Explosive Reactive Armor (ERA) has been around for a while, protecting against shaped charges like RPGs. But the effectiveness of ERA is now being challenged by more advanced HEAT missiles, like Javelins. What RPGs have in common with nuclear bombs, and what active protection systems can do to combat modern anti-tank weapons, is #NotWhatYouThink #NWYT #longs Music: Rise of the Velcro - Gabriel Lewis Refined Enlightenment - Howard Harper-Barnes Cloak - Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen Before Nightfall - Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen No Stone Unturned - Brendon Moeller Blue Texas - Rockin' For Decades Otherworld - Lama House Footage: Select images/videos from Getty Images Shutterstock US Department of Defense Note: "The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement." 0:00 Anti-Tank Weapons Are ... Strange! 0:59 Short History of Tanks and Anti-Tank Weapons 1:47 How RPG-7 Improved on Bazooka and Panzerfaust 3:23 What Are Shaped Charges and How Do They Work? 5:20 The Achilles' Heel of Shaped Charges 7:06 What Are Insensitive Explosives and What is Special About Them? 8:22 What is the Explosive Lens Inside a Nuclear Weapon? 9:05 The 1966 Palomeras Accident and The Invention of Insensitive High Explosives 10:10 How Does Explosive Reactive Armor Work? 10:43 How Does Javelin Work Against Explosive Armor? 11:11 Why Active Protection Systems Are Needed 11:53 Are Tanks Obsolete?