Explosively formed penetrator

An explosively formed penetrator (EFP), also known as an explosively formed projectile, a self-forging warhead, or a self-forging fragment, is a special type of shaped charge designed to penetrate armor effectively, from a much greater standoff range than standard shaped charges, which are more limited by standoff distance.

An EFP operates on the same principle, but its liner is designed to form a distinct projectile that will maintain its shape, permitting it to penetrate armor at greater distance.

[3] The dish-shaped liner of an EFP can generate a number of distinct projectile forms, depending on the shape of the plate and how the explosive is detonated.

[5] By contrast, a conventional shaped charge can penetrate armor up to six times its diameter in thickness, depending on its design and liner material.

Upon detonation, the liner fragments along these intersections to form up to dozens of small, generally spheroidal projectiles, producing an effect similar to that of a shotgun.

The pattern of impacts on a target can be finely controlled based on the design of the liner and the manner in which the explosive charge is detonated.

EFPs have been adopted as warheads in a number of weapon systems, including the CBU-97 and BLU-108 air bombs (with the Skeet submunition), the M303 Special Operations Forces demolition kit, the M2/M4 Selectable Lightweight Attack Munition (SLAM), the SADARM submunition, the SMArt 155 top-attack artillery round, the Low Cost Autonomous Attack System, the TOW-2B anti-tank missile, and the NASM-SR anti-ship missile.

)EFPs have been used in improvised explosive devices against armoured cars, for example[10] in the 1989 assassination of German banker Alfred Herrhausen (attributed to the Red Army Faction)[11] and by Hezbollah in the 1990s.

[19][20] In Northern Ireland, the weapon was first used in March 2014 when a PSNI Land Rover was targeted as it travelled along the Falls Road in west Belfast.