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On the other hand the magnets on the mines were pretty strong.
But one could also consider the fact that the magnetic mine was a sort of perfected HEAT warhead. Meaning it had the best standoff distance built into it already. So perhaps even ifthe mesh was metal and teh mine could stick it wouldn't penetrate because the disntance would be too great.
Maybe the wire panels were there just to force assorted explosives to detonate away from the armour proper ? While I don't know the details of the fuses used by the Germans' assorted HEAT rockets and the like, I would imagine they were of the impact sort and hitting a taut wire mesh ought to have set them off. And that extra 5 cm or whatever the cone had to travel before it could start melting through the tank proper just might have made the difference. Ditto for HE shells; if you want to cause real damage to a tank with those you'll want a contact detonation, right ?
At least the model in the pic Suribachi provided appears to have panels on its horizontal surfaces too - the places where grenades, satchel charges and suchlike thrown by infantrymen would most likely be exploding if I understand correctly...
Something has struck me...
The Panzerfaust was propelled pretty slowly, more like a riflegrenade than a rocket. So it wouldn't be surprising if a Panzerfaust hit this relatively elastic mesh it simply wouldn't detonate?
I think you may be right on that issues. Meshcages are frequently used by lightly armored vehicles sto decrease the danger of RPG's. Not suprisingly they are partly based on the German Panzerfaust.
In any case even in case they would explode the distance would help to mitigate the effect of the warhead..
I think you may be right on that issues. Meshcages are frequently used by lightly armored vehicles sto decrease the danger of RPG's. Not suprisingly they are partly based on the German Panzerfaust.
In any case even in case they would explode the distance would help to mitigate the effect of the warhead..
Good question if I may say ...
Did a little research and its really much more complicated than I would have expected ...
If interested suggest you check
http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/t...rting-ww2.html
and this with a somehow apparently thourough analysis.
http://www.ciar.org/ttk/mbt/news/new...angenet.dk.txt
(added link)
Very good information you have provided us Jxrc. Appearantly, I have been a victim of the wartime analysis done by American intelligence, which myth has been perpetuated all this time. I had no idea that the original tests never were done using hollow charged, or HEAT rounds. Perhaps it was the fact that the appearance of these skirts coincided with that of the Bazooka in late 1943, and was interpreted by American intelligence as a counter to this threat. The early Bazookas had a very short range and not much penetration except for a side or rear shot. American Bazooka operators were trained to go for the tracks and road wheels if such a shot was in the offing.
Perhaps the effect against some shaped charge rounds was only an accidental benefit, that decreased as these weapons were pefected. I do know that many modern tanks still use such skirting as proof against light anti tank missles and RPGs to protect their vulnerable running gear.
Appreciative,