An airburst round is a type of tactical anti-personnel explosive ammunition, typically a

shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...

or grenade, that

detonate Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with ...

s in midair, causing air burst effect fragment damage to an enemy. This makes it easier to hit enemy soldiers behind a wall, in a

defensive fighting position A defensive fighting position (DFP) is a type of earthwork constructed in a military context, generally large enough to accommodate anything from one soldier to a fire team (or similar sized unit). Terminology Tobruk type positions are nam ...

, or in a confined space or room. It is used on many

gun A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...

s, from

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

to the hand-held XM25 Individual Airburst Weapon System (derived from the

XM29 OICW The XM29 OICW (''Objective Individual Combat Weapon'') was a series of prototypes of a new type of assault rifle that fired 20 mm HE airbursting projectiles. The prototypes were developed as part of the Objective Individual Combat Weapon ...

). Unlike traditional grenades, such as the 40 mm grenade, smart grenades can be electronically programmed to explode after traveling a certain distance. A

fire control computer A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a Director (military), director, and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs ...

or some other electronic sighting system is used to quickly program the electronic fuse with any distance, as conditions dictate.

Orbital ATK Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) was a sector (business segment) of Northrop Grumman from 2018 through 2019. It was formed from Orbital ATK Inc. a company which resulted from the merger of Orbital Sciences Corporation and parts of Alli ...

developed 30x173mm Mk310 PABM-T airburst rounds for

Mk44 Bushmaster II The Mk44 Bushmaster II is a 30 mm chain gun manufactured by Northrop Grumman. It is a derivative of the 25 mm M242 Bushmaster, and uses 70% of the same parts as the M242 while increasing the firepower by as much as 50% with the 20% increase ...

Terminology

It is also called an airburst shell, air burst grenade, programmable ammunition, 3P ammunition or smart grenade.

List of airburst round platforms

20 mm 20 mm caliber is a specific size of popular autocannon ammunition. It is typically used to distinguish smaller-caliber weapons, commonly called "guns", from larger-caliber "cannons" (e.g. machine gun vs. autocannon). All 20 mm cartridges h ...

grenade **

** Daewoo K11 ** QTS-11 *

25 mm grenade The 25 mm grenade is a type of explosive ordnance used in some modern grenade launchers. 25 mm grenades are armed after launch, after traveling a safe distance. Many types explode on impact, but others are designed to explode in mid-air after t ...

: ** XM25 Individual Airburst Weapon System **

XM307 Advanced Crew Served Weapon The XM307 Advanced Crew Served Weapon (ACSW) was a developmental 25 mm belt-fed automatic grenade launcher with programmable airburst capability. It is the result of the ''OCSW'' or ''Objective Crew Served Weapon'' project. It is lightweight and ...

Barrett XM109 The Barrett XM109 is a prototype anti materiel sniper rifle, chambered for 25 × 59 mm grenade rounds and developed by Barrett Firearms Manufacturing. It was designed in accordance with a requirement set out in 1994, and is capable of defeating ...

30 mm 30 mm caliber is a specific size of popular autocannon ammunition. Such ammunition includes NATO standard 30×113mmB and 30×173mm (STANAG 4624), Soviet 30×155mmB, 30×165mm, and 30×210mmB, Yugoslav 30×192mm, Anglo-Swiss 30×170mm, an ...

Shipunov 2A42 The Shipunov 2A42 is a Soviet/Russian 30 mm autocannon. It is built by the Tulamashzavod Joint Stock Company. Design The 30 mm 2A42 autocannon was developed as a replacement for 2A28 Grom and has a dual feed. One is for HE-T and th ...

**2A72 **

** Rheinmetall MK30-2/ABM ** Rheinmetall Wotan 30 ABM * 35 mm **

PAPOP The PAPOP (PolyArme POlyProjectiles, "multi-projectile multi-weapon") was a French project to construct a computerized infantry weapon for the FÉLIN system, capable of hitting hidden or protected targets. It would have combined a 35 mm gr ...

** Norinco QLU-11 **Rheinmetall Wotan 35 ABM * 40 mm **

Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: *Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s ...

** Mk 47 Striker ** Multi Caliber Individual Weapon System ** Norinco LG5 **K40 ** 40mm CTA *57 mm ** AU-220M * 84 mm ** Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle * 125 mm grenade **

M-84AS1 The M-84AS1 and M-84AS2 are substantially modernized versions of the M-84 main battle tank designed by the Military Technical Institute and produced by Technical Overhauling Institute "Čačak" in Serbia. The first version designated as M-84AS1 wa ...

External media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1dVcJXXxcY - Video showing effects of 40mm programmable - airburst ammunition

References

Grenades Ammunition {{Ammo-stub