From: Steve Grammont (islander@midmaine.com)
Date: Sun Oct 05 2003 - 12:59:35 PDT
>If you take armor plates and construct a vehicle that is shaped like a low
>pyramid, with a wide base.
Yes, this is based on sound, basic armor principles and can certainly
work if angles, armor type, and thickness are ideally suited to the
specific explosion. The South Africans built a wheeled APC that
incorporated this exact design. The vehicle is called the "Casspir
(Marks I through III)".
Unfortunately, in an urban environment there exists the option for
placing explosives off the ground and directed horizontally instead of
vertically. At least in theory. So if all the Coalition vehicles
suddenly started using this approach the enemy would just have to place
something in a 1st story window behind a light curtain.
BTW, in a few island attacks during WWII the Japanese took to putting 250
lb bombs in the ground as anti-tank mines (their aircraft were all shot
up, so why not). The resulting explosion could literally flip a Sherman
into the air. I recently saw some footage of such an attack on the
History Channel. It again underscores what a determined enemy can do and
how difficult it is to stop.
Steve
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