Cannon rounds

[Sternjaeger II]

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.

[akronnick]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_fuze#Deployment

They were only allowed to be used over water until the Battle of the Bulge to prevent the Germans from reverse engineering unexploded shells.

[Sternjaeger II]

aaah ok we're talking about big shells here, not aircraft cannon rounds

[skouras]

so is any kind variand of cannon shells in the sim that don't explode

Originally Posted by skouras

so is any kind variand of cannon shells in the sim that don't explode

Duds!

[skouras]

Originally Posted by speculum jockey

Duds!

i lost you

[Sternjaeger II]

lol it was a joke ;0) the Luftwaffe used a varied set of cannon rounds, AP, API, APT, HE, HET (I have a small collection of these, crazy stuff!), but in the end it was down to the pilot's choice/availability.

[JG14_Jagr]

Do a google on 5" Proximity Fuses. Introduced in the Pacific and not allowed to be fired over land until the Battle of the Bulge for fear duds would be found and reverse engineered. Made radar guided arty batteries extremely deadly...