Damage to armor with various types of ammunition. Tank ammunition What is better cumulative or sub-caliber projectile

Projectiles are called sub-caliber projectiles, the caliber of which is less than the caliber of the gun barrel. The idea of sub-caliber shells arose a long time ago; the main goal is to obtain the highest possible initial speed, and hence the maximum range of the projectile. Sub-caliber projectiles are designed so that specially designed light medium-caliber projectiles can be ejected from larger-caliber guns.
The projectile is supplied with a pallet, the diameter of which corresponds to the diameter of the gun. The weight of the projectile together with the pallet is much less than the regular one.
The powder charge is the same as for a regular shot of a given caliber gun. The design of the sub-caliber projectile makes it possible to obtain a significantly higher initial velocity of 1,500 - 1,800 m/s without resorting to structural changes to the gun. Under the action of centrifugal force and due to air resistance, the pallet, after leaving the bore, is separated from the projectile, which travels a much greater distance than a conventional (caliber) projectile of this gun. Significant initial speed in this case It is used to destroy such a strong barrier as the armor of a tank, when a durable projectile with high manpower (velocity at the moment of impact on the armor) is required.
The property of sub-caliber shells - a high initial speed - was used in anti-tank artillery.

Rice. 1 3.7 cm armor-piercing tracer mod. 40 (3.7 cm Pzgr. 40)

1 - core; 2 - pallet; 3 - plastic tip; 4 - ballistic tip; 5 - tracer.

Rice. 2. 75-mm armor-piercing tracer mod. 41 (75/55cm Pzgr. 41)

1 - pallet; 2 - core; 3 - screw head;
4 - ballistic tip; 5 - tracer.

Sub-caliber armor-piercing shells are of two types: arr. 40 (Fig. 1) and arr. 41 (Fig. 2). The former are applied to conventional 3.7-cm and 5-cm anti-tank guns, the latter to guns with conical bores, i.e., to the 28/20-mm heavy anti-tank gun mod. 41, and to 75/55 mm anti-tank gun PAK-41. There are shells 7.5 cm Pzgr.41(HK) with tungsten carbide core and 7.5 cm Pzgr.41 (StK) with steel core 7.5 cm Pzgr.41(W) coreless blank. In addition to armor-piercing sabots, high-explosive fragmentation sabots were also produced.
The device shells Pzgr. 40 Pzgr. 41 looks like. The projectile consists of a core -
1, a pallet - 2, a plastic ballistic tip - 3, a metal cap - 4 and a tracer - 5. In sabot armor-piercing shells there is no fuse, explosive charge and copper leading belt.
The core of the projectile is made of an alloy of high hardness and brittleness.
The pallet is made of mild steel.
The ballistic tip, which gives the projectile a streamlined shape, is made of plastic and covered with a metal cap made of an alloy of magnesium and aluminum.

The main difference between shells arr. 40 from shells mod. 41 lies in the design of the pallet. Pallets of shells arr. 40 (Fig. 1) to conventional anti-tank guns (3.7 cm and 5.0 cm with cylindrical barrels) consist of a body with 2 centering annular protrusions. The upper ledge plays the role of a leading belt, the lower one is a centering thickening.

7.5cm Pzgr.41

2.8cm sPzB-41

3.7cm Pzgr. 40

When the projectile is fired and moves along the channel near the barrel, the upper ledge of the pallet, which has a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the gun, cuts along the fields, crashing into the rifling of the gun, gives the projectile a rotational
motion. The lower protrusion of the pallet, which has a diameter of the bore, centers the projectile in the bore, i.e., prevents it from skewing.
Pallets of shells arr. 41 (see fig. 2) to systems with tapered bores consist of a body with 2 tapered centering annular lugs. The diameters of the protrusions are equal to the larger diameter
barrel channel (near the breech). The cylindrical part of the pallet is equal to the smaller diameter of the bore (near the muzzle). When the projectile moves along the tapered barrel, both protrusions are compressed and cut into the rifling, while ensuring the rotational movement of the projectile in flight.

Weight of projectiles mod. 40 and arr. 41 is significantly less than the weight of conventional armor-piercing shells of the corresponding calibers. Combat (powder) charge is used the same as for conventional shells. As a result, shells arr. 40 and 41 have significantly higher initial velocities than conventional armor-piercing shells. This provides an increase in armor-piercing action. However, the ballistically unfavorable shape of the projectile contributes to a rapid loss of speed in flight, and therefore the firing of such projectiles at distances exceeding 400-500 m is not very effective.
The effect of projectiles on an obstacle (armor) is the same for both types.
When a projectile hits an obstacle, the ballistic tip and pallet are destroyed,
and the core, having a high speed, as a whole pierces the armor. Having met the second obstacle in the tank - the opposite wall, the core, which already has a low speed, due to
of its fragility, it breaks into pieces and hits the tank crew with its fragments and fragments from the tank's armor. The armor-piercing ability of these shells is much higher than conventional armor-piercing shells and is characterized by the data given in the table.

7.5 cm Pzgr.41W and7.5 cm Pzgr.41 (StK):

What affects tanks besides grenade launchers and anti-tank systems? How does armor-piercing ammunition work? In this article, we will talk about armor-piercing ammunition. The article, which will be of interest to both dummies and those who understand the topic, was prepared by a member of our team, Eldar Akhundov, who pleases us once again interesting reviews on the subject of armaments.

History

Armor-piercing shells are designed to hit targets protected by armor, as their name implies. They first began to be widely used in naval battles in the second half of the 19th century with the advent of ships protected by metal armor. The action of simple high-explosive fragmentation projectiles on armored targets was not enough due to the fact that during the explosion of the projectile, the energy of the explosion is not concentrated in any one direction, but is dissipated into the surrounding space. Only part shock wave affects the armor of the object trying to break through / bend it. As a result, the pressure created by the shock wave is not enough to penetrate thick armor, but some deflection is possible. With the thickening of the armor and the strengthening of the design of armored vehicles, it was necessary to increase the amount of explosives in the projectile by increasing its size (caliber, etc.) or developing new substances, which would be costly and inconvenient. By the way, this applies not only to ships, but also to land armored vehicles.

Initially, the first tanks during the First World War could be fought with high-explosive fragmentation shells, since the tanks had bulletproof thin armor only 10-20 mm thick, which was also connected with rivets, since at that time (early 20th century) welding technology solid armored hulls of tanks and armored vehicles has not yet been worked out. It was enough 3 - 4 kg of explosives with a direct hit to put such a tank out of action. In this case, the shock wave simply tore or pressed the thin armor inside the vehicle, which led to damage to equipment or the death of the crew.

