2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
When in the distant 1330 Berthold Schwarz, a German monk, discovered the throwing properties of gunpowder, he did not imagine that he would become the progenitor of a new god - the god of war.
The birth of artillery
The monk's discovery was very quickly applied in military affairs, and soon two directions in the development of weapons appeared, where the throwing properties of gunpowder were used. The first of these was the creation of light hand-held small arms, the second was the production of cannons. The appearance of handguns did not lead to the creation of a new kind of troops. They simply armed the existing ones, replacing bows and light throwing spears - darts in the infantry and cavalry. But the appearance of cannons formed new troops, which in Russia were called "firearms", and which the Italian weapons theorist Niccolo Tartaglia proposed to call artillery, which means "the art of shooting." Some researchers believe that this type of troops appeared much earlier than the discovery of the German monk, with the invention of the first throwing machines - the ballista. Be that as it may, artillery became the god of war precisely with the creation of firearms.
God of War Development
Sover time, military affairs did not stand still, and artillery guns not only improved, but new types of them appeared: howitzers, mortars, multiple launch rocket systems, and others. In the twentieth century, artillery truly dominated the battlefields. And along with the development of guns, artillery ammunition for them also developed.
Projectile types
The first artillery shell that was fired at the enemy was nothing more than an ordinary stone loaded into a ballista. With the advent of cannons, they began to use special stone, and then metal cannonballs. They caused damage to the enemy due to the kinetic energy received during the shot. But back in the twelfth century AD, China used a high-explosive projectile thrown at the enemy by means of a catapult. Therefore, the proposal to make hollow cores with explosives inside was not long in coming. This is how the high-explosive artillery shell appeared. He inflicted significant damage to the enemy due to the energy of the explosion and the scattering of fragments. After the appearance of armored targets, special armor-piercing, sub-caliber and cumulative ammunition were developed to combat them. Their task was to break through the armor and disable the mechanisms and manpower that are in the reserved space. There are also shells for special purposes: lighting, incendiary, chemical, propaganda and others. Recently, guided munitions have been gaining popularity, which themselves adjust their flight for a more accurate defeat.goals.
High explosive shells
A land mine is an explosive charge that inflicts damage on the enemy through a shock wave, high temperature and explosion products (some explosives, for example, produce toxic emissions when burned). A high-explosive projectile in its pure form is practically not used. The explosive charge is placed in a durable metal case that can withstand high pressure in the bore. Therefore, when an explosive is detonated, the shell forms a large number of fragments. Such ammunition was called a high-explosive fragmentation projectile (OFS). The vast majority of artillery ammunition is exactly the OFS.
Shrapnel
Since it is difficult to guarantee a uniform dispersion of fragments when detonating a conventional OFS, a high-explosive fragmentation projectile with ready-made submunitions was developed. This type of ammunition was called "shrapnel" (in honor of the inventor, British officer Henry Shrapnel). It is most effective when detonated at a height of several meters from the ground. In modern ammunition, the striking elements are in the form of feathered pyramids, which makes it possible to hit even lightly armored targets.
Lamp against armor
At the end of the 40s of the twentieth century, a high-explosive projectile was developed in Great Britain to destroy enemy armored vehicles. It had a thin-walled case that contained an explosive charge and a detonator with a moderator. Upon contact with the armor, the thin metal shell was destroyed,and the explosive was flattened over the armor, capturing as large an area as possible. After that, the detonator was triggered and the explosive was detonated. As a result, the crew and mechanisms in the reserved space were damaged by internal fragments and the upper layer of armor was burned. This type is called an armor-piercing high-explosive projectile. However, with the advent of dynamic protection and spaced armor, it was considered ineffective. Currently, such shells are in service only in their homeland - in the UK.
High-explosive shell fuses
The first fuse for high-explosive fragmentation ammunition was an ordinary fuse, which was set on fire when a cannon was fired and initiated the detonation of explosives after a certain time. However, after the appearance of rifled guns and conical shells, which guaranteed a meeting with an obstacle in the front of the hull, percussion fuses appeared. Their advantage was that the explosion of explosives occurred immediately after contact with the barrier. To destroy fortifications, impact fuses were equipped with a moderator. This allowed the ammunition to first penetrate the obstacle, thereby dramatically increasing its effectiveness. Having equipped a land mine with such a fuse with a more massive body with thick walls (which allowed, due to kinetic energy, to penetrate deep into the walls of long-term firing points), we got a concrete-piercing projectile.
By the way, at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War, KV-2 tanks with the help of 152 mm concrete-piercing shells successfully fought againstGerman armored vehicles. When a shell hit a medium or light German tank, due to its weight, it first destroyed the car, tore off the turret, and then exploded. The disadvantage of percussion fuses was that when they hit viscous soil (for example, a swamp), they did not work. This problem was eliminated by a remote fuse, which makes it possible to detonate the ammunition at a certain distance from the cut of the gun barrel. Currently, this type of detonator is used in almost all OFS. It allows, for example, to fire from tank guns at air targets (helicopters).
Combat use of high-explosive shells
High-explosive shells are the main type of ammunition used by modern artillery systems. They are used to destroy fortifications, damage and destroy various enemy military equipment, its weapons, and manpower. With their help, passages are made in minefields and engineering defensive structures. For example, in the final period of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet self-propelled artillery mounts ISU-152, using a 152-mm high-explosive fragmentation projectile, successfully destroyed German pillboxes on the Seelow Heights, which ensured a breakthrough of the 1st and 2nd Guards Tank Armies of Katukov and Bogdanov northeast of Berlin. Even in the most powerful non-nuclear weapons of our time (RZSO "Smerch"), the basis of the ammunition load is 9M55F high-explosive fragmentation projectiles, which are equated with weapons of mass destruction during volley fire.
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