Spacer mandrel

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A spacer mandrel (or spacer tube) is an extendable or automatically extended metal tube that serves as a spacer for an armor-piercing shaped charge .

In order for a shaped charge to develop its optimal destructive power on an armored target, it needs an ignition distance (depending on the structure) from the surface to be penetrated. This distance is guaranteed by the spacer tube that triggers the ignition.

In the case of tandem charges that are optimized against targets with reactive armor , the spacer tube contains a so-called pre-hollow charge, which is used to trigger the reactive armor of the target ahead of time and thus minimize its effect.