A new theoretical explanation of the penetration reduction for shaped charge jets beyond optimum stand-off

It is well known that there is an optimum stand-off distance for SC jets. The physical reason for the decrease of the penetration capacity for larger stand-off distances is discussed. It is suggested that this effect is due to an increased generation of elastic waves in the target when the SC jet is broken up from being a long rod to a stream of short particles. As a consequence of this reasoning the benefits of using "segmented" projectiles instead of the corresponding "parent" projectiles are claimed to be quite marginal as far as penetration depth is concerned. If the effect of segmented projectiles is measured in penetration volume instead of penetration depth, then the parent projectiles have been found to be better.