Ammunition Myth - Hyper-Velocity Ammunition Functioned by Creating Excess EnergyBy Copyright 2!"# $%&% 'eal# All (ights (eser)ed*hen de)eloping tungsten-cored ammunition the +%,%A% assigned the acronym -HVA./ 0hich stood 1or -Hyper2High Velocity Armor .iercing Ammunition/%3he British began their program using the acronym ,V&, 0hich stood 1or -,uper Velocity &iscarding ,abot/% E)entually it 0as changed to A.&, 0hich stands 1or -Armor .iercing &iscarding ,abot/%3hese rounds 4red saboted pro5ectiles containing a tungsten core at extremely high )elocities% 'one other than the main author o1 -6rdnance &epartment7 .lanning Munitions 1or *ar CMH .ub !-8/ stated on page 9:2;Hardly had the new APC high-explosive ammunition reached thebattlefelds when the even more heavily armored Panther and Tiger tanksmade their appearance. They could not be knocked out even by the !-mm. "#$ or the "%$ APC provided &or '-inch and (%-mm. guns. This newthreat called &or a shell o& radically di)erent design. The *rdnance+epartment,s answer was -H.AP.- The principle underlying thee)ectiveness o& H.AP/hypervelocity armor-piercing ammunition/wasthat the energy o& a pro0ectile is a &unction o& the s1uare o& the velocity.2ight-weight3 hard-coredpro0ectilescouldattainhypervelocities3 that is3&rom '3!!! to 43!!! or more &eet per second3 and thus have more thandouble the energy and hence penetrating power o& those fred at ordinaryvelocities3 which seldom exceeded $3%!! &eet per second.3he author o1 said statement ne)er did any o1 the related math% 9 and !8>> they had them de)elop rounds 4ring modi4ed )ersions o1 the +,ABs o0n ":-mm MCD pro5ectile 1rom the :"-mm M9 gun#and :"-mm pac= ho0itEer%Both an HE shell and steel shot based on the :D-mm29-inch gun pro5ectiles 0as de)eloped as a saboted round 1or the !"-mm M9 ho0itEer% 3he !"-mm M9 ho0itEer 0as the light 0eight -airborne/ )ersion designed 1or paratroops and also used by the in1antry% @ 0as that it could 0ithstand impacts o)er 9# 12s much better than steel% Most steel shot o1 the era had to be excessi)ely heat treated to 0ithstand impacts at 9# to 9#2 1eet per second7 most 0as designed 1or )elocities o1 2#8 12s or less7 i1 it 0as too brittle it 0ould shatter an too malleable it 0ould de1orm against hea)y armor plate at excessi)e )elocities%6ne British D-pounder load 0as a D%9-pound steel pro5ectile at 2#8" 1eet persecond generating >2D 1oot tons o1 energy% 3he D-pounder A.&, round 4red a 9%! pound saboted shot at 9" 12s generating 28" 1oot tons o1 energy% 3he last the author loo=ed# 28" tons 0as less than >2D tons% Moreso A that is the 0eight o1 the complete sabot7 the actual penetrator 0eighed something li=e !%" pounds and 0ould only ha)e !>9 1oot tons A 1ar less than :8 1oot tons%3he !:-pounder gun 4red a !:-pound pro5ectile at 28" 12s 1or !#!>8 1oot tons energy% 3he :%8 penetrator 1or its A.&, round tra)elled at > 12s and generated 8C! 1oot tons o1 energy 0hile the tungsten penetrator had only >C> 1oottons energy 0hen it le1t the sabot% Again# the hyper-)elocity round generated HE,, energy than the standard steel shot%3he +, :D-mm HVA. round 4red much the same sabot at 2#D 12s; the complete sabot generated the :8 1oot tons o1 energy compared to the :C: 1oot tons o1 the !"-lb% A.C pro5ectile but the penetrator generated only 9" 1oot tons%'either the HVA. round nor the A.&, ?,V&,@ 0or=ed on a basis o1 ha)ing more energy than a steel round% 3hey 1unctioned 1rom a diFerent principle; allo0ing a higher 0eight to caliber ratio bac=ed up by a high )elocity%For example# a 9%89 pound 9"-millimeter shot 0ould ha)e a 0eight to bore ratio o1 9G ?9%89 2 ?!%9C I !%9C x !%9C 2 2@ J !%9!% Fired at > 1ps it has a )elocity ratio o1 2 ?> 22@% 3hus# potential penetration is 9"-mm x 9 x 2 J 2!mm7 at 9#> 12s the potential penetration 0ould be 9" x 9 x !%: J !:C-mm J :-inches%