In message <9408251708.AA04970@vail.tivoli.com> Mike McNally writes:

Mike Duvos writes:

...

The idea is that the uranium penetrates the armor and the charge then explodes once the round is inside.

I don't know much about modern munitions, but I do know that armor piercing rounds may have no charge in them at all.

Most do. RPGs, for example, definitely do. As I recall, a shaped charge punches a tiny hole through the armor and then injects a blob or jet of liquified metal into the vehicle. It's much worse than a ricochet. The explosion occurs outside the tank, driving the jet of metal in. Armor piercing artillery rounds are called HEAT (High Explosive Anti- Tank). The name says it all. -- Jim Dixon