Artillery Ammunition And Missiles: Destruction Power Of Artillery

During 1850, solid shot, which was spherical in shape, and black powder were standard ammunition for guns. Howitzers fired hollow powder-filled shells which were ignited by wooden fuses filled with slow-burning powder.

- Lt General Naresh Chand (Retd)

The projectile or shell; propellant; primer to ignite the propellant; cartridge case to hold the propellant, bursting charge and fuse. The size of the projectile is expressed in terms in terms of calibre, which is the diameter of the projectile as measured in mm or inches.

Precision Guidance Munition (PGM)

A PGM (also called smart weapon, smart munition, smart bomb) is a guided munition designed to precisely hit a specific target. The terminal guidance unit is designed to sense emitted or reflected electromagnetic -radiation. PGMs is the area where artillery can improve radically to provide devastating, accurate and almost instant fire. PGMs could also punish infrastructure targets with less collateral damage; engage radars, integrated air defence systems, and command and control centres effectively. PGMs would be self guided and thus could be launched from a longer range when operating from an airborne platform thus reducing the risk to the pilot and the aircraft. PGMs used by US Forces have been successful in the Middle East, forcing the adversaries to change their tactics by widely dispersing their forces. PGM Components include a Guidance Unit which discriminates differences in energy received by its sensor; and a Tracker Unit which controls the flight of the PGM to the target.

Some examples of current PGMs

M982 Excalibur. This is a 155mm extended range guided artillery shell developed by Raytheon Missile Systems and BAE Systems AB. It is a GPS-guided munition, capable of being used for close support of within 75-150 m of friendly troops. It has a range of 40-57 km and CEP (cumulative error of probability) of around 5-20 m.