherl
While I agree that it might have been a lucky hit between two ERA bricks I also belive that a modern tandem warhead like on the RPG-29 is able to penetrate the relative old ERA of the Challi 2 in this area.
That the projectile reflected of the ground is alsod highly unlikely to me.
Why is it that difficukt to think that the engineers added some passive armor to this area which is able to resist a RPG-29 or RPG-7V?
Maybe they added some passive armor which is especially designed to help against CE threats. Remember that a KE hit in this area is even more unlikely than a CE hit.
@Eckherl
While I agree that it might have been a lucky hit between two ERA bricks I also belive that a modern tandem warhead like on the RPG-29 is able to penetrate the relative old ERA of the Challi 2 in this area.
That the projectile reflected of the ground is alsod highly unlikely to me.
Might be the case, but from outside look the dimensions of added armor doesnt look that big.
If you zoom in at the front, where they have the ERA mounted I have circled the area`s where I feel is a major concern, plus the ERA runs all the way down to the bottom of the front hull which makes it prone to terrian when the front hull comes into contact with it. Also look at the gaps between the panels, if you look at the new package on the 2nd photo you will notice that it is welded in to one fixed piece and doesn`t run all the way to the front hull bottom.
Just figured this would be the right place to mention that Russia and Jordan have together developed the new RPG-32 Hashim. It's supposed to be the new bane of heavy armor. It can fire two calibres, 72mm and 105mm, with the 105mm supposedly being able to pierce the armor of any currently existing tank.