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A tandem-charge or dual-charge weapon is an
BAE’s Lrod Cage Armour - Defense Industry Daily
/ref> The first stage of the weapon is typically a weak charge that either pierces the reactive armour of the target without detonating it, leaving a channel through the reactive armour so that the second warhead may pass unimpeded, or simply detonates the armour, causing the timing of the counter-explosion to fail. The second detonation from the same projectile (which defines it as a tandem charge) attacks the same location as the first detonation where the reactive armour has been compromised. Since the regular armour plating is often the only defence remaining, the main charge (second detonation) has an increased likelihood of penetrating the armour. However, tandem charges are useful only against explosive reactive armour, much less so against the
Dual charges increase the effectiveness of warheads when used against structures (such as bunkers). Because the explosion of a unitary
explosive
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
device or projectile
A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found i ...
that has two or more stages of detonation, assisting it to penetrate either reactive armour
Reactive armour is a type of vehicle armour that reacts in some way to the impact of a weapon to reduce the damage done to the vehicle being protected. It is most effective in protecting against shaped charges and specially hardened kinetic ener ...
on an armoured vehicle or strong structures.
Anti-tank
Tandem
Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction.
The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...
charges are effective against reactive armour
Reactive armour is a type of vehicle armour that reacts in some way to the impact of a weapon to reduce the damage done to the vehicle being protected. It is most effective in protecting against shaped charges and specially hardened kinetic ener ...
, which is designed to protect an armoured vehicle (mostly tanks) against anti-tank
Anti-tank warfare originated from the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the Triple Entente deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire developed the first anti-tank weapons. The first dev ...
munitions./ref> The first stage of the weapon is typically a weak charge that either pierces the reactive armour of the target without detonating it, leaving a channel through the reactive armour so that the second warhead may pass unimpeded, or simply detonates the armour, causing the timing of the counter-explosion to fail. The second detonation from the same projectile (which defines it as a tandem charge) attacks the same location as the first detonation where the reactive armour has been compromised. Since the regular armour plating is often the only defence remaining, the main charge (second detonation) has an increased likelihood of penetrating the armour. However, tandem charges are useful only against explosive reactive armour, much less so against the
non-explosive reactive armor
Non-explosive reactive armor (NxRA), also known as non-energetic reactive armor (NERA), is a type of vehicle armor used by modern main battle tanks and heavy infantry fighting vehicles. NERA advantages over the explosive reactive armor (ERA) ar ...
, since their inner liner is not explosive itself and thus not expended by the small forward warhead of tandem-charge attack. Modern explosive reactive armour such as Relikt and Malachit can defeat tandem charges.
The PG-7VR warhead for the RPG-7
The RPG-7 (russian: link=no, РПГ-7, Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт, Ruchnoy Protivotankoviy Granatomyot) is a portable, reusable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank, rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Th ...
rocket launcher and the PG-29V warhead for the more modern RPG-29
The RPG-29 "Vampir" (Russian for "vampire") is a Soviet reusable rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher. Adopted by the Soviet Army in 1989, it was the last RPG to be adopted by the Soviet military before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
T ...
rocket launcher are examples of tandem charges, but the technology is employed worldwide. Examples of missiles that use tandem charges include the BGM-71 TOW
The BGM-71 TOW ("Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided") is an American anti-tank missile. TOW replaced much smaller missiles like the SS.10 and ENTAC, offering roughly twice the effective range, a more powerful warhead, and a greatly ...
, FGM-148 Javelin
The FGM-148 Javelin, or Advanced Anti-Tank Weapon System-Medium (AAWS-M), is an American-made portable anti-tank missile system in service since 1996, and continuously upgraded. It replaced the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in US service. Its fire- ...
and the Brimstone.
Penetrating weapons
Dual charges increase the effectiveness of warheads when used against structures (such as bunkers). Because the explosion of a unitary high explosive
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An ...
charge will follow the path of least resistance, much of the explosive power of a warhead will be lost to the air surrounding the target if detonated outside the structure. This effect can be countered by using heavily constructed gravity bombs with delay fuze
In military munitions, a fuze (sometimes fuse) is the part of the device that initiates function. In some applications, such as torpedoes, a fuze may be identified by function as the exploder. The relative complexity of even the earliest fuze ...
s that penetrate the earth, concrete, etc. of the target before exploding—thus containing the explosion inside the structure and significantly increasing its effect.
Gravity bombs require aircraft to fly rather close to what may be a heavily-defended target, which poses a significant risk to the launch aircraft. Cruise missiles equipped with large tandem-charge warheads can use the first charge to create a hole into which the missile flies before exploding the second charge, creating a similar effect of the delayed gravity bomb. An example of an anti-structure tandem-charge warhead is the BROACH
The BROACH warhead is a multi-stage warhead developed by Team BROACH; BAE Systems Global Combat Systems Munitions, Thales Missile Electronics and QinetiQ. BROACH stands for ''Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented CHarge''.
Development of BROACH began ...
warhead.
See also
*High-explosive anti-tank
High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) is the effect of a shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity ...
* Shaped charge
A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to form an explosively formed penetrator (EFP) to focus the effect of the explosive's energy. Different types of shaped charges are used for various purposes such as cutting and forming metal, ini ...
References
{{Reflist Explosive weapons Ammunition