Quote:
Originally Posted by Strike
Yes it's true 
I read somewhere that it's to avoid the cannon rounds potentially hitting something else and exploding. If you're in a tense dogfight over berlin you wouldn't really want the 20mm rounds to explode when impacting german houses would you?
On another note later ammunition types are proximity fuzed being able to detect targets by miniature radars.
Americans started using radar detonated artillery rounds during the later parts of the war I believe against the germans. Instead of digging into the ground before exploding, the proximity radar in the nose of each shell would go off at a given height above ground (say 1-2 meters) effectively barraging the area with shrapnel, where the older rounds would leave probably 50% of the shrapnel under ground. |
...seriously? Radars in shells? Uhmmmm, I have a fair knowledge of ammunition and ww2, but I swear I never heard of it, it is also true you learn something you everyday.. Do you have any reference on this?
AFAIK Proximity fuzes were normally magnetic. As for the rest fuzes could be time set and/or altitude set.