An armor-piercing projectile is a kinetic means of hitting a target - that is, it ensures defeat due to the energy of the impact of the projectile, and not the explosion. In armor-piercing projectiles, energy is actually concentrated at its tip, where a sufficiently large pressure is created on a small area of the surface, and the load significantly exceeds the tensile strength of the armor material. As a result, this leads to the introduction of the projectile into the armor and its penetration. Kinetic munitions were the first mass-produced anti-tank weapon that was commercially used in various wars. The impact energy of the projectile depends on the mass and its speed at the moment of contact with the target. The mechanical strength, the density of the material of an armor-piercing projectile are also critical factors on which its effectiveness depends. For many years of wars have been developed different types armor-piercing shells that differ in design and for more than a hundred years there has been a constant improvement of both shells and the armor of tanks and armored vehicles.

The first armor-piercing projectiles were an all-steel solid projectile (blank) that pierced armor with an impact force (approximately equal to the caliber of the projectile in thickness)

Then the design began to get more complicated and for a long time the following scheme became popular: a rod / core made of hard hardened alloy steel covered in a shell of soft metal (lead or mild steel), or light alloy. The soft shell was needed to reduce wear on the gun barrel, and also because it was not practical to make the entire projectile from hardened alloy steel. The soft shell was crushed when hitting an inclined barrier, thereby preventing the projectile from ricocheting / slipping on the armor. The shell can also serve as a fairing at the same time (depending on the shape) that reduces air resistance during the flight of the projectile.

Another design of the projectile involves the absence of a shell and only the presence of a special soft metal cap as a projectile tip for aerodynamics and to prevent ricochet when hitting sloped armor.

The device of sub-caliber armor-piercing shells

The projectile is called sub-caliber because the caliber (diameter) of its combat / armor-piercing part is 3 less than the caliber of the gun (a - coil, b - streamlined). 1 - ballistic tip, 2 - pallet, 3 - armor-piercing core / armor-piercing part, 4 - tracer, 5 - plastic tip.

The projectile has rings around it made of soft metal, which are called leading belts. They serve to center the projectile in the barrel and obturate the barrel. Obturation is the sealing of the barrel bore when a gun (or a weapon in general) is fired, which prevents the breakthrough of powder gases (accelerating the projectile) into the gap between the projectile itself and the barrel. Thus, the energy of the powder gases is not lost and is transferred to the projectile to the maximum possible extent.

Left- the dependence of the thickness of the armored barrier on its angle of inclination. A plate of thickness B1 inclined at some angle, a has the same resistance as a thicker plate of thickness B2 at right angles to the movement of the projectile. It can be seen that the path that the projectile must pierce increases with the increase in the slope of the armor.

On right- blunt projectiles A and B at the time of contact with sloping armor. Below - a sharp-headed arrow-shaped projectile. Due to the special shape of projectile B, its good engagement (biting) on sloping armor is visible, which prevents ricochet. Pointed Projectile less prone to ricochet due to its sharp shape and very high contact pressure when hitting armor.

The damaging factors when such projectiles hit the target are fragments and fragments of armor flying at high speed from its inner side, as well as the flying projectile itself or its parts. Particularly affected equipment located on the trajectory of breaking through the armor. In addition, due to the high temperature of the projectile and its fragments, as well as the presence inside the tank or armored vehicle a large number flammable objects and materials, the risk of fire is very high. The image below shows how this happens:

A relatively soft projectile body is visible, crushed during impact and a hard-alloy core that penetrates armor. On the right, a stream of high-velocity fragments is visible from the inside of the armor as one of the main damaging factors. In all modern tanks, there is a tendency for the most dense placement of internal equipment and crew to reduce the size and weight of tanks. back side of this medal is that if the armor is penetrated, it is almost guaranteed that some important equipment will be damaged or a crew member will be injured. And even if the tank is not destroyed, it usually becomes incapacitated. On modern tanks and armored vehicles, a non-combustible anti-fragmentation lining is installed on the inside of the armor. As a rule, this is a material based on Kevlar or other high-strength materials. Although it does not protect against the core of the projectile itself, it retains some of the armor fragments, thereby reducing the damage done and increasing the survivability of the vehicle and crew.

Above, on the example of an armored vehicle, one can see the armored effect of the projectile and fragments with and without the lining installed. On the left, fragments and the shell itself that pierced the armor are visible. On the right, the installed lining delays most armor fragments (but not the projectile itself), thereby reducing damage.

An even more effective type of shells are chamber shells. Chamber armor-piercing projectiles are distinguished by the presence of a chamber (cavity) inside the projectile filled with explosives and a delayed detonator. After penetrating the armor, the projectile explodes inside the object, thereby significantly increasing the damage dealt by fragments and a shock wave in a closed volume. In fact, this is an armor-piercing landmine.

One of the simple examples of a chamber projectile scheme

1 - soft ballistic shell, 2 - armor-piercing steel, 3 - explosive charge, 4 - bottom detonator, working with slowdown, 5 - front and rear leading belts (shoulders).

Chamber shells are not used today as anti-tank shells, since their design is weakened by an internal cavity with explosives and is not designed to penetrate thick armor, that is, a shell tank caliber(105 - 125 mm) will simply collapse in a collision with modern frontal tank armor (equivalent to 400 - 600 mm of armor and above). Such shells were widely used during the Second World War, since their caliber was comparable to the thickness of the armor of some tanks of that time. In naval battles of the past, chamber shells were used from a large caliber of 203 mm to a monstrous 460 mm (the battleship of the Yamato series), which could well penetrate thick ship steel armor comparable in thickness to their caliber (300 - 500 mm), or a layer of reinforced concrete and stone several meters.

Modern armor-piercing ammunition

Despite the fact that various types of anti-tank missiles were developed after the Second World War, armor-piercing ammunition remains one of the main anti-tank weapons. Despite the indisputable advantages of missiles (mobility, accuracy, homing capabilities, etc.), armor-piercing shells also have their advantages.

Their main advantage lies in the simplicity of design and, accordingly, production, which affects the lower price of the product.

