Armour-piercing Discarding Sabot - FAPDS

FAPDS

Many newer medium calibre APDS cores use a frangible high density alloy, the resulting projectiles are called Frangible Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot (FAPDS) for APDS types, or FRAP (Frangible Armour Piercing) for full calibre projectiles. During penetration, a frangible projectile’s core fragments into many high velocity pieces. The effect of a frangible projectile on a lightly armoured target is much the same as a high explosive incendiary round, but with a cloud of dense, high velocity fragments penetrating deeper into the target's interior. Upon striking heavy armour the effect of FAPDS is more akin to a standard APDS, albeit with higher fragmentation of the core, and hence lethality if the armour is perforated.