When, in the distant 1330, Berthold Schwarz, a German monk, discovered the propellant properties of gunpowder, he did not anticipate that he would become the progenitor of the new god, the god of war.
Origin of artillery
The monk's discovery was quickly applied in military affairs, and soon there were two directions in the development of weapons, where propellant propellant properties were used. The first was the creation of light hand-held firearms, the second was the production of guns. The appearance of hand-held firearms did not lead to the creation of a new kind of troops. They were simply armed with existing ones, replacing in the infantry and cavalry bows and light javelins throwing darts. But the appearance of guns formed new troops, which in Russia were called "firearms", and which the Italian theorist of armaments Niccolo Tartaglia proposed to call artillery, which in translation means "the art of shooting." Some researchers believe that this kind of troops appeared much earlier than the discovery of a German monk, with the invention of the first throwing machines - ballista. Be that as it may, the god of war was the artillery with the creation of firearms.
Development of the god of war
Over time, military affairs did not stand still, and artillery guns not only improved, but new types appeared: howitzers, mortars, volley fire systems and others. In the twentieth century, artillery truly dominated the battlefields. And along with the development of guns, artillery ammunition developed.
Types of shells
The first artillery shell, which was fired at the enemy, was nothing like a normal stone, being loaded into a ballista. With the advent of cannons began to use special stone, and then metal cores. They inflicted damage to the enemy due to the kinetic energy received during the shot. But even in the twelfth century of our era in China, a high-explosive projectile was used, which was tossed over the enemy by means of a catapult. Therefore, the proposal to produce hollow core with an explosive inside did not take long. So there was an artillery high-explosive shell. He inflicted considerable damage on the enemy due to the energy of explosion and fragmentation. After the advent of armored targets, special armor-piercing, sub-caliber and cumulative ammunition were developed to deal with them. Their task was to penetrate the armor and disable the mechanisms and the living force that are in the zabronevom space. Also there are shells of special purpose: lighting, incendiary, chemical, agitation and others. Recently, guided munitions are gaining popularity, which themselves correct their flight for more accurate target destruction.
High explosive shells
Fugas is a charge of explosives (explosives), which deals damage to the enemy by means of a shock wave, heat and explosion products (some explosives, for example, give toxic emissions during combustion). A high-explosive shell in its pure form is practically not used. The explosive charge is placed in a sturdy metal casing capable of withstanding high pressure in the barrel channel. Therefore, when the explosive is blasted , the shell forms a large number of fragments. Such a munition was called the high-explosive fragmentation projectile (FPS). The overwhelming majority of artillery munitions are just the OFS.
Shrapnel
Since it is difficult to guarantee the uniform spreading of the fragments during the blasting of the conventional FPS, a high-explosive fragmentation projectile with ready-made striking elements was developed. This type of ammunition was called "shrapnel" (in honor of the inventor, the British officer Henry Shrapnel). The greatest efficiency it has with a blast at an altitude of several meters from the ground. In modern ammunition, the damaging elements have the form of feathered pyramids, which allows even lightly armored targets to be hit.
Fugas against armor
In the late 40-ies of the twentieth century in Britain, a high-explosive projectile was developed to defeat enemy armored vehicles. It had a case with thin walls, in which a charge of explosive was placed and a detonator with a retarder. Upon contact with the armor, a thin metal shell was destroyed, and the explosive was flattened over the armor, capturing as much of the area as possible. After this, the detonator was triggered and the explosive was blown up. As a result, the crew and mechanisms were damaged in the outer space by internal fragments and burning of the upper layer of the armor. This species was called an armor-piercing high-explosive shell. However, with the advent of dynamic defense and spaced armor, it was deemed ineffective. Currently, such shells are armed only in their homeland - in the UK.
High explosive shells
The first fuse high-explosive ammunition was a conventional wick, which was set on fire when fired from a cannon and initiated the detonation of explosives after a certain time. However, after the appearance of rifled guns and shells of conical shape, which guaranteed a meeting with the obstacle of the front of the hull, fuses of impact action appeared. Their advantage lay in the fact that explosive explosions occurred immediately after contact with the obstacle. To destroy fortifications, impact fuses were equipped with a retarder. This allowed the ammunition to penetrate into the obstacle first, thereby dramatically increasing its effectiveness. Having equipped a land-mine with such a detonator with a more massive body with thick walls (which allowed, through kinetic energy, to penetrate deep into the walls of long-term firing points), a concrete shell was obtained.
By the way, at the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War, the KV-2 tanks with 152-mm concrete-piercing shells successfully fought against German armored vehicles. When hit in an average or light German tank, the projectile, due to its weight, first destroyed the car, tore up the tower, and then exploded. The disadvantage of shock fuzes was that when they hit a viscous soil (for example, a swamp) they did not work. This problem could be eliminated by a remote fuse, which allows an ammunition to be blasted at a certain distance from the cut of the gun barrel. Currently, this type of detonator is used in almost all OFS. It allows, for example, to fire from tank guns on air targets (helicopters).
Combat application of blast shells
High-explosive shells are the main type of ammunition used by modern artillery systems. They are used to destroy fortifications, damage and destroy various enemy combat equipment, its weapons, manpower. With their help breaks through the minefields and engineering defenses. For example, during the final period of the Great Patriotic War, Soviet self-propelled artillery systems ISU-152, using a 152 mm high-explosive projectile, successfully destroyed German bunkers at Seelow Heights, which provided the breakthrough of the 1st and 2nd Guards Tank Armies Katukova and Bogdanov North-east of Berlin. Even in the most powerful non-nuclear weapons of our time (RCD "Smerch") the basis of the ammunition is made up of high-explosive fragmentation projectiles 9M55F, which are equal to weapons of mass destruction during salvo firing.