A new 25mm round for the F-35

[Slater]

Those Norwegians do more than just hunt elk


http://www.dtic.mil/ndia/2014armamen...15439Sande.pdf

[sinlessorrow]

Am I seeing that right? A 25mm armor piercing explosive round?

[J8127]

I'm intrigued. The 30mm DU rounds A-10s use are built around trying to get a little "rod" of DU to the tank itself, and it's effectiveness is wildly over estimated. This design takes a smaller round to begin with and uses half the available space for a plastic explosive. I want more information on the "armor" they are shooting with it in the brochure.

[Slater]

This particular round was featured on an episode of "Future Weapons" or something similar. Armor penetration was impressive even on relatively thick steel plates (IIRC, it was an inch thick or so).

[Averageman]

Put a turret on a Stryker and gun it with a 25mm and this ammo?

[montanadave]

I eagerly await the 7.62 version.

[justin_247]

The A-10 uses a GAU-8 autocannon and the F-35 uses the GAU-12 autocannon, so here's some numbers for you...

GAU-8 muzzle energy with API rounds - 207,000 joules
GAU-12 muzzle energy with API rounds - 107,500 joules

With this in mind, it is safe to say that the F-35's autocannon is armor piercing, but not necessarily anti-tank.

The DOD is looking to move away from guns when it comes to heavily armored targets, and instead transition to the SDB for that role.

EDIT: just for comparison, the 7.62x51 round is about 3,500 joules.

[rjacobs]

Saw a ton of F35's flying down at Eglin the other day. Had never seen one before. Cool looking airplane.

[MountainRaven]

The A-10 uses a GAU-8 autocannon and the F-35 uses the GAU-12 autocannon, so here's some numbers for you...

GAU-8 muzzle energy with API rounds - 207,000 joules
GAU-12 muzzle energy with API rounds - 107,500 joules

With this in mind, it is safe to say that the F-35's autocannon is armor piercing, but not necessarily anti-tank.

The DOD is looking to move away from guns when it comes to heavily armored targets, and instead transition to the SDB for that role.

EDIT: just for comparison, the 7.62x51 round is about 3,500 joules.

Seems silly to move away from guns for AT to me. Course, DoD probably doesn't expect a big stand-up fight with another power anytime soon.

Also for comparison: The APEx projectile weighs something like 3600 grains.

[justin_247]

Seems silly to move away from guns for AT to me. Course, DoD probably doesn't expect a big stand-up fight with another power anytime soon.

Also for comparison: The APEx projectile weighs something like 3600 grains.

IMHO, an aircraft equipped with SDBs, such as GBU-53s, is vastly more capable in the anti-tank role, and pretty much every other role, than aircraft equipped with guns. An F-35 can carry 24 GBU-53s, for example... being that they have <1 meter accuracy, a small formation of F-35s could easily lay waste to a slew of tanks.