T-34 vs Panzer III Spaced Armour | BR-350A Armour Piercing Simulation

The Panzer III was one of the most numerous German tanks of WWII, with late models featuring spaced armour. The main armour was face hardened, to shatter projectiles on impact, but capped projectiles nullified this. This was one of the reasons spaced armour was added, as the applique armour could de-cap the projectile before impacting the hardened face. In the case of some Soviet projectiles (like the BR-350A), the low hardness and blunt nose resist shattering, taking advantage of FHA's shear plugging weakness. It also features no cap, so the spaced armour is less effective than a single plate of same overall thickness. There are some interesting articles on Tank Archives where the size of the penetration hole is much larger than shown here which is likely due to poor quality/different composition armour. Another article shows german FHA cracking, but the Soviet equivalent of equal hardness didn't crack, once again showing poor armour. The armour model used here is based off my normal “good quality“ RHA but with increased hardness. Hardness of the armour and angle of the plates is from here: Amazing thumbnail art from: @TanksEncyclopediaYT