In addition, an armor-piercing projectile, unlike an anti-tank missile, has a very high approach speed to the target (from 1600 m / s and above), it is impossible to “leave” it by maneuvering in time or hiding in a shelter (in a certain sense, when launching a rocket, such there is a possibility). In addition, an anti-tank projectile does not require the need to keep the target on sight, like many, though not all, ATGMs.

It is also impossible to create radio-electronic interference against an armor-piercing projectile due to the fact that it simply does not contain any electronic devices. In the case of anti-tank missiles, this is possible; such complexes as Shtora, Afghanit or Zaslon * are created specifically for this.

A modern armor-piercing projectile widely used in most countries of the world is actually a long rod made of a high-strength metal (tungsten or depleted uranium) or composite (tungsten carbide) alloy and rushing to the target at a speed of 1500 to 1800 m / s and higher. The rod at the end has stabilizers called plumage. The projectile is abbreviated as BOPS (Armor Piercing Feathered Sub-caliber Projectile). You can also just call it BPS (Armor Piercing Sub-caliber Projectile).

Almost all modern armor-piercing ammunition shells have the so-called. "Plumage" - tail flight stabilizers. The reason for the appearance of feathered shells lies in the fact that the shells of the old scheme described above after the Second World War exhausted their potential. It was necessary to lengthen the shells for greater efficiency, but they lost their stability when big length. One of the reasons for the loss of stability was their rotation in flight (since most of the guns were rifling and imparted rotational motion to the projectiles). The strength of the materials of that time did not allow the creation of long projectiles with sufficient strength to penetrate thick composite (puff) armor. The projectile was easier to stabilize not by rotation, but by plumage. An important role in the appearance of plumage was also played by the appearance of smooth-bore guns, the shells of which could be accelerated to higher speeds than when using rifled guns, and the problem of stabilization in which began to be solved with the help of plumage (we will touch on the topic of rifled and smooth-bore guns in the next material).

Materials play a particularly important role in armor-piercing shells. Tungsten carbide** (composite material) has a density of 15.77 g/cm3, which is almost twice that of steel. It has great hardness, wear resistance and melting point (about 2900 C). IN Lately heavier alloys based on tungsten and uranium have become especially widespread. Tungsten or depleted uranium has a very high density, which is almost 2.5 times higher than that of steel (19.25 and 19.1 g/cm3 versus 7.8 g/cm3 for steel) and, accordingly, greater mass and kinetic energy while maintaining minimum dimensions. Also, their mechanical strength (especially in bending) is higher than that of composite tungsten carbide. Thanks to these qualities, it is possible to concentrate more energy in a smaller volume of the projectile, that is, to increase the density of its kinetic energy. Also, these alloys have tremendous strength and hardness compared to even the strongest existing armor or specialty steels.

The projectile is called sub-caliber because the caliber (diameter) of its combat / armor-piercing part is less than the caliber of the gun. Typically, the diameter of such a core is 20 - 36 mm. Recently, projectile developers have been trying to reduce the diameter of the core and increase its length, if possible, maintain or increase mass, reduce drag during flight and, as a result, increase contact pressure at the point of impact with armor.

Uranium ammunition has 10 - 15% greater penetration with the same dimensions due to an interesting feature of the alloy called self-sharpening. The scientific term for this process is "ablative self-sharpening". As a tungsten projectile passes through the armor, its tip is deformed and flattened due to the enormous drag. When flattened, its contact area increases, which further increases the resistance to movement and, as a result, penetration suffers. When a uranium projectile passes through the armor at speeds greater than 1600 m/sec, its tip does not deform or flatten, but simply breaks down parallel to the movement of the projectile, that is, it peels off in parts and thus the rod always remains sharp.

In addition to the already listed damaging factors of armor-piercing projectiles, modern BPSs have a high incendiary ability when penetrating armor. This ability is called pyrophoricity - that is, self-ignition of projectile particles after breaking through armor ***.

125 mm BOPS BM-42 "Mango"

The design is a tungsten alloy core in a steel shell. Visible stabilizers at the end of the projectile (empennage). The white circle around the stem is the obturator. On the right, the BPS is equipped (drowned) inside the powder charge and in this form is delivered in tank forces. On the left is the second powder charge with a fuse and a metal pan. As you can see, the whole shot is divided into two parts, and only in this form it is placed in the automatic loader of tanks of the USSR / RF (T-64, 72, 80, 90). That is, first the loading mechanism sends the BPS with the first charge, and then the second charge.

The photo below shows parts of the obturator at the moment of separation from the rod in flight. A burning tracer is visible at the bottom of the rod.

Interesting Facts

*The Russian Shtora system was designed to protect tanks from anti-tank guided missiles. The system determines that a laser beam is aimed at the tank, determines the direction of the laser source, and sends a signal to the crew. The crew can maneuver or hide the car in a shelter. The system is also connected to a smoke rocket launcher that creates a cloud that reflects optical and laser radiation, thereby knocking the ATGM missile off the target. There is also an interaction of "Curtains" with searchlights - emitters that can interfere with the device of an anti-tank missile when they are directed at it. The effectiveness of the Shtora system against various latest-generation ATGMs is still in question. There are controversial opinions on this matter, but, as they say, its presence is better than its complete absence. The last Russian tank "Armata" has a different system - the so-called. system of complex active protection "Afganit", which, according to the developers, is capable of intercepting not only anti-tank missiles, but also armor-piercing shells flying at speeds up to 1700 m/s (in the future it is planned to increase this figure to 2000 m/s). In turn, the Ukrainian development "Barrier" operates on the principle of detonating ammunition on the side of an attacking projectile (rocket) and giving it a powerful impulse in the form of a shock wave and fragments. Thus, the projectile or missile deviates from the originally given trajectory, and is destroyed before meeting the target (or rather, its target). Judging by technical specifications, the most efficient this system maybe against RPGs and ATGMs.

**Tungsten carbide is used not only for the manufacture of shells, but also for the manufacture of heavy-duty tools for working with extra hard steels and alloys. For example, an alloy called "Pobedit" (from the word "Victory") was developed in the USSR in 1929. It is a solid homogeneous mixture/alloy of tungsten carbide and cobalt in a ratio of 90:10. Products are obtained by powder metallurgy. Powder metallurgy is the process of obtaining metal powders and manufacturing various high-strength products from them with pre-calculated mechanical, physical, magnetic, and other properties. This process makes it possible to obtain products from mixtures of metals and non-metals that simply cannot be joined by other methods, such as fusion or welding. The mixture of powders is loaded into the mold of the future product. One of the powders is a binding matrix (something like cement), which will firmly connect all the smallest particles / grains of the powder to each other. Examples are nickel and cobalt powders. The mixture is pressed in special presses under pressure from 300 to 10,000 atmospheres. The mixture is then heated to a high temperature (70 to 90% of the melting point of the binder metal). As a result, the mixture becomes denser and the bond between the grains is strengthened.

