Ballistic limit


The ballistic limit or limit velocity is the velocity required for a particular projectile to reliably penetrate a particular piece of material. In other words, a given projectile will generally not pierce a given target when the projectile velocity is lower than the ballistic limit. The term ballistic limit is used specifically in the context of armor; limit velocity is used in other contexts.
The ballistic limit equation for laminates, as derived by Reid and Wen is as follows:


where
Additionally, the ballistic limit for small-caliber into homogeneous armor by TM5-855-1 is:
where