25 mm caliber
Encyclopedia
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
and autocannon
Autocannon
An autocannon or automatic cannon is a rapid-fire projectile weapon firing a shell as opposed to the bullet fired by a machine gun. Autocannons often have a larger caliber than a machine gun . Usually, autocannons are smaller than a field gun or other artillery, and are mechanically loaded for a...
ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
for NATO forces. The round itself has a length of approximately 223 mm (8.6 inches).
Usage
The 25 mm round can be used in both an anti-materiel and anti-personnelAnti-personnel weapon
An anti-personnel weapon is one primarily used to incapacitate people, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles.The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles gave rise to weapons designed specifically to attack them, and thus a need to distinguish between those systems and...
fashion. When operating in an infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
mode, a 25 mm weapon armed with HE rounds can effectively kill large numbers of opposing troops either in the open or in light fortifications. When operating in an anti-material mode, a 25 mm weapon armed with AP
Armor-piercing shot and shell
An armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...
rounds can disable many aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
and vehicles, including some main battle tank
Main battle tank
A main battle tank , also known as a battle tank or universal tank, is a tank that fills the heavy direct fire role of many modern armies. They were originally conceived to replace the light, medium, heavy and super-heavy tanks. Development was spurred onwards in the Cold War with the development...
s.
The US military
United States armed forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
uses 25 mm weapons in their AV-8B Harrier, AC-130 gunship, M2 Bradley
M2 Bradley
The Bradley Fighting Vehicle is an American fighting vehicle platform manufactured by BAE Systems Land and Armaments, formerly United Defense.As with other infantry fighting vehicles, the Bradley is designed to transport infantry with armor protection while providing covering fire to suppress enemy...
, LAV-25, F-35 Lightning II
F-35 Lightning II
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...
and as a standard ship-based munition in the Mk 38 autocannon.
Types of 25 mm ammunition
Several sub-types of 25 mm ammunitionAmmunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
are available — the most common being Armor Piercing
Armor-piercing shot and shell
An armor-piercing shell is a type of ammunition designed to penetrate armor. From the 1860s to 1950s, a major application of armor-piercing projectiles was to defeat the thick armor carried on many warships. From the 1920s onwards, armor-piercing weapons were required for anti-tank missions...
, High explosive, sabot
Sabot
A sabot is a device used in a firearm or cannon to fire a projectile, such as a bullet, that is smaller than the bore diameter, or which must be held in a precise position. The term is also applied to a battery stub case, a device used similarly to make a small electrical battery usable in a...
, tracer
Tracer ammunition
Tracer ammunition are bullets that are built with a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. Ignited by the burning powder, the phosphorus tail burns very brightly, making the projectile visible to the naked eye...
, and practice rounds. Cartridges are usually composed of a combination of the aforementioned categories. For example, the M791 pictured to the right is an Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot with Tracer round. It is used against lightly armored vehicles
Armoured fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and armed with weapons. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked....
, self-propelled artillery
Self-propelled artillery
Self-propelled artillery vehicles are combat vehicles armed with artillery. Within the term are covered self-propelled guns and rocket artillery...
, and aerial targets such as helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s and slow-moving fixed-wing aircraft.
25 mm caliber weapons
- M242 BushmasterM242 BushmasterThe M242 Bushmaster is a 25 mm chain-fed autocannon. It is used extensively by the US armed forces, as well as by NATO's and some other nations' forces in ground combat vehicles and watercraft...
- GAU-12 EqualizerGAU-12 EqualizerThe General Dynamics GAU-12/U Equalizer is a five-barrel 25 mm Gatling gun-style rotary cannon. The GAU-12/U is used by the United States, Italy and Spain, which mount the weapon in their fighter jets such as the AV-8B Harrier II, airborne gunships such as the Lockheed AC-130, and land-based...
- GIATs, M811Giat M811The M811 is an automatic, externally-powered, single or dual fed cannon firing NATO standard 25 mm ammunition , designed by Nexter Systems .-History:...
- OerlikonsOerlikon ContravesRheinmetall Air Defence AG is a division of German armament manufacturer Rheinmetall, created when the company's Oerlikon Contraves unit was renamed on 1 January 2009 and integrated with Rheinmetall's other air-defence products...
, KBA
See also
- CaliberCaliberIn guns including firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel in relation to the diameter of the projectile used in it....
- .50 BMG.50 BMGThe .50 Browning Machine Gun or 12.7×99mm NATO is a cartridge developed for the Browning .50 caliber machine gun in the late 1910s. Entering service officially in 1921, the round is based on a greatly scaled-up .30-06 cartridge...
- 14.5x114mm
- 20 mm caliber20 mm caliberThe 20 mm caliber is a specific size of cannon or autocannon ammunition, commonly the smallest caliber which is unambiguously a cannon and not a heavy machine gun....
- 23 mm caliber
- 23 × 115 mm23x115mmThe 23x115 mm round is used by Soviet/Russian/CIS aircraft autocannon, most notably by the GSh-23L and GSh-6-23. Although the round has been superseded by the 30x165 mm round, the Russian Air Force still uses it in the GSh-23L and GSh-6-23...
- 23 × 152 mm23x152mmThe 23x152B mm used by the USSR/CIS in the VYa-23 Aircraft Gun on the Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft and in the 2A7 and 2A14 autocannons on the ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun series and ZSU-23-4 "Shilka", among others...
- 25 mm caliber25 mm caliberThe 25x137 mm caliber/.98425 inch is one of the standard sizes of cannon and autocannon ammunition for NATO forces. The round itself has a length of approximately 223 mm .-Usage:...
- 25 x 40 mm25 mm grenadeThe 25 mm grenade is a type of explosive ordnance used in some modern grenade launchers.Examples of weapons designed to launch 25 mm grenades are the experimental XM25, the Barrett XM109 payload rifle, and the XM307 ACSW. The original use for this round was for the OCSW, now known as the XM307 ACSW...
- 25 x 59 mm
- 30 mm caliber30 mm caliber30 mm caliber ammunition is usually used in autocannon. Such ammunition includes NATO standard 30 × 173 mm and 30 × 113 mm and Soviet 30 × 165 mm ammunition widely used around the world....
- List of cartridges (weaponry), pistol and rifle
External links
- Federation of American Scientists: 25mm Ammunition
- U. S. Army Field Manual 3-22.1
- UXO Safety Information