Kontakt-5

Kontakt-5 is a new Russian type of explosive reactive armour.

Kontakt-5 is different from previous types of explosive reactive armour in that it is the first type which is effectively able to defeat the most modern APFSDS rounds.

Introduced on the T-80U tank in 1985, Kontakt-5 is made up of "bricks" of explosive sandwiched between two metal plates. The plates are arranged in such a way as to move sideways rapidly when the explosive detonates. This will force an incoming KE-penetrator or shaped charge jet to cut through more armour than the thickness of the plating itself, since "new" plating is constantly fed into the penetrating body. A KE-penerator will also be subjected to powerful sideways forces, which might be large enough to cut the rod into two or more pieces. This will significantly reduce the penetrating capabilities of the penetrator, since the penetrating force will be dissipated over a larger volume of armour.

The effectiveness of Kontakt-5 ERA is confirmed in the west by tests run by the German Bundeswehr and the US Army. The Germans confirmed that in tests, the K-5, mounted on older T-72 tanks, 'shattered' their 120mm DM-53 penetrators, and in the US, Jane's IDR's Pentagon correspondent Leland Ness confirmed that "When fitted to T-72 tanks, the 'heavy' ERA made them immune to the DU penetrators of M829 APFSDS, fired by the 120 mm guns of the US M1 Abrams tanks, which are among the most formidable of current tank gun projectiles." This is of course, provided that the round strikes the ERA, which only covers 60% of the frontal aspect of the T-72 series tank mounted with it; a significant disadvantage.

Kontakt-5 has been succeeded by the newer Kaktus type, which is currently only seen on prototype tanks such as Black Eagle.

External link

Additional information (http://members.rediff.com/wolf17679/k-5.html)