Quote:
Originally Posted by cawest
What about an arrow? APFSDS but black powder powered.  |
Well... maybe? But I'm thinking there still would not be enough energy for the projectile to do any real damage. I can imagine it getting embedded in the armour but not actually getting all the way through and still be capable of causing damage to the internals.
When I first joined the Aussie Army Reserve, my first unit was Armoured Recce (using the M113). The entrance to the vehicle compound had a crew door (from the rear ramp) mounted to the left of the gate. It had been damaged at some point and written off so somebody decided to take it to the range and test it against the small arms we were issued.
Specifically 9x19mm, 5.56mm, 7.62x51mm but as I recall it, only the 7.62 had the energy to penetrate and that was I believe at reasonably close range (somewhere below 300m). So based on that very hazy recollection, I figure you're going to need to get that arrow up to at least 850 m/s (2,800 ft/s) muzzle velocity with at least 3,470 J (2,559 ft⋅lbf) of energy. Black powder is a low explosive, is it going to generate enough force to give any projectile those levels of velocity and energy?