Armour-piercing Discarding Sabot - Sub-projectile Construction

Sub-projectile Construction

The sub-projectile consists of a high density core with a penetrating cap, enclosed within a high strength sheath (steel) with a lightweight alloy (aluminum-magnesium alloy) ballistic cap. For modern small/medium calibre APDS projectiles, the core is not sheathed and the ballistic and penetrating caps are combined. A tracer element may be added to the APDS sub-projectile, for large calibre weapons this is part of the outer sheath, for small/medium calibre weapons it is contained within a hollow cavity in, or attached to, the base of the core. Most modern APDS projectiles used high strength shock resistant tungsten alloys. The main constituent is tungsten, alloyed or sintered with/to cobalt, copper, iron or nickel. Very few APDS use depleted uranium (DU) titanium alloy for the penetrator material, though the retired 20 mm MK149-2 Phalanx round did use DU.