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Reactive armour
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<p>Reactive armour is a type of <a href="/facts/Vehicle_armour/vz5Js71F">vehicle armour</a> used in protecting vehicles, especially modern tanks, against <a href="/facts/Shaped_charge/bJGUyrWM">shaped charges</a> and hardened <a href="/facts/Kinetic_energy_penetrator/RHE3NJqY">kinetic energy penetrators</a>. The most common type is <i>explosive reactive armour</i> (ERA), but variants include <i>self-limiting explosive reactive armour</i> (SLERA), <i>non-energetic reactive armour</i> (NERA), <i><a href="/facts/Non-explosive_reactive_armor/CN2R2sPQ">non-explosive reactive armour</a></i> (NxRA), and electric armour. NERA and NxRA modules can withstand multiple hits, unlike ERA and SLERA. </p><p>When a shaped charge strikes the upper plate of the armour, it detonates the inner explosive, releasing blunt damage that the tank can absorb. </p><p>Reactive armour is intended to counteract anti-tank munitions that work by piercing the armour and then either killing the crew inside, disabling vital mechanical systems, or creating <a href="/facts/Spalling/4QwuMsPx">spalling</a> that disables the crew—or all three. </p><p>Reactive armour can be defeated with multiple hits in the same place, as by <a href="/facts/Tandem-charge/Ht0gov0L">tandem-charge</a> weapons, which fire two or more <a href="/facts/Shaped_charge/bJGUyrWM">shaped charges</a> in rapid succession. Without tandem charges, hitting precisely the same spot twice is much more difficult. </p>