Abstract: A subcaliber projectile including a penetrator preferably made of tungsten eavy metal, and having a penetrator tip section and a section following thereafter and extending over the major portion of the penetrator length which is provided with an external thread (helical groove) or circumferential annular grooves to provide a form-locking connection with a discardable propelling cage sabot. To realize improved piercing power for the penetrator, the form-locking region is composed of annular grooves without a pitch, or of a fine metric thread having a thread valley, with a width of approximately one to three times the base width of the groove defining wall or of a thread peak. Preferably a more brittle material is employed in the front penetrator region than in the tail region, and a further indentation structure is incorporated in the first frontal thread turns or grooves of the form-locking region.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
July 15, 1988
Date of Patent:
July 28, 1992
Assignees:
Rheinmetall GmbH, L'Etat Francais represente per le Delegue Ministeriel pour L'Armement
Inventors:
Henning Schaake, Jurgen Bocker, Wilfried Becker, Jurgen Winkelmann, Marc Berville, Joel Leblond, Patrick Montier, Jean-Claude Sauvestre