***Pyrophoricity is the ability of a solid material to self-ignite in air in the absence of heating and being in a finely divided state. The property can manifest itself upon impact or friction. One material that satisfies this requirement well is depleted uranium. When breaking through the armor, part of the core will just be in a finely divided state. Add to this also the high temperature at the point of penetration of the armor, the impact itself and the friction of many particles, and we get ideal conditions for ignition. Special additives are also added to tungsten alloys of shells to make them more pyrophoric. How the simplest example Pyrophoricity in everyday life can lead to silicon lighters which are made of an alloy of cerium metal.

120 mm shots of the Israeli company IMI. In the foreground is an M829 shot (USA), manufactured by IMI under license.

Terminology

Armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber projectiles can be abbreviated as BOPS, OBPS, OPS, BPS. Currently, the abbreviation BPS is also applied to feathered sabot arrow-shaped projectiles, although it should be correctly used to designate sabot armor-piercing projectiles of the usual elongation for rifled artillery projectiles. The name of the armor-piercing feathered arrow-shaped ammunition applicable to rifled and smoothbore artillery systems.

Device

Ammunition of this type They consist of an arrow-shaped feathered projectile, the body (body) of which (or the core inside the body) is made of a durable and high-density material, and the feathers are made of traditional structural alloys. The materials most used for the body include heavy alloys (of the VNZh type, etc.), uranium alloys (for example, the American Stabilloy alloy or the domestic analogue of the UNTs alloy type). The plumage is made of aluminum alloys or steel.

With the help of annular grooves (forgings), the BOPS body is connected to a sector pallet made of steel or high-strength aluminum alloys (type V-95, V-96Ts1 and similar). A sector pallet is also called a master device (VU) and consists of three or more sectors. The pallets are fastened to each other by leading bands made of metal or plastic and in this form are finally fixed in a metal sleeve or in the body of a burning sleeve. After leaving the gun barrel, the sector pallet is separated from the body of the BOPS under the action of the oncoming air flow, breaking the leading belts, while the body of the projectile itself continues to fly towards the target. Dropped sectors, having high aerodynamic drag, slow down in the air and fall at some distance (from hundreds of meters to more than a kilometer) from the muzzle of the gun. In the event of a miss, the BOPS itself, which has low aerodynamic resistance, can fly away to a distance of 30 to more than 50 km from the muzzle of the gun.

The designs of modern BOPS are extremely diverse: the bodies of shells can be either monolithic or composite (a core or several cores in a shell, as well as longitudinally and transversely multilayered), plumage can be almost equal to the caliber of an artillery gun or sub-caliber, made of steel or light alloys. Leading devices (VU) can have a different principle of distribution of the gas pressure action vector into sectors (VU of the "expanding" or "clamping" type), a different number of places for conducting sectors, be made of steel, light alloys, and also composite materials - for example, from carbon composites or aramid composites. Ballistic tips and dampers can be installed in the head parts of the BOPS bodies. Additives can be added to the material of tungsten alloy cores to increase the pyrophoricity of the cores. Tracers can be installed in the tail parts of the BOPS.

The mass of BOPS bodies with plumage ranges from 3.6 kg in old models to 5-6 kg or more in models for advanced tank guns of 140-155 mm caliber.

The diameter of BOPS bodies without plumage ranges from 40 mm in older models to 22 mm or less in new promising BOPS with a large elongation. The elongation of BOPS is constantly increasing and ranges from 10 to 30 or more.

Heavy alloy cores with elongations exceeding 30 are prone to bending deformations when driven through the bore and after separation of the pallet, as well as to destruction when interacting with multi-barrier and spaced armor. The density of the material is currently limited, since at present there are no materials denser than tungsten and uranium in technology that are practically used for military purposes. The BOPS speed is also limited to values in the range of 1500-1800 m / s and depends on the design artillery pieces and their ammunition. A further increase in speed is associated with research work, carried out in the field of throwing shells with the help of artillery guns on liquid propellants (LMP), with an electrothermochemical method of throwing, with an electrothermal method of throwing, an electric (magnetic) method of throwing using railguns, Gauss systems, their combinations, as well as combinations of electrothermochemical and electromagnetic methods of throwing. At the same time, an increase in velocity above 2000 m/s for many variants of projectile materials leads to a decrease in armor penetration. The reason is the destruction of the projectile upon contact with most variants of armored barriers, which ultimately exceeds the increase in armor penetration due to the increase in speed. As such, the velocity of the projectile usually increases armor penetration as it increases, while the durability of the armor materials decreases at the same time. The effect in some cases can be summed up, in some - not, if we are talking about complex armored barriers. For mono-obstacles, it is often simple different names the same process.

In the USSR and Russia, several types of BOPS are widely known, created in different times and having their own names, which arose from the name / cipher of R&D. The following are BOPS in chronological order from old to new. The device and material of the BOPS body are briefly indicated:

"Hairpin" 3BM22 - a small core of tungsten carbide in the head of the steel body (1976);
"Nadfil-2" 3BM30 - uranium alloy (1982);
"Hope" 3BM27 - a small core made of tungsten alloy in the tail section of a steel body (1983);
"Vant" 3BM32 - a monolithic body made of a uranium alloy (1985);
"Mango" 3BM42 - two elongated tungsten alloy cores in a steel body jacket (1986);
"Lead" 3BM48 - a monolithic body made of a uranium alloy (1991);
Anker 3BM39 (1990s);
"Lekalo" 3BM44 M? - improved alloy (details unknown) (1997); perhaps this BOPS is called the "Projectile of increased power";
"Lead-2" - judging by the index, a modified projectile with a uranium core (details unknown).

Other BOPS also have proper names. For example, a 100 mm anti-tank smoothbore gun has the Valshchik ammunition, a 115 mm tank gun has the Kamerger ammunition, etc.

