tron1@tronsbox.xei.com (Kenneth Jamieson) (02/19/91)
From: tron1@tronsbox.xei.com (Kenneth Jamieson) For a game I am writing, I need a simple way to rate the power of todays kinetic energy weapons. I am hoping that the folks on sci.military will be kind enough to help, since most of this is very "real world". Also, I feel that the same folks would like to see an "accurate game" portrayed. While the game will use futuristic weapons and vehicles, as a "baseline" I want to compare them all against the machine I am most familiar with .. the M1-A1. So, the question is, what is the most useful data to have on hand about a particular weapon ? (In this case the M-1) ? In quantifiable terms.... if YOU were evaluating a weapon (this is SCI.militray ;-) ), how would you rate it ? Optimally, I should get the kinetic energy ratings for various rounds ( for APFSDS that would be MASSxVELOCITY at impact - for HEAT-MP that would be the energy of the plasma jet, speed not a factor). Then, I would have the energy resistance per mm ratings of various armor plate and so on. But that data just isn't out there. At the moment of impact, I will have the available the thickness and type of armor hit, the type of round, and I can figure out the impact velocity ... what would you say is a good way to decide it's chances to penetrate ? So, to start I want to rate the penetration chances of (for this minute) the M-1A1's Rheinmetall 120MM cannon, with both APFSDS and HEAT-MP ammunition against various armor at several ranges... the data I have shows the following for the HEAT-MP round: Avg penetration data given below shows that at there is a 50% chance that the round will penetrate that thickness of armor : Flat Steel: 455mm Sloped Steel: 369mm Rounded Steel: 292mm Reactive: 202mm Composite: 180mm No range data is given, how will range effect the performance of a HEAT-MP round (I used to drive these things, but they never taught us THIS! ;-) ) ??? How far would you say this cannon can toss one of these on target assuming a "perfect gunner" ? For APFSDS I only have penetration data, it is not broken up by armor types .. does anyone have better data ?? Here it is: 500 meters: 399mm 1000 meters: 368mm 1500 meters: 336mm 2000 meters: 305mm 3000 meters: 243mm Now, how do I figure out the penetration data at ranges not covered ?? I assume it is an exponential curve, can someone show me how to figure it out ?? Can anyone tell me what type of armor that data comes from ? Thanks! -- ========[ Xanadu Enterprises Inc. Amiga & Unix Software Development]======= = "I know how you feel, you don't know if you want to hit me or kiss me - = = --- I get a lot of that." Madonna as Breathless Mahoney (Dick Tracy) = =========== Ken Jamieson: uunet!tronsbox.xei.com!tron1 =================== = NONE of the opinions represented here are endorsed by anybody. = === The Romantic Encounters BBS 201-759-8450(PEP) / 201-759-8568(2400) ====