Why a Tank Shell Doesn't Actually Explode Reactive Armor — It Triggers Physics

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]The armor detonated before the shower hit. That is normal function. That is the entire point. Uh a heat round works by firing a copper jet at 8,000 m/s, fast enough that steel stops acting like steel and starts acting like a fluid.

[00:00:12]Reactive armor doesn't block that jet.

[00:00:15]It detonates first, ejecting a steel plate across the jet's path mid-flight.

[00:00:19]A disrupted jet loses up to 80% of its penetration before it ever touches the hull. ERA is single-use.

[00:00:27]Tandem warheads were built specifically for this. The first charge burns the ERA tile. The second hits the now unprotected hull a millisecond behind.

[00:00:35]>> [music] >> The armor that detonates first is not weak. It is sacrificial by design and sacrifices only useful once.