Ammunition
The 2A42 fires 30x165 ammunition, a cartridge introduced in the 1970s in the Soviet Union to replace previous 30mm autocannon cartridges. Other weapons using this size of cartridge case include the 2A38 and 2A72 autocannons for various vehicle, helicopter and air defence applications, as well as numerous single-, dual- and six-barrel naval and air force cannons. The 2A42, 2A38 and 2A72 fire percussion-primed ammunition; the naval and aerial cannons use electrical priming, and therefore their ammunition is not interchangeable with the land-based ammunition types, despite the same cartridge case size.
Originally three basic types of ammunition were developed in the Soviet Union for the land-based weapons: high explosive incendiary, high explosive fragmentation with tracer, and an armour-piercing ballistic capped with tracer. Later a sub-caliber armour piercing round was introduced, and today also countries other than Soviet Union/Russia manufacture 30x165 percussion-primed ammunition. The main types of ammunition are summarized in the table below:
| Designation | Type | Projectile Weight (g) | Bursting charge (g) | Muzzle Velocity (m/s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3UOF8 | HEI | 389 | 49 g | 960 | A high explosive incendiary round with A-670M nose fuze. The fuze produces a 0.15 millisecond delay on impact, and a self-destruct mechanism detonating the projectile after 7.5 to 14.5 seconds of flight (3900–5300 m distance from muzzle). |
| 3UOR6 | HE-T | 385 | 11.5 g | 960 | Nose-fuzed high explosive fragmentation tracer round, utilizing the same A-670M impact/self-destruct fuze as the 3UOF8. Tracer burn time 10 to 14 seconds. |
| 3UBR6 | APBC-T | 400 | none | 970 | Solid shot with blunt penetrator covered by a hollow windshield cap. Tracer burn time 3.5 seconds. Penetration:
20mm thick plate at 60 degree impact, 700 m range |
| 3UBR8 | APDS | 304 | none | 1120 | A sub-caliber discarding sabot. No tracer. Penetration:
25mm thick plate at 60 degree impact, 1500 m range |
| M929 | APFSDS-T | ? | none | ? | A sub-caliber fin-stabilized discarding sabot round with tracer from Belgian Mecar, with tungsten alloy penetrator. Penetration: 55 mm steel at 1,000 m, 45 mm at 2,000 m range. |
Read more about this topic: 30 Mm Automatic Cannon 2A42