 Their use requires that a vehicle be fairly heavily armoured to protect itself and its crew from the exploding ERA.A further complication to the use of ERA is the inherent danger to anyone near the tank when a plate detonates, disregarding that a high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead explosion would already cause great danger to anyone near the tank.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.