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Saturday, October 16, 2010

Yeah, Like This Name is Accidental

European missile conglomerate MDBA has announced a successful test of its, "Hard and Deeply Buried Target (HARDBUT) Next Generation Multiple Warhead System (NGMWS).

It appears to be rather different in concept from the penetrators developed by the US, which use mass, metallurgy (ES-1 Steel), and specialized geometry to achieve a target kill. Hardbut appears to rely on a tandem warhead to achieve its goals:
The firing was carried out using a representative missile airframe on the long rocket sled test track at Biscarrosse. The live Precursor Charge (PC) was detonated just in front of the massive concrete target and the inert Follow-Through Bomb (FTB) penetrated through and exited the rear face of the target, demonstrating a penetration capability significantly in excess of any warhead currently produced by MBDA. The trial was also designed to assess the robustness of the compact Ruggedized Electronic In-line Fuze (REIF) which will incorporate embedded smart fuzing algorithms. The target and trial set-up were designed to be operationally representative.
(emphasis mine)

So it appears to me that there is a (probably shaped) charge, with a penetrator that follows behind.

H/t Danger Room.

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