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The secret of electric armor: Why it protects soldiers from explosive hazards?
Military equipment continues to evolve as technology advances. In recent years, the development of electric armor has given us a new understanding of how to protect in modern combat. This new reactive armor technology is designed to protect warships and armored combat vehicles from armor-piercing projectiles and other attacks. This article will take a closer look at how it works and its potential advantages and disadvantages.
What is Power Armor?
Electric armor is mainly composed of two or more conductive plates separated by air gaps or insulating materials to form a high-energy capacitor. In actual operation, the electric armor will be connected to a high-voltage power supply. Once an attacking object penetrates these plates, it will close the circuit and release the energy in the capacitor, thereby effectively offsetting the effectiveness of the attack and even vaporizing or converting the attacking object into plasma.
When attacked, this technology can react quickly and provide immediate protection, significantly improving the survivability of the armor.
Advantages of electric armor
Lightweight
One of the great advantages of electric armor is its lightweight design. While traditional explosive reactive armor (ERA) can add 10 to 20 tons to a tank's weight, electric armor only needs a few tons to function, which not only reduces the tank's burden but also allows its weight and engine power to be used elsewhere. Electric armor is also suitable for other armored vehicles such as infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, which often sacrifice the protection of heavy armor for the sake of lightness.
Full coverage
Due to its lightness, the protection of the electric armor can evenly cover the entire vehicle. Traditional armor has uneven coverage due to its reshaped shape, and its weak parts often become targets of enemy pursuit. The thick armor of traditional tanks is mainly concentrated in the front, while the sides and top are relatively weak, which invisibly increases the risk of being exploited by the enemy. If electric armor is applied to the entire vehicle, it can effectively resolve these potential threats.
With electric armor, enemy forces will face a more difficult challenge, especially in asymmetric warfare.
Operational Security
Electric armor can also improve the safety of surrounding infantry and light vehicles. Compared to ERA, the design of electric armor reduces the danger of explosion fragments to surrounding personnel. ERA will produce fragments when attacked, causing casualties, but electric armor reduces this risk and is therefore more suitable for use on the battlefield.
The Challenge of Electric Armor
While electric armor offers several advantages, it also presents certain challenges. Because the technology is still in development, its effectiveness against various types of attack is not fully understood, with some sources focusing on its response to shaped charges. The mainstream protection used by today's tanks against kinetic energy penetrators has also not been resolved, which limits the effectiveness of electric armor in protecting against such attacks. In addition, vehicles equipped with electric armor need to have sufficient power supply to drive the system, which is also an aspect that must be considered.
The effectiveness of electric armor still needs to be further verified in actual combat, and its future development will be the key.
Real Cases
British electric armor
The UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory is developing an electric armor technology called "Pulse Power System". The device is made of two thin shells that are separated and injected with insulating material. The outer shell carries a huge electric charge, while the inner shell is connected to the ground. When the attacking HEAT warhead penetrates the two shells, a conductive bridge will be formed between the two, which will quickly release electrical energy and vaporize the attacked object. Initial trials in this area show promising results.
Research progress in the United States
Scientists at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory are also working on the concept of electric armor, designing a vehicle that would have a layer of strong plastic on the surface and multiple layers of material inside. In these materials, a layer of optical fiber braided together acts as a trigger. When an attack occurs and damages the optical fiber, the sensor activates the capacitor, releasing powerful electricity to drive the metal coil. The U.S. Army has tested concepts for electric armor on Bradley fighting vehicles, and these experiments pave the way for future applications.
In summary, electric armor is undoubtedly an important development in future military protection technology. Whether it can overcome current challenges and maximize its effectiveness in a real combat environment will determine the pattern of future wars. Can we expect this technology to mature and be widely used in actual combat in the near future?
