30 mm/1.1811 inch ammunition refers to one of several autocannon rounds: the 30 × 173 mm, 30 × 113 mm or 30 × 165 mm; the first two of which are used by the armed forces of NATO, the latter by former Warsaw Pact nations; these rounds are used by the armies of export customer nations as well.
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Usage
Like the smaller 25 mm round, the 30 mm is not typically an anti-personnel weapon round. Instead, the 30 mm round is generally either an anti-materiel or armor-piercing round. Rounds of this size can be effective against armored vehicles as well as fortified bunkers.
The U.S. military uses 30 mm weapons in their A-10 Thunderbolt II and AH-64 Apache helicopter. It will be used in the AC-130 Gunship and the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation use their 30 mm weapons in a variety of vehicles, including the Su-25 attack aircraft, Mi-24 helicopter, Mi-28 attack helicopter, and the BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicle.
Examples
30 × 91mm
- MK 108 cannon (German, aircraft, WWII)
30 × 113mm
- Hughes M230 Chain Gun (US)
- Royal Small Arms Factory ADEN cannon (UK, aircraft)
- GIAT DEFA 550 revolver cannon (France)
30 × 150mm
30 × 165mm
- Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-301 (Russia, aircraft)
- Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-30 (Russia, aircraft)
- Gryazev-Shipunov GSh-6-30 rotary cannon
- 2A42 IFV cannon
- 2A72 IFV cannon
- 2A38 AA-cannon
30 × 170mm
- RARDEN high velocity gun (UK, vehicle)
30 × 173mm
- GAU-8 Avenger (US, aircraft)
- Bushmaster II (US)
30 × 250mm Caseless
- Rheinmetall RMK30 recoilless cannon (Germany)
Other
- Oerlikon Contraves KCB (Switzerland)
- GIAT M781 autocannon (France)
Types of 30 mm ammunition
30 mm ammunition generally comes in three varieties: armor piercing (AP), high explosive (HE), and training rounds. Armor piercing and high explosive cartridges usually also possess incendiary characteristics. Anti-material and armor piercing rounds use depleted uranium to pierce armor. When the depleted uranium hits the metal at high speed, the kinetic energy ignites the uranium particles that contact oxygen. After hitting, the depleted uranium leaves low levels of radiation on the target. To avoid this, tungsten may be used instead, as it is not a radioactive material, but its price is far greater than depleted uranium.
See also
- 5.56 × 45 mm
- 7.62 × 51mm
- 12.7 × 99 mm
- 12.7 × 108 mm
- 14.5 × 114 mm
- 20 mm caliber
- 25 × 137 mm
- 40 mm grenade
- Bofors 40 mm gun
- Caliber
- List of cartridges (weaponry), pistol and rifle
External links
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