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edges, which allows it to grip into armour even at high impact angles. Unlike soft caps, hard caps functions against face-hardened armour and even counters it. It does this, much like drilling a hole in wood before one uses a screw, by punching through the hardened surface of face-hardened armour, destroying itself in the process. The penetrator then passed through the hole in the hardened surface and enters the soft back of the armour, going through it or creating
253:
403:) is to protect the tip of the penetrator on impact, which could otherwise shatter and not penetrate. It consists of a metal cap, often solid in structure, which is mounted on top of the projectile lying against the tip. Depending on the purpose of the cap, different designs exist. Among other things, the cap can be made of soft metal (soft cap), or hard metal (hard cap).
36:
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APCBC shot was produced for a wide range of anti-tank artillery ranging from 2-pounders to the German 88 mm. This type of munition was also designated as APBC (armour piercing ballistic capped), in reference to the Soviet version of APCBC. APCBC shot was also used in naval armaments in World War
456:
As the war progressed, vehicle armour became progressively thicker (and sloped) and early war AP and APHE were less effective against newer tanks. The initial response was to compensate by increased muzzle velocities in newly developed anti-tank guns. However, it was found that steel shot tended to
423:
armour of a tougher grade than before that negated the soft cap. On impacting tough face-hardened armour the soft cap will protect the penetrator in the initial impact, but once the penetrator has passed through the soft cap, the hardened armour surface, backed up by the soft depth plate, will not
382:
Ballistic caps are used on a great variety of projectiles other than APCBC shells and exist to allow the projectile or cap underneath to have a less aerodynamic shape more suitable for the effect of the munition. They are most often fitted by pressing the edges of the cone into a groove around the
410:
were the original design in use. Unlike hard caps, soft caps primarily only help with protecting the penetrator on impact. They spread the radial shock outward from the impact along the radius of the now flattened soft cap, keeping the shock from travelling into the body of the shell itself. Soft
171:
on top of the AP cap to correct for the poorer aerodynamics, especially higher drag, otherwise created by the stubby AP cap. These features allow APCBC shells to retain higher velocities and to deliver more energy to the target on impact, especially at long range when compared to uncapped shells.
464:
Later in the conflict, APCBCs fired at close range from large-calibre, high-velocity guns (75–128 mm) were able to penetrate much greater thicknesses of armour in relation to their calibres (2.5 times) and also greater thicknesses (2–1.75 times) at longer ranges (1,500–2,000 m). Comparative
430:
were introduced after soft caps fell out of favour. Unlike soft caps, hard caps not only helps with protecting the penetrator on impact, but most often also helps guide the projectile into armour at high impact angles. This is achieved by giving the hard cap a blunt shaped tip, often with sharp
460:
To counter this, a cap of softer metal was attached to the tip of an AP (solid) round. The cap transferred energy from the tip of the shell to the sides of the projectile, thereby helping to reduce shattering. In addition, the cap appeared to improve penetration of sloped armour by deforming,
452:
Early World War II-era uncapped AP projectiles fired from high-velocity guns were able to penetrate about twice their calibre at close range: 100 m (110 yd). At longer ranges (500–1,000 m), this dropped to 1.5–1.1 calibres due to the poor ballistic shape and higher drag of the
461:
spreading, and "sticking" to the armour on impact and thereby reducing the tendency of the shell to deflect at an angle. However, the cap structure of the APC shell reduced the aerodynamic efficiency of the round with a resultant reduction in accuracy and range.
212:, uncapped). The APCBC configuration is however expensive and thus a large amount of both historical and modern armour-piercing ammunition uses only one of the two caps: APC (armour-piercing, capped) and APBC (armour-piercing, ballistic capped).
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and hence range is obtained giving better penetration over longer distances. On impact, the ballistic cap will break off or collapse without affecting the impact performance of the armour-piercing cap and penetrator.
481:
II. After World War II, the trend in armour-piercing munitions development centred on sub-calibre projectiles. No tank guns designed since the late 1950s have used full-caliber AP, APC, or APCBC ammunition.
411:
caps, however, do not function at high impact angles. At angles of impact (obliquities) of 15° or greater, they start to be torn free prior to functioning, and do not fully function over 20°. Following
359:
By 1910 it was well-established that the aerodynamically optimal form of a solid projectile does not lend itself to best-attainable armour penetration, and remedies were devised.
594:
U.S. Army Firing Test No. 3, U.S. Army Firing Tests conducted August 1944 by 12th U.S. Army Group at Isigny, France. Report of tests conducted during 20–21 August 1944.
