What seems to be missing from most discussions is whether the submunitions were depleted uranium (it’s pyrophoric) and tungsten (to hold the mass together during reentry until impact). Think of the damage a small DU round does entering an armored vehicle, and scale up from there.
What seems to be missing from most discussions is whether the submunitions were depleted uranium (it’s pyrophoric) and tungsten (to hold the mass together during reentry until impact). Think of the damage a small DU round does entering an armored vehicle, and scale up from there.
Spend some time comparing strengths of candidate materials at elevated temperatures, tendency to ablate/oxidize in atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. Don't limit candidates to what has been used in artillery systems, those are lower velocity applications... Look at patent la apps and research papers for nitrides, carbides, borides and inter metallic compounds/mixtures of all these too.
DU is used by USA & others for kinetic penetrators in anti armor systems because it was CHEAP and AVAILABLE, in fact a WASTE PRODUCT of cold war nuclear programs which they wanted to DISPOSE of rather than store securely forever... DU is not the BEST candidate in all (or most!) regards in THIS application and at such velocities.
Also, plenty of OTHER high density/refractory materials will very happily burn in air with high heat outputs after being smashed by impact into white hot, micron sized particles or even vapor... See here:
What seems to be missing from most discussions is whether the submunitions were depleted uranium (it’s pyrophoric) and tungsten (to hold the mass together during reentry until impact). Think of the damage a small DU round does entering an armored vehicle, and scale up from there.
@HalifaxCB
Spend some time comparing strengths of candidate materials at elevated temperatures, tendency to ablate/oxidize in atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. Don't limit candidates to what has been used in artillery systems, those are lower velocity applications... Look at patent la apps and research papers for nitrides, carbides, borides and inter metallic compounds/mixtures of all these too.
DU is used by USA & others for kinetic penetrators in anti armor systems because it was CHEAP and AVAILABLE, in fact a WASTE PRODUCT of cold war nuclear programs which they wanted to DISPOSE of rather than store securely forever... DU is not the BEST candidate in all (or most!) regards in THIS application and at such velocities.
Also, plenty of OTHER high density/refractory materials will very happily burn in air with high heat outputs after being smashed by impact into white hot, micron sized particles or even vapor... See here:
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/files.php?pid=500092&aid=63212