Читать книгу Damaging Effects of Weapons and Ammunition - Igor A. Balagansky - Страница 11

The term “weapons and ammunition” includes a wide range of different elements: from small arms ammunition and hand grenades to artillery and mortar projectiles, aircraft bombs and depth charges, missile and torpedo warheads, as well as engineering and sea mines designed to destroy enemy personnel and equipment, destroy structures and fortifications, and perform special tasks.

Damaging effect is defined as the ability of ammunition to damage a target provided that it is already close to it and all its elements have operated without failure. The effectiveness of the damaging effect of ammunition on the target and its combat effectiveness should not, therefore, be confused. Obviously, the combat effectiveness depends not only on the effectiveness of the ammunition near a target but also on the accuracy of ammunition delivery, the reliability of all its elements (the fuse in particular), the ability to withstand the enemy's defensive actions, and many other factors.

As an example, you might recall the history of thermonuclear weapons. The first thermonuclear device was exploded in the United States, yet the first thermonuclear bomb was created in the USSR. The device created in the United States had such a weight (62 tons) that it was meaningless to think about delivering it to a real target. It had a damaging effect, but its combat effectiveness was completely absent.