CHIEFTAIN vs IS-4M | 120mm L15A5 APDS Simulation | Armour Piercing Developments Vol. 3

The British L15 APDS round for the Chieftain’s 120mm gun was the most powerful kinetic round NATO possessed between the mid-60’s to mid-70’s. The round featured a new tungsten alloy which eroded during penetration, drastically increasing performance against sloped armour. The general concept of an eroding penetrator is still a characteristic of all modern APFSDS projectiles. While an IS-4M would be an exceptionally unlikely target for the Chieftain to face, its 140mm of RHA @61° is almost a direct match to the ’NATO Heavy Target’, which could be penetrated at 2000 yards by L15A5. Therefore the IS-4M was chosen to calibrate the model for future simulations. The sim shows the round impacting at 59.7° (~0.3° fall 1° from terrain) It’s not common knowledge, but the L15 has higher kinetic energy than most 125mm APFSDS projectiles, with over 7MJ. However a lot of this energy is wasted due to the steel shroud and thickness of the core. IS4 armour: L15A5 des