Ablative armor
Encyclopedia
Ablative armor is armor designed to negate damage or destruction to itself from the process of ablation
. In contemporary spacecraft, ablative plating is most frequently seen as an ablative heat shield for a vehicle that must enter atmosphere from orbit, such as on nuclear warheads, or space vehicles like the Mars Pathfinder
probe. The idea is also commonly encountered in science fiction
.
Ablative armor is distinct from the concept of reactive armor, which uses a sandwich layer of explosives to disrupt the thrust of armor piercing ammunition, and is actually in common use in modern armored vehicles.
Space colonies and ships of the future will almost certainly require a type of ablative armor to withstand space radiation and heat. When traveling at higher speeds the momentum of the particles the ships will encounter will be large, and require more protection.
universe. It was introduced in the Star Trek world in the year 2371. The USS Defiant
was equipped with ablative armor in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual explains that it works in two stages: when the shields are hit by an energy or particle weapon, phaser or thermal energy from the ship is dissipated across the hull. This creates a boil-off rate that carries away most of the incoming beam's energy. Most of the time the boil-off creates a particle cloud that is dense enough to disperse the incoming beam. The USS Prometheus from Star Trek: Voyager
was also equipped with ablative hull armor.
Ablative armor is used in the series finale episode of Star Trek: Voyager
in which a future Admiral Janeway
travels back in time and brings ablative armor along with a new armament of "transphasic" torpedoes to help Voyager
bypass the Borg
threat and allow the crew to get home sooner than her past self Captain Janeway did.
The mass of the ablative armor plays a large role in how much damage it is able to absorb. Even a 10% difference in mass can mean 100% difference in the amount of damage it is able to absorb.
Regenerative ablative armor is a similar type of armor that adds power to the armor to be able to withstand more hits, it is similar to shields in the fact that it can be recharged.
, one of the title characters' specialized outfits possesses regenerating ablative armor "for use in impact-rich environments" (Vol.3, # 71).It also is used by War Machine.
DarkSpace
, ablative armor is utilized to counter projectile-based damage while making the ship more vulnerable to lasers and energy-based weapons.
time line of the Gundam
series, ablative coatings are used to minimize the effect of beam weapons, called beam resistive coating and a later improved version, Anti-beam coating.
series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, the ablative armor concept is applied in similar capacity to the anti-beam coating and laminated armor technologies utilised by mobile suits as a form of protection against beam and laser weaponry.
EVE-Online, ablative armor plating is utilized as a secondary defensive layer that protects the relatively fragile internal systems. Depending on the ship's loadout configuration, a ship can continuously repair incoming damage on the armor, fit additional armor plates to sustain large amounts of damage in the short term, or remotely repair friendly ships' armor using specialized modules. The rate at which the armor gets depleted depends on the types of damage incurred to the armor and the armor's resistance value against each particular type of damage.
Armor plating is usually considered strong against electromagnetic(EM) and thermal(TH) damage, and weak against kinetic energy penetrators
(KN) and bombardment of subatomic particles(Explosive, EX), although a few exceptions exist.
there are several variants of armor for all races referred to as ablative.
Ablation
Ablation is removal of material from the surface of an object by vaporization, chipping, or other erosive processes. This occurs in spaceflight during ascent and atmospheric reentry, glaciology, medicine, and passive fire protection.-Spaceflight:...
. In contemporary spacecraft, ablative plating is most frequently seen as an ablative heat shield for a vehicle that must enter atmosphere from orbit, such as on nuclear warheads, or space vehicles like the Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder
Mars Pathfinder was an American spacecraft that landed a base station with roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight wheeled robotic rover named Sojourner.Launched on December 4, 1996 by NASA aboard a Delta II booster a...
probe. The idea is also commonly encountered in science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
.
Ablative armor is distinct from the concept of reactive armor, which uses a sandwich layer of explosives to disrupt the thrust of armor piercing ammunition, and is actually in common use in modern armored vehicles.
Space colonies and ships of the future will almost certainly require a type of ablative armor to withstand space radiation and heat. When traveling at higher speeds the momentum of the particles the ships will encounter will be large, and require more protection.
Star Trek
Ablative armor frequently appears in the Star TrekStar Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
universe. It was introduced in the Star Trek world in the year 2371. The USS Defiant
USS Defiant
The USS Defiant is a fictional starship in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and the feature film Star Trek: First Contact...
was equipped with ablative armor in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
. The Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual explains that it works in two stages: when the shields are hit by an energy or particle weapon, phaser or thermal energy from the ship is dissipated across the hull. This creates a boil-off rate that carries away most of the incoming beam's energy. Most of the time the boil-off creates a particle cloud that is dense enough to disperse the incoming beam. The USS Prometheus from Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
was also equipped with ablative hull armor.
