Armor (vehicle protective)

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Armor (vehicle protective) are the protective coverings for a vehicle that may face hostile fires. While the classic protective model used for assessing tank (military) and anti-tank weapons was rolled homogeneous steel perpendicular to the trajectory of the threat, modern armor often uses specific geometries to install those protective materials, as well as making the protective covering from multiple materials.

For example, the armor of modern tanks, to the extent compatible with its mechanical operation, is sloped away from the likely trajectory of a weapon. Angled armor plate is more efficient, as a projectile hitting it may be deflected away, or at least not transfer energy as efficiently. Between materials and geometry is the use of lightweight materials arranged in front of the main armor, such as metal mesh fencing used to cause explosive antitank rounds, especially those with shaped charges to predetonate.

While the exact composition of composite armor, the principles of which were developed at the British tank research center at Chobham, modern composite armor may have layers of traditional tough steel, extrenely hard but brittle ceramic, ultradense materials such as depleted uranium, and possibly resin-impregnated fabric. Each of these materials is most effective against a particular projectile, but they reinforce one another.