電気装甲

A key advantage of electric armour is its lighter weight.^[3] Whereas ERA can add 10 to 20 tons of weight to a tank in explosives, electric armour could be effective with as little as a few tons of weight,^[4][5][8] significantly reducing the load on the tank and allowing its weight capacity and engine power to be used elsewhere. In addition, electric armour could be mounted on other armoured vehicles such as infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personnel carriers^[4][6][7][8] which had sacrificed the protection of heavy armour and ERA for mobility and lightness,^[4][9] thus improving the survivability of troops onboard.

The light weight of electric armour also means that the benefits of its protection can be spread over the whole vehicle. Due to the weight of plating, conventional armour has to be uneven in its coverage, with tanks' thickest armour placed at the most exposed front, the sides less protected, and the top and rear often highly vulnerable in comparison. This fact can be exploited by an agile enemy capable of outflanking their opponents or ambushes such as those common in the asymmetric warfare of modern insurgency. Top attack weapons such as the US FGM-148 Javelin exploit this as well, using a missile which plunges from above to attack and penetrate the tank's thin top. By utilizing electric armour and applying it to the entire vehicle, these risks could be negated.^[5]

A secondary advantage is the increased safety of infantry and light vehicles operating near tanks with electric armour instead of ERA. Although ERA plates are intended only to bulge following detonation, the combined energy of the ERA explosive, coupled with the kinetic or explosive energy of the projectile, will frequently cause explosive fragmentation of the plate. The explosion of an ERA plate creates a significant amount of shrapnel, and those in the vicinity are in grave danger of fatal injury.