Armor penetration indicators

Comparative evaluation of armor penetration indicators is associated with significant difficulties. Enough influence on the assessment of armor penetration indicators different techniques tests of BOPS in different countries, the absence in different countries of a standard type of armor for testing, different conditions for placing armor (compact or spaced), as well as constant manipulations by developers of all countries with firing distances for test armor, angles of armor installation before testing, various statistical methods for processing results tests. As a material for testing in Russia and NATO countries, homogeneous rolled armor is adopted, to obtain more accurate results, composite targets are used.

According to published data [ ] , an increase in the elongation of the flight part to a value of 30 made it possible to increase the relative thickness of the RHA homogeneous armor pierced by rolled armor (the ratio of armor thickness to gun caliber, b / d p) to the following values: 5.0 in caliber 105 mm, and 6.8 in caliber 120 mm.

a number of other US

BOPS М829А1 for a gun of caliber 120 mm (USA) - 700 mm;
BOPS M829A2- 730 mm;
BOPS M829A3- 765 mm; often mentioned for many years "before 800"
BOPS M829A4 nothing has been announced, outwardly it is quite consistent with its predecessor.

Germany

Of the known BPS of other countries, any record-breaking ammunition for recent decades on the this moment not noticed, which has little to do with the actual state of the situation, especially in the sense of additional data (for example, the number of shells and guns and the security of the carrier).

History

The emergence of BOPS was due to the lack of armor penetration of conventional armor-piercing and sub-caliber rounds for rifled artillery in the years following World War II. Attempts to increase the specific load (that is, to lengthen their core) in sub-caliber projectiles ran into the phenomenon of loss of stabilization by rotation with an increase in the length of the projectile over 6-8 calibers. Strength modern materials not allowed to increase angular velocity projectile rotation.

In 1944, for a 210 mm caliber gun of an ultra-long-range railway installation K12(E) German designers created caliber projectile with open plumage. The length of the projectile was 1500 mm, weight 140 kg. At initial speed 1850 m / s projectile was supposed to have a range of 250 km. For firing feathered projectiles, a smooth artillery barrel 31 m long was created. The projectile and gun did not leave the testing stage.

The most famous project that used an ultra-long-range finned sub-caliber projectile was the project of the chief engineer of the Rechling company Conders. The Conders gun had several names - V-3, "HDP-High Pressure Pump", "Centipede", "Hardworking Lizhen", "Buddy". A multi-chamber gun of 150 mm caliber used an arrow-shaped feathered sub-caliber projectile weighing in different versions from 80 kg to 127 kg, with an explosive charge from 5 kg to 25 kg. The caliber of the projectile body ranged from 90 mm to 110 mm. Different variants shells contained from 4 folding to 6 permanent stabilizer feathers. The elongation of some models of projectiles reached 36. A shortened modification of the LRK 15F58 gun fired a 15-cm-Sprgr swept projectile. 4481, designed at Peenemünde, and saw action firing at Luxembourg, Antwerp and the US 3rd Army. At the end of the war, one gun was captured by the Americans and taken to the United States.

Feathered shells of anti-tank guns

In 1944, the Rheinmetall company created a smooth-bore anti-tank artillery gun. 8Н63 caliber 80 mm, firing a feathered cumulative projectile weighing 3.75 kg with an explosive charge of 2.7 kg. The developed guns and shells were used in combat until the end of World War II.

In the same year, the Krupp company created a smoothbore anti-tank gun P.W.K. 10.H.64 caliber 105 mm. The gun fired a feathered cumulative projectile weighing 6.5 kg. The projectile and gun did not leave the testing stage.

Experiments were carried out on the use of high-speed arrow-shaped projectiles of the Tsp-Geschoss type (from German Treibspiegelgeschoss - a sub-caliber projectile with a pallet) for anti-tank combat (see below "arrow-shaped anti-aircraft guns"). According to unconfirmed reports, German developers at the end of the war experimented with the use of natural uranium in pierced feathered projectiles, which ended to no avail due to the insufficient strength of unalloyed uranium. However, even then the pyrophoric nature of uranium cores was noted.

Arrow-shaped shells of anti-aircraft guns

Experiments with arrow-shaped feathered sub-caliber projectiles for high-altitude anti-aircraft artillery were carried out at a training ground near the Polish city of Blizna under the guidance of designer R. Herman ( R. Hermann). Anti-aircraft guns of 103 mm caliber with a barrel length of up to 50 calibers were tested. During the tests, it turned out that arrow-shaped feathered projectiles, which reached very high speeds due to their small mass, have insufficient shrapnel action due to the impossibility of placing a significant explosive charge in them. [ ] In addition, they demonstrated extremely low accuracy due to rarefied air at high altitudes and, as a result, insufficient aerodynamic stabilization. After it became clear that swept finned shells were not applicable for anti-aircraft fire, attempts were made to use high-velocity finned piercing shells to fight tanks. The work was stopped due to the fact that serial anti-tank and tank guns at that time had sufficient armor penetration, and the Third Reich was living out its last days.

Arrow-shaped bullets of handguns

Arrow-shaped bullets for handguns were first developed by AAI designer Irwin Bahr.

Firms "AAI", "Springfield", "Winchester" designed various arrow-shaped bullets, having an arrow mass of 0.68-0.77 grams, with an arrow body diameter of 1.8-2.5 mm with stamped plumage. The initial speed of arrow-shaped bullets varied depending on their type from 900 m/s to 1500 m/s.

The recoil momentum of the rifles when firing arrow-shaped ammunition was several times lower than that of the M16 rifle. During the period from 1989 to 1989, many modifications of arrow-shaped ammunition and special weapons for it were tested in the United States, but the expected advantages over conventional jacketed bullets (both medium and small caliber) were not achieved. Arrow-shaped bullets of small mass and caliber with a high flatness of the trajectory, had insufficient accuracy and insufficient lethal effect at medium and long distances.grain) (19.958 g) in a detachable pallet. With an initial speed of a swept bullet of 1450 m / s, the muzzle energy of a sniper rifle is 20,980 J. At a distance of 800 meters, a tungsten alloy sub-caliber feathered arrow pierces an armor plate 40 mm thick when it hits at an angle of 30 °, when firing at a distance of 1 km, the maximum excess of the trajectory over the aiming line is only 80 cm.

Hunting arrow-shaped bullets

Most types of elongated bullets for hunting smoothbore weapons have an aerodynamic principle of flight stabilization and are lancet (arrow-shaped) projectiles. Due to the slight elongation of conventional hunting bullets in most models (1.3-2.5 or even less (for example, the Mayer bullet, which is also stabilized not by the turbine, but by the lancet method)), the lancet (sweep) of hunting bullets is not visually obvious.

