Armour-piercing, capped, ballistic capped shell

Armour-piercing, capped, ballistic capped (APCBC) is a type of configuration for armour-piercing ammunition introduced in the 1930s to improve the armour-piercing capabilities of both naval and anti-tank guns. The configuration consists of an armour-piercing shell fitted with a stubby armour-piercing cap (AP cap) for improved penetration properties against surface hardened armour, especially at high impact angles, and an aerodynamic ballistic cap on top of the AP cap to correct for the poorer aerodynamics, especially higher drag, otherwise created by the stubby AP cap. These features allow APCBC shells to retain higher velocities and to deliver more energy to the target on impact, especially at long range when compared to uncapped shells.

Armour-piercing, capped, ballistic capped shell
Cross section of an APCBC shell (APHECBC)
  1. Ballistic cap
  2. Armour-piercing cap
  3. Shell body
  4. Explosive charge
  5. Driving band
  6. Base fuze
  7. Tracer cup

The configuration is used on both inert and explosive armour-piercing shell types:

The APCBC configuration is an evolution of the earlier APC configuration (armour-piercing, capped), itself an evolution of the simple AP configuration (armour-piercing, uncapped). The APCBC configuration is however expensive and thus a large amount of both historical and modern armour-piercing ammunition uses only one of the two caps: APC (armour-piercing, capped) and APBC (armour-piercing, ballistic capped).

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