This flexibility opens up various new applications for existing weapons, but on the downside, proximity fuses have always been relatively fragile and expensive. These days bombs, missiles, rockets, artillery and mortar shells can be set to explode at varying distances and heights depending on target, terrain and ordinance type.
Unlike similar weapons with contact fuses that actually need to hit their targets, munitions with proximity fuses are much more effective at spreading shrapnel and submunitions over large areas, which significantly increases the likelihood of damaging, destroying or killing the target or targets. They can also trigger airburst explosions over ground targets like troop formations, stationary aircraft, and vehicle clusters consisting of trucks, tanks and armored personnel carriers. Rocket With Vt fuze hunting the Target illustration Though this is an oversimplification of how VT fuses work, the efficient little devices are particularly effective against aircraft, missiles, naval vessels and other moving targets. The distance between the projectile and its target gets ever and ever smaller, until at a predetermined point the fuse triggers detonation. VT fuses are packed with lots of intricate little parts like oscillators, amplifiers and ampules, as well as pint-size transmitters and receivers that emit and register radio waves.Īs the shell approaches an object with reflecting qualities, the waves create an interference pattern that bounces back and is picked up by the receiver. Proximity fuses – or VT fuses for “variable time” – cause explosive projectiles to detonate when they get within predetermined distances from their targets.įor example, the proximity fuse in the shell of a 5-inch naval gun might be set to trigger detonation when the projectile gets within 30 yards of an enemy dive bomber. Now imagine that the device was small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, that more than 20 million were manufactured, and that despite its role in winning the war, it has largely been forgotten by all but the most ardent tech geeks and history buffs. Imagine a device so crucial to winning the Second World War that it was developed under secrecy similar to the atomic bomb and the invasion of Europe on D-Day.Ī device that brought together the most astute minds and secretive government agencies from both sides of the Atlantic, with the common aim of halting the Axis juggernaut sweeping across Europe and the Pacific.
0 kommentar(er)