224:
15-inch
British naval APCBC shell with its armour-piercing cap on the floor to the left; the ballistic cap is absent. Fired 1941 but did not detonate.
415:, soft caps started being discarded for naval shells. One reason was their inability to function at high impact angles, but also because of improved
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mounted on the top of a projectile to cover it with a more aerodynamically efficient shape. This reduces drag in flight, so higher
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477:(APDS) shot, though the lot used was described as sub-standard and the report made no determination of general APDS accuracy.
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545:(in Swedish). Sweden: Försvarets materielverk (FMV), huvudavdelningen för armémateriel. 1979. pp. 33, 35.
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shatter on impact at velocities greater than 823 m/s (2700 feet/second).
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The configuration is used on both inert and explosive armour-piercing shell types:
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cave in and the penetrator is destroyed by the crushing forces surrounding it.
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introduced in the 1930s to improve the armour-piercing capabilities of both
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The APCBC configuration is an evolution of the earlier APC configuration (
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Battleship APCBC shells from the Second World War: 36 cm, 41 cm, 46 cm
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indicated the APCBC munitions were more accurate than late war
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armour, especially at high impact angles, and an aerodynamic
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208:), itself an evolution of the simple AP configuration (
163:(AP cap) for improved penetration properties against
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and US Army APCBC rounds fired into captured German
556:Richardson v. United States, 72 Ct. Cl. 51 (1930)
571:"Juno Beach Centre – Anti-Tank Projectiles"
82:Armour-piercing, capped, ballistic capped shell
8:
636:on 2009-08-12 – via www.wargaming.info
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200:(SAPHE), capped, ballistic capped (SAPHECBC)
543:AMORDLISTA, Preliminär ammunitionsordlista
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194:(APHE), capped, ballistic capped (APHECBC)
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137:Armour-piercing, capped, ballistic capped
93:Cross section of an APCBC shell (APHECBC)
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188:(SAP), capped, ballistic capped (SAPCBC)
60:of all important aspects of the article.
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81:
645:, New Vanguard 98, Osprey Publishing,
182:(AP), capped, ballistic capped (APCBC)
56:Please consider expanding the lead to
7:
622:, Coulsdon: Jane's Information Group
453:smaller-diameter early projectiles.
198:Semi-armour-piercing, high-explosive
643:British Anti-tank Artillery 1939-45
419:following the war which had led to
155:. The configuration consists of an
383:edge of the projectile or AP cap.
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143:) is a type of configuration for
632:, 30 August 1944, archived from
618:Orgokiewicz, Richard M. (1991),
475:armour-piercing discarding sabot
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573:. Junobeach.org. Archived from
192:Armour-piercing, high-explosive
48:may be too short to adequately
58:provide an accessible overview
1:
620:Technology of Tanks Volume I.
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629:U.S. Army Firing Test No.3
399:, most often shortened to
145:armour-piercing ammunition
348:Capped, ballistic capped
327: Armour-piercing cap
299: Armour-piercing cap
206:armour-piercing, capped
467:17-pounder (76 mm) gun
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391:The primary job of an
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641:Henry, Chris (2004),
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321: Projectile body
307: Projectile body
293: Projectile body
285: Projectile body
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159:fitted with a stubby
157:armour-piercing shell
27:Ammunition shell type
186:Semi-armour-piercing
603:Orgokiewicz, p. 77.
465:testing of British
393:armour-piercing cap
387:Armour-piercing cap
333: Ballistic cap
313: Ballistic cap
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232:Cap configurations
161:armour-piercing cap
105:Armour-piercing cap
516:Projectile AP Caps
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435:on the other side.
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16:(Redirected from
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680:Artillery shells
675:Anti-tank rounds
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111:Explosive charge
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43:This article's
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52:the key points
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577:on 2011-05-16
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579:. Retrieved
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115:Driving band
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66:January 2022
63:
47:
45:lead section
670:Projectiles
413:World War I
664:Categories
611:References
581:2010-06-12
417:metallurgy
126:Tracer cup
108:Shell body
428:Hard caps
408:Soft caps
50:summarize
433:spalling
376:velocity
339:Uncapped
440:History
649:
397:AP cap
342:Capped
331:
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305:
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246:APCBC
216:Design
485:Notes
149:naval
141:APCBC
119:Base
647:ISBN
372:cone
243:APBC
151:and
121:fuze
401:cap
240:APC
666::
562:^
524:^
493:^
368:BC
362:A
237:AP
584:.
395:(
366:(
139:(
68:)
64:(
54:.
20:)
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