Besides being enlivened with the launch of the Panther KF51 and EMBT Main Battle Tank (MBT), Eurosatory 2022 which was recently held in Paris, France, apparently also made a note for the future development of cavalry weapon systems in Indonesia.
In Eurosatory 2022, PT Pindad and Nexter Systems on June 14, 2022, agreed to cooperate in the procurement of 120 mm caliber tank munitions. Interestingly, this cooperation agreement includes a complete offering on 120 mm MBT munitions.
Quoted from a press release by PT Pindad, what is meant by a complete range of munitions for tanks in 120 mm caliber, includes SHARD APFSDS, High Explosive and training munitions. This new step is a continuation of the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding in Indonesia on 10 February 2022 before the French Minister of Defense and the Indonesian Minister of Defense in Jakarta, regarding cooperation in the field of medium and large caliber ammunition.
From the above review, an interesting point is the cooperation plan for the procurement of SHARD APFSDS munitions, which incidentally will be prepared for the Leopard 2A4 MBT.
SHARD is the latest generation of APFSDS (Armor-Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot) munition which is compatible with all current and future battle tanks equipped with NATO standard 120 mm smoothbore gun. Interoperability SHARD was prepared for use on the Leclerc, Leopard 2, Abrams M1A1/A2 and C1 Ariete MBTs, and these munitions were ensured through development conforming to the STANAG 4385 and ICD 120 standards.
SHARD APFSDS was designed by Nexter Munitions to respond to the increasingly strong protection on MBTs equipped with Rolling Homogeneous Armor (RHA) material. Knowing the effectiveness of AP (Armor Piercing) munitions against RHA doesn't mean much; on the other hand, it is not possible to set a standard target because almost all MBTs have different passive armor packages, based on layers of different materials such as steel, titanium, ceramic, rubber, glass, of different thicknesses and sequences. So encourage munitions manufacturers to create SHARD APFSDS.
In March 2021, Nexter announced the development of the SHARD APFSDS munition. The SHARD 120 projectile has a different shape, largely due to a redesigned exhaust sabot, this solution having been developed in the FTMA (Future Tank Main Armament) program sponsored by the French DGA (Direction Générale de l'Armement). This new design not only makes it possible to maintain the same gun while increasing the volume occupied by the propellant.
The extra propellant used in the SHARD is located at the base of the 120 mm barrel, and allows the bullet to remain compatible not only with current weapons but also with automatic loading systems such as the Leclerc.
The redesigned shape of the munition allows it to “almost” increase the chamber volume, making use of the barrel section while adding energy so muzzle velocity, greater volume means but lower pressure even higher energy, 520 MPa at 21 degrees Celsius, which also reduce wear on the MBT barrel.
Test fire of the APFSDS SHARD munition has been carried out under extreme temperature conditions and long range has confirmed the expected performance in the simulation. During trials, the accuracy of the APFSDS SHARD is effective at 1,500 meters of fire. According to the plan, SHARD APFSDS will begin to be mass-produced at the end of 2022.
Follow Daily Post on Google News to update information quickly. Thank you for visiting our website..!! Don't forget to share any information to help develop our website..
