Will the fighter's fuel tank explode when hit?
Some war movies will have such a scene: the enemy plane is attacking at a low altitude, the protagonist seizes the opportunity and blows up the enemy's fuel tank with one shot... This kind of picture makes people blood boil.
But in real combat, the fighter's fuel tank is not so easy to blow up.
Generally speaking, two conditions are required for the explosion of a fighter's fuel tank: one is that there must be air in the fuel tank; the other is that the temperature generated by the bullet hitting the fuel tank reaches the ignition point of aviation fuel.
At present, most fighter jets use aviation fuel with an ignition point of more than 400 degrees Celsius, and it is difficult for ordinary bullets to penetrate the fuel tank to reach such a high temperature.
So, some people will ask, ordinary bullets can't, incendiary bombs should be fine, right?
Some incendiary bombs do, such as tracer rounds, incendiary armor-piercing rounds and other ammunition.
After the tracer bomb hits the target, the metal aluminum and magnesium in the bomb will react chemically, releasing a lot of heat instantly, reaching the fuel ignition point and causing the fuel tank to explode. .
However, this is only a theoretical possibility.
In fact, before the fighter takes off, it will check whether the fuel is full. When flying over the enemy, it will adjust the flight angle so as not to face the enemy as much as possible.
In this case, ground combat personnel may not even be able to find the shadow of the fuel tank, let alone burst the fuel tank.
From this point of view, whether the fighter's fuel tank will explode when it is hit is determined by multiple factors such as the full load of the fuel tank, the type of anti-air weapons and the flight attitude of the fighter.
With the rapid development of aviation technology, modern fighter fuel tanks are equipped with armored protection and automatic fire extinguishing systems.
Liu Zhiyuan Xie Yaxin