Effects of unmanned ground vehicles on armoured vehicles by means of simulations

The war in Ukraine has shown that unmanned ground vehicles, equipped with bare- or cased charges, are being deployed to eliminate armoured vehicles. A bare charge is an anti-tank mine and the cased charge a mortar- or artillery shell. In this study the effects of the two types of charges against a specific undisclosed armoured vehicle were investigated by means of simulations. A bare charge simulation using Apollo software directly coupled with LS-DYNA software, for the response of the vehicle structure, was implemented to study the pressure effects of a bare charge mimicking an unmanned ground vehicle detonating anti-tank mines. TARget Vulnerability Assessment Code (TARVAC) simulation software was used to study the fragmentation effects of a cased charge mimicking an unmanned ground vehicle detonating a mortar- or artillery shell. These simulations provide a first estimate of the damage caused by unmanned ground vehicles detonating bare or cased charges in close-range to an armoured vehicle.
Various attack scenarios were simulated by varying the charge mass and charge type. Two distinct types of simulations were performed separately for the pressure and fragmentation aspects. The bare charge simulation focused on the structural response of the armoured vehicle caused by the pressure released from a bare charge detonation. The outcome of the bare charge simulation is that the pressure released by anti-tank mines, detonated from a location reached by unmanned ground vehicles, most definitely lead to a mobility kill and potentially inflict light injuries to the occupants. The cased charge simulation focused on the penetration capability of fragments from a cased charge detonation with special attention into whether fragments from the charge would perforate the occupant compartment of the armoured vehicle. The outcome of the cased charge simulation is that mortar- or artillery shell fragments, detonated from a location reached by unmanned ground vehicles, will perforate the occupant compartment of the undisclosed armoured vehicle which will be potentially fatal for its occupants. Based on these findings, it is advised to adapt the protection concept of armoured vehicles in order to mitigate the effects.