The most pronounced arrow-shaped form currently have Russian Zenith bullets (designed by D. I. Shiryaev) and foreign Sovestra bullets. For example, some types of Sovestra bullets have an elongation of up to 4.6-5, and some types of Shiryaev bullets have an elongation of more than 10. Both arrow-shaped feathered bullets with a large elongation differ from other hunting lancet bullets in high rates of accuracy of fire.

Arrow-shaped feathered bullets of underwater weapons

Russia is developing arrow-shaped (needle-shaped) underwater ammunition without plumage, which is part of the SPS cartridges of 4.5 mm caliber (for the special underwater pistol SPP-1; SPP-1M) and MPS cartridges of 5.66 mm caliber (for special underwater machine APS). Non-feathered arrow-shaped bullets for underwater weapons, stabilized in water by a cavitation cavity, practically do not stabilize in the air and require not regular, but special weapons for use under water.

Currently, the most promising underwater-air ammunition, which can be fired with equal efficiency both under water at a depth of up to 50 m, and in the air, are cartridges for regular (serial) machine guns and assault rifles, equipped with a Polotnev arrow-shaped feathered bullet developed by at the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "TsNIIKhM". Stabilization of Polotnev's bullets under water is carried out by the cavitation cavity, and in air - by the plumage of the bullet.

ISBN 978-5-9524-3370-0; BBK 63.3(0)62 K59.

Hogg I. Ammunition: cartridges, grenades, artillery shells, mortar mines. - M.: Eksmo-Press, 2001.
Irving D. Weapon of retribution. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2005.
Dornberger W. FAU-2. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2004.
Katorin Yu. F., Volkovsky N. L., Tarnavsky V. V. Unique and paradoxical military equipment. - St. Petersburg. : Polygon, 2003. - 686 p. - (Military History Library). - ISBN 5-59173-238-6, UDC 623.4, LBC 68.8 K 29.

MOSCOW, July 23 - RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. If a modern tank is fired upon with an armor-piercing "blank" from the Second World War, then, most likely, only a dent will remain at the site of the hit - penetrating through is practically impossible. The "puff" used today composite armor confidently holds such a blow. But it can still be pierced with an "awl". Or "crowbar", as the tankers themselves call armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber shells (BOPS). About how these munitions work - in the material of RIA Novosti.

Awl instead of a sledgehammer

From the name it is clear that the sub-caliber ammunition is a projectile with a caliber noticeably smaller than the caliber of the gun. Structurally, this is a "coil" with a diameter equal to the diameter of the barrel, in the center of which is the same tungsten or uranium "scrap" that hits the enemy's armor. When leaving the bore, the coil, which provided the core with sufficient kinetic energy and accelerated it to the desired speed, is divided into parts under the action of oncoming air flows, and a thin and strong feathered pin flies at the target. In a collision due to the smaller resistivity it penetrates armor much more effectively than a thick monolithic blank.

The armored impact of such a "scrap" is colossal. Due to the relatively small mass - 3.5-4 kilograms - the core of the sub-caliber projectile immediately after the shot accelerates to a significant speed - about 1500 meters per second. When hitting the armor plate, it punches a small hole. The kinetic energy of the projectile is partly used to destroy armor, and partly converted into heat. Red-hot fragments of the core and armor go into the armored space and spread like a fan, hitting the crew and internal mechanisms of the vehicle. This creates multiple fires.

An accurate hit of the BOPS can disable important components and assemblies, destroy or seriously injure crew members, jam the turret, break through fuel tanks, undermine the ammunition rack, destroy the undercarriage. Structurally, modern sabots are very different. Projectile bodies can be both monolithic and composite - a core or several cores in a shell, as well as longitudinally and transversely multilayered, with various types plumage.

Leading devices (those same "coils") have different aerodynamics, they are made of steel, light alloys, and composite materials - for example, carbon composites or aramid composites. Ballistic tips and dampers can be installed in the head parts of the BOPS. In a word, for every taste - for any gun, under certain conditions tank battle and a specific goal. The main advantages of such ammunition are high armor penetration, high flight speed, low sensitivity to dynamic protection, low vulnerability to active protection systems, which simply do not have time to react to a fast and inconspicuous "arrow".

"Mango" and "Lead"

Under the 125-mm smoothbore guns of domestic tanks, back in Soviet times, a wide range of feathered "armor-piercing" was developed. They were engaged after the appearance of the potential enemy tanks M1 Abrams and Leopard-2. The army needed projectiles like air, capable of hitting new types of reinforced armor and overcoming dynamic protection.

One of the most common BOPS in the arsenal of Russian T-72, T-80 and T-90 tanks is the ZBM-44 "Mango" high-power projectile, which was put into service in 1986. Ammunition has a rather complicated design. A ballistic tip is installed in the head part of the swept body, under which there is an armor-piercing cap. Behind him is an armor-piercing damper, which also plays an important role in breaking through. Immediately after the damper are two tungsten alloy cores held inside by a light-alloy metal jacket. When a projectile collides with an obstacle, the shirt melts and releases cores that "bite" into the armor. In the tail of the projectile there is a stabilizer in the form of a plumage with five blades, at the base of the stabilizer there is a tracer. This "scrap" weighs only about five kilograms, but is capable of penetrating almost half a meter of tank armor at a distance of up to two kilometers.

The newer ZBM-48 "Lead" was put into service in 1991. Standard Russian tank autoloaders are limited by the length of the projectiles, so Lead is the most massive domestic tank ammunition of this class. The length of the active part of the projectile is 63.5 centimeters. The core is made of a uranium alloy, it has a high elongation, which increases penetration, and also reduces the impact of dynamic protection. After all, what more length projectile, the smaller part of it interacts with passive and active obstacles at a certain point in time. Sub-caliber stabilizers improve the accuracy of the projectile, and a new composite "coil" drive device is also used. BOPS "Lead" is the most powerful serial projectile for 125-mm tank guns, capable of competing with leading Western models. The average armor penetration on a homogeneous steel plate from two kilometers is 650 millimeters.

This is not the only such development of the domestic defense industry - the media reported that especially for newest tank T-14 "Armata" created and tested BOPS "Vacuum-1" with a length of 900 millimeters. Their armor penetration came close to a meter.