Ablative armor is used in the series finale episode of Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
in which a future Admiral Janeway
Kathryn Janeway
Kathryn Janeway, played by Kate Mulgrew, is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. As the captain of the Starfleet starship USS Voyager, she was the lead character on the television series Star Trek: Voyager, and later, a Starfleet admiral, as seen in the 2002 feature film Star Trek...
travels back in time and brings ablative armor along with a new armament of "transphasic" torpedoes to help Voyager
USS Voyager (Star Trek)
The fictional Intrepid-class starship USS Voyager is the primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Voyager. It is commanded by Captain Kathryn Janeway....
bypass the Borg
Borg (Star Trek)
The Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe associated with Star Trek.Whereas cybernetics are used by other races in the science fiction world to repair bodily damage and birth defects, the Borg use enforced cybernetic enhancement as a means of...
threat and allow the crew to get home sooner than her past self Captain Janeway did.
The mass of the ablative armor plays a large role in how much damage it is able to absorb. Even a 10% difference in mass can mean 100% difference in the amount of damage it is able to absorb.
Regenerative ablative armor is a similar type of armor that adds power to the armor to be able to withstand more hits, it is similar to shields in the fact that it can be recharged.
Iron Man
In the comic book series Iron ManIron Man
Iron Man is a fictional character, a superhero in the . The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby, first appearing in Tales of Suspense #39 .A billionaire playboy, industrialist and ingenious engineer,...
, one of the title characters' specialized outfits possesses regenerating ablative armor "for use in impact-rich environments" (Vol.3, # 71).It also is used by War Machine.
DarkSpace
In the online gameMassively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
DarkSpace
DarkSpace
DarkSpace is a massively multiplayer real-time strategy computer game developed by PaleStar. Released in December 2001, DarkSpace involves multiplayer spaceship combat between three player-controlled factions....
, ablative armor is utilized to counter projectile-based damage while making the ship more vulnerable to lasers and energy-based weapons.
Mobile Suit Gundam
In the Universal CenturyUniversal Century technology
Universal Century technology are technologies from the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam anime metaseries. Although they are only fictional technologies, they form the basics of the Real Robot genre of anime and is influencing real life academic research and different anime series.-...
time line of the Gundam
Gundam
The is a metaseries of anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots called "Mobile Suits" ; usually the protagonist's MS will carry the name Gundam....
series, ablative coatings are used to minimize the effect of beam weapons, called beam resistive coating and a later improved version, Anti-beam coating.
Gundam SEED
In the spinoffSpin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, the ablative armor concept is applied in similar capacity to the anti-beam coating and laminated armor technologies utilised by mobile suits as a form of protection against beam and laser weaponry.
EVE Online
In the online gameMassively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
EVE-Online, ablative armor plating is utilized as a secondary defensive layer that protects the relatively fragile internal systems. Depending on the ship's loadout configuration, a ship can continuously repair incoming damage on the armor, fit additional armor plates to sustain large amounts of damage in the short term, or remotely repair friendly ships' armor using specialized modules. The rate at which the armor gets depleted depends on the types of damage incurred to the armor and the armor's resistance value against each particular type of damage.
Armor plating is usually considered strong against electromagnetic(EM) and thermal(TH) damage, and weak against kinetic energy penetrators
Kinetic energy penetrator
A kinetic energy penetrator is a type of ammunition which, like a bullet, does not contain explosives and uses kinetic energy to penetrate the target....
(KN) and bombardment of subatomic particles(Explosive, EX), although a few exceptions exist.
Mass Effect
In the console and PC game Mass EffectMass Effect
Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows by Demiurge Studios. The Xbox 360 version was released worldwide in November 2007 published by Microsoft Game Studios...
there are several variants of armor for all races referred to as ablative.
Warhammer 40000
In the tabletop RPG Inquisitor, ablative armour may be layered on top of other armour. If the ablative armour is struck, it is destroyed (after the damage caused by the attack is reduced accordingly). Ablative armour may have additional properties such as added resistance to heat- or laser-based weaponry; if special ablative armour is destroyed, it loses those additional properties. Unlike other types of armour in-game, ablative armour is quite cheap to purchase (since it is so easily destroyed).External links
- http://www.glossary.com/reference.php?q=Ablative+armour
- http://klingonweapons.com/blog/2010/06/ablative-armor/