Soldier Firing Depleted Uranium Shell

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M900 105mm APFSDS-T

The M900 Depleted Uranium APFSDS-T [Armor Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot - Tracer] cartridge is the primary anti-armor 105mm tank ammunition in service with the United States Army and Marine Corps. This fourth-generation kinetic energy projectile is capable of penetrating the frontal slope of fielded adversary armor systems. The penetrator and sabot design provides excellent accuracy at all combat ranges. This cartridge is compatible with the US M-1, M-60, and M-48 series tanks emplying [sic] the 105mm M-68 cannon.

The current KE cartridge, the M900 Armor Piercing, Fin Stabilized, Discarding Sabot with Tracer (APFSDS-T), will provide the Stryker MGS with the capability to destroy a variety of light skinned and armored vehicles (through the T-62 tank) in a self-defense role. The cartridge is currently in inventory and was originally developed and procured for the M1 Abrams tank. This round was type-classified in 1989.

The cartridge is equipped with a depleted uranium penetrator section designed for a muzzle velocity of 1,500 meters per second. The M-900 is made up of a steel case and savoy, depleted uranium penetrator rod, M43 propellant, and a fuse.
The electrically initiated primer ignites the propelling charge and tracer. Gases produced by the burning propellant propel the projectile from the gun. The tracer burns for a minimum of 2.5 seconds. The sabot is discarded after leaving the muzzle of the weapon, as a result of setback, centrifugal, and air pressure forces. The solid core of the projectile continues to the target.

This page is quoted exactly from the military's own website.  We've noticed that military documents that we've linked to have been disappearing so that we are now archiving them.  The original site is http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/m900.htm  and a copy of the pdf from that site is here.

 

Last Update April 8, 2006