It is worth noting that the potential enemy also does not stand still. Back in 2016, Orbital ATK launched a full-scale production of an advanced armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber projectile with a fifth-generation M829A4 tracer for the M1 tank. According to the developers, the ammunition penetrates 770 millimeters of armor.

BOPS (Armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber projectiles)

With the adoption of the T-62 medium tank, the USSR became the first country in the world to massively use armor-piercing feathered sub-caliber ammunition (BOPS) in tank ammunition. Thanks to the extremely high speed and long range direct shot.

Armor-piercing shells for the 115-mm gun U-5TS (2A20) were superior in armor penetration at an angle of 60 degrees. from the normal, the best sub-caliber shells for rifled guns by 30% and had a direct shot range 1.6 times greater than regular ones. However, unitary shots for the GSP U-5TS did not allow to fully realize the potential for rate of fire and reduce the internal reserved volume of a promising tank, in addition, due to increased gas contamination fighting compartment T-62 designers were forced to resort to a mechanism for removing spent cartridges, which somewhat reduced the rate of fire of the tank. Thus, the problem of automating the process of loading a tank gun became urgent, which, along with an increase in the rate of fire, significantly reduced the internal volume, and, consequently, security.

At the beginning of 1961, work began on the creation of 115-mm separate-loading rounds with OBPS, cumulative and high-explosive fragmentation shells for the D-68 (2A21) gun.

Completion of work on the creation of separate loading shots for the D-68 gun, installed in a new medium tank with mechanized loading, was successfully completed, and the newly created ammunition was put into serial production in 1964.

In 1966, the T-64 tank with the D-68 gun and new shots for it was put into service.

However, for a number of reasons, the 115 mm caliber gun of the T-64 tank was considered insufficient to ensure guaranteed destruction of promising foreign tanks.

Perhaps the reason was an overestimated assessment of the armor resistance of the new, most powerful English tank of that period, the Chieftain, as well as fears of the imminent entry into service of the promising American-German MBT-70 tank, which was never put into service.

For these reasons, an improved version of the T-64 tank was created, which received the designation T-64A and was put into service. Soviet army in May 1968. The tank was armed with a 125 mm D-81T (2A26) gun developed in 1962 at the plant number 172 (Perm) in OKB-9 under the leadership of F.F. Petrov.

Subsequently, this gun, which deserved a lot positive feedback for its high technical and operational characteristics, it underwent numerous upgrades aimed at further growth of its characteristics.

Upgraded versions of the D-81T (2A26) cannon, such as 2A46M, 2A46M-1, 2A46M-2, 2A46M-4, are the main armament of domestic tanks to this day.

BPS burning cylinder with tubular powder (SC) - Right

Burning Sleeve (SG) - Left

core - in the middle

As you can see in the pictures, a burning cylinder (SC) with tubular gunpowder is put on the BPS, the SC is made of cardboard impregnated with TNT and completely burns out during the shot and there is nothing left of it. The burning sleeve (SG) is made using a similar technology; after a shot, a metal pallet remains from it. The means of ignition is the galvano-impact sleeve GUV-7, which differs from the usual one in that it has an incandescent bridge that ignites the gunpowder when the striker is touched, but it can also work like a normal one from impact.

Domestic BPS consists of a leading ring, consisting of three sectors with a 120-degree split plane, fastened with a copper or plastic obturator band. The second support is the stabilizer feathers, equipped with bearings. When leaving the barrel, the ring is divided into three sectors and the sectors fly up to 500 m at high speed, it is not recommended to be in front of the tank firing the BPS. The sector can damage lightly armored vehicles and injure infantry.Separating sectors of the BPS have significant kinetic energy within 2 ° from the shot (at a distance of 1000 m)

A burning cylinder (SC) with tubular gunpowder is put on the OBPS, the SC is made of cardboard impregnated with TNT and completely burns out during the shot and nothing remains of it. The burning sleeve (SG) is made using a similar technology; after a shot, a metal pallet remains from it. The means of ignition is galvano-impact sleeve GUV-7.

The beginning of the 60s and the end of the seventies, the adoption of OBPS stabilized by plumage.

The period of the late 60s and late seventies was characterized by the evolutionary development of foreign tanks, the best of which had a homogeneous armor shield within 200 (Leopard-1A1), 250 (M60) and 300 (Chieftain) millimeters of armor.

Their ammunition included BPS for 105 mm L7 guns (and its American counterpart M68) and 120 mm L-11 rifled gun of the Chieftain tank.

At the same time, a number of OBPS for 115 and 125 mm GSP tanks T-62, T-64 and T-64, as well as 100 mm smoothbore anti-tank guns T-12, entered service in the USSR.

Among them were shells of two modifications: solid-shell and having a carbide core.

One-piece OBPS 3BM2 for anti-tank guns T-12, 3BM6 for GSP U-5TS of the T-62 tank, as well as one-piece OBPS for 125 mm GSP 3BM17. OBPS with a carbide core included 3BM3 for the GSP U-5TS of the T-62 tank, 125 mm OBPS 3BM15, 3BM22 for the T-64A / T-72 / T-80 tanks.

Projectile 3VBM-7 (projectile index 3BM-15; projectile index from throwing charge3BM-18 ) (p/w ca. 1972)

The active part of this projectile is slightly lengthened compared to the 3BM-12, which did not affect the overall length of the projectile due to the greater penetration of the active part into the additional charge. Despite the fact that the projectile had not been used in the Soviet Army for a long time, until the collapse of the USSR it remained the most modern OBPS available to recipients of Soviet export T-72 tanks. BM-15 and its local counterparts were produced under license in many countries.

Shot 3VBM-8 (projectile index 3BM-17; projectile index from throwing charge3BM-18) (p/w ca. 1972)

A simplified version of the 3BM-15 projectile; there is no tungsten carbide core, instead the size of the armor-piercing cap has been increased to compensate for the drop in armor penetration. Presumably used only for export and training purposes.

Shot 3VBM-9 (projectile index 3BM-22; projectile index from throwing charge3BM-23) (p / in 1976)

Research theme "Hairpin". A.h. length almost identical to a.h. BM-15, however, a much more massive armor-piercing damper is used. As a result, the projectile is noticeably heavier than the BM-15, which led to some decrease in the initial speed. This projectile was the most common in the Soviet Army in the late 70s - early 80s, and although it is no longer produced, it has been accumulated in large quantities and is still allowed for use..

Appearance core of one projectile option.

