Vesuvius™ is the largest shaped charge produced by Alford Technologies. As Vesuvius™ is based on our smaller Krakatoa™ charge, it has been designed to be a user-filled modular charge that is supplied in kit form. All that the operator needs to add is plastic explosive, a detonator and a bit of imagination.
The main body of Vesuvius™ is approximately 160mm long and 160mm in diameter. Because of the mass of plastic explosive that is required – approximately 4kg – it is recommended that Vesuvius™ be mounted on a sturdy mini-tripod for greater accuracy when aiming at targets.
A half load explosive charge may also be used, by the use of an additional sabot, with a loss of only 25% in performance.
Apart from the projectiles (see below), no metal components are used in the construction of the charge container. This allows a greater level of confidence to the user that the threat of lethal fragments will remain low.
Vesuvius™ may be used for explosive engineering, demolition and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), in particular against buried munitions.
As this charge has similar proportions to many insurgent EFP’s, Vesuvius™ has been used to assess current and new armour protection levels in todays’ warfare.
