Editing Shaped charge (section)

===Tandem warhead===
Some modern anti-tank rockets ([[RPG-27]], [[RPG-29]]) and missiles ([[BGM-71 TOW|TOW-2]], TOW-2A, [[Eryx (missile)|Eryx]], [[Euromissile HOT|HOT]], [[MILAN]]) use a [[tandem warhead]] shaped charge, consisting of two separate shaped charges, one in front of the other, typically with some distance between them. TOW-2A was the first to use tandem warheads in the mid-1980s, an aspect of the weapon which the US Army had to reveal under news media and Congressional pressure resulting from the concern that NATO antitank missiles were ineffective against Soviet tanks that were fitted with the new [[reactive armour|ERA boxes]]. The Army revealed that a 40&nbsp;mm precursor shaped-charge warhead was fitted on the tip of the TOW-2 and TOW-2A collapsible probe.<ref>Goodman A. "ARMY ANTITANK CANDIDATES PROLIFERATE" Armed Forces Journal International/December 1987, p. 23</ref> 

Usually, the front charge is somewhat smaller than the rear one, as it is intended primarily to disrupt ERA boxes or tiles. Examples of tandem warheads are US patents 7363862<ref>Jason C. Gilliam and Darin L.Kielsmeier(2008)"[http://www.google.com/patents/pdf/Multi_purpose_single_initiated_tandem_wa.pdf?id=Nt-qAAAAEBAJ&output=pdf&sig=ACfU3U0l5gTdL-TqxXkvATTpIYTVLeAg2g Multi-purpose single initiated tandem warhead]{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}"</ref> and US 5561261.<ref>Klaus Lindstadt and Manfred Klare(1996)"[http://www.google.com/patents/pdf/Tandem_warhead_with_a_secondary_projecti.pdf?id=icslAAAAEBAJ&output=pdf&sig=ACfU3U3nqrCamThCu2bvHpqBNleeq4ssfQ Tandem warhead with a secondary projectile]{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}"</ref> The US [[AGM-114 Hellfire|Hellfire]] antiarmor missile is one of the few that have accomplished the complex engineering feat of having two shaped charges of the same diameter stacked in one warhead. Recently, a Russian arms firm revealed a 125mm tank cannon round with two same diameter shaped charges one behind the other, but with the back one offset so its penetration stream will not interfere with the front shaped charge's penetration stream. The reasoning behind both the Hellfire and the Russian 125&nbsp;mm munitions having tandem same diameter warheads is not to increase penetration, but to increase the [[beyond-armour effect]].