Second generation (late 70s and 80s)

In 1977, work began to improve the combat effectiveness of tank artillery rounds. The staging of these works was associated with the need to defeat new types of reinforced armor protection developed abroad for a new generation of M1 Abrams and Leopard-2 tanks.
The development of new design schemes for OBPS has begun, ensuring the destruction of monolithic combined armor in a wide range of angles of impact with the armor, as well as overcoming remote sensing.

Other tasks included improving the aerodynamic qualities of the projectile in flight in order to reduce drag, as well as increasing its muzzle velocity.

The development of new alloys based on tungsten and depleted uranium with improved physical and mechanical characteristics continued.
The results obtained from these research projects made it possible at the end of the 70s to begin the development of new OBPS with an improved master device, which ended with the adoption of the Nadezhda, Vant and Mango OBPS for the 125-mm GSP D-81.

One of the main differences between the new OBPS compared to those developed before 1977 was a new master device with sectors of the "clamp" type using aluminum alloy and polymer materials.

In OBPS, before that, leading devices with steel sectors of the "expanding" type were used.

In 1984, the OBPS 3VBM13 "Vant" was developed with the 3BM32 projectile of increased efficiency, "Vant" became the first domestic monoblock OBPS made of a uranium alloy with high physical and mechanical properties.

OBPS "Mango" was developed specifically to destroy tanks with combined and dynamic protection. The design of the projectile uses a highly efficient combined core made of tungsten alloy placed in a steel casing, between which there is a layer of low-melting alloy.

The projectile is able to overcome dynamic protection and reliably hit the complex composite armor of tanks that entered service in the late 70s and until the mid-80s.

Shot 3VBM-11 (projectile index 3BM-26; projectile index from throwing charge3BM-27) (p / in 1983)

Theme "Hope-R". This OBPS was the first in a series of projectiles with a new master device.

This ammunition was also the first to be developed and tested specifically for the purpose of fending off advanced multilayer barriers used on promising NATO tanks.

It is used with the main propellant charge 4Zh63.

3BM-29. "Nadfil-2", OBPS with a uranium core(1982) similar in design to 3BM-26.

Shot 3VBM-13 (projectile index 3BM-32; projectile index from throwing charge3BM-38 ) (p/in 1985)

Research theme "Vant". The first Soviet monolithic uranium OBPS.

Shot 3VBM-17 (projectile index 3BM-42; projectile index from throwing charge3BM-44) (p / in 1986)

The topic of research "Mango" was opened in 1983. A projectile of increased power, designed to destroy modern multilayer armored barriers. Has a very complex structure, which includes a solid ballistic and armor-piercing cap, an armor-piercing damper, and two cores made of high-strength tungsten alloy of high elongation. The cores are fixed in the body of the projectile by means of a fusible alloy jacket; in the process of penetration, the jacket melts, allowing the cores to enter the penetration channel without expending energy on separation from the body.

VU - a further development of the VU used with OBPS 3BM-26, made of V-96Ts1 alloy with improved characteristics. The projectile is widely distributed, and was also exported complete with Russian and Ukrainian tanks T-80U / T-80UD and T-90, delivered abroad in the last decade.

OBPS "Lead" (projectile index 3BM-46; projectile index from throwing charge3BM-48) (p / in 1986)

Modern OBPS with a monolithic high elongation uranium core and sub-caliber stabilizers, using a new composite VU with two contact zones. The projectile has a length close to the maximum allowable for standard Soviet automatic loaders. The most powerful Soviet 125-mm OBPS, exceeding or equal in power to the OBPS adopted by the NATO countries until relatively recently.

Shot withheightened power

Projectile with increased power tungsten core high elongation and sub-caliber stabilizers, using a four-section composite VU with two contact zones. In the literature of Rosoboronexport, this projectile is simply referred to as a "high-powered projectile."

The developers of this munition for the first time created a projectile of large elongation with new scheme reference.

The new BPS is designed to fire from the D-81 tank gun at modern tanks, equipped with complex composite armor, and dynamic protection.

Compared to the BOPS 3BM42, a 20% increase in armor penetration is provided due to the elongated body made of tungsten alloy and a charge of higher-energy gunpowder.

Summary table TTX
Shot Index	3VBM-7	3 V BM-8	3VBM-9	3VBM-11	3VBM-10	3VBM-13	3VBM-17	3VBM-20	3VBM-17M
Projectile index	3BM-16	3BM-1 7		3BM-2 6	3BM-29			3BM-46
Projectile index with additional charge	3BM-18	3VBM- 1 8	3BM-3	3BM-27	3BM-30	3BM-38	3BM-44	3BM-48	3BM-44M
Cipher			Barrette	Hope-R	File-2	Vant	Mango	Lead	Mango-M
Initial speed, m/s	1780	1780	1760	1720	1692...1700	1692...1700	1692...1700	1650	1692...1700
Core length, mm
Weight (without VU), g	3900	3900	3900	4800	4800	4850	4850	5200	5000
Core (base alloy)	Steel	Tungsten			depleted uranium	depleted Uranus	Tungsten	depleted Uranus	Tungsten
Scheme of reference	Ring VU made of steel, expanding type and plumage			WU clamping type aluminum alloy and plumage				Two-bearing WU
Normative penetration at 2000 m, 60°	110…150

In terms of the development of BOPS since the late nineties, a lot of work has been done, the backlog of which was the BOPS "Anker" and 3BM48 "Lead". These shells were significantly superior to such BOPS as Mango and Vant, the main difference was the new principles of the reference system in the bore and the core with a significantly increased elongation. The new projectile guidance system in the bore not only allowed the use of longer cores, but also made it possible to improve their aerodynamic properties.

After the collapse of the USSR, the backlog of the industry for the production of new types of ammunition began and continues. The question arose about the modernization of ammunition, both domestic tanks and those exported. The development, as well as small-scale production of domestic BPS, continued, however, the mass introduction and mass production of new generation BPS samples was not carried out.

Due to the lack of modern BPS, a number of countries with a large fleet of domestic tanks armed with a 125 mm gun have made their own attempts to develop BPS.

Comparison of OBPS caliber 125 mm 3BM48, 3BM44M, M829A2 (USA), NORINCO TK125 (PRC)

and OBPS caliber 120 mm DM53 (Germany), CL3241 (Israel).

OBPS caliber 125 mm developed in the 90s in China and countries of Eastern Europe: NORINCO TK125, TAPNA (Slovakia), Pronit (Poland).