Mecar's M929 APFSDS-T ammunition undergoes trials in Slovakia

Belgium’s Mecar and Slovakia’s ZTS-Special conducted validation trials in late April in Slovakia with new M929 armor piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot-tracer (APFSDS-T) ammunition developed specially for the 2A42 family of 30x165 mm calibre automatic cannons.

The trials were held over two days at the Military-Technical Testing Institute Záhorie (VTSU Záhorie), and fired 240 rounds from the TURRA-30 unmanned turret fitted on a Sakal infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) prototype, and from a two-man turret on the BVP-2 (a locally produced BMP-2) IFV. The 2A42 cannons were fitted with new four-chamber muzzle brakes.

The M929 APFSDS-T ammunition was developed specially for the 2A42 family of 30x165 mm calibre automatic cannons. (Miroslav Gyurosi)

The M929 APFSDS-T ammunition is about 95% complete, a Mecar spokesperson said, adding that it is now being marketed to potential customers. The spokesperson did not reveal the potential customers.

According to a Mecar presentation, the M929 APFSD-T ammunition is 293 mm long with a 690 g nominal weight; the propellant has a 130 g nominal weight. The 235 g penetrator is produced from a cobalt-free tungsten alloy and the cartridge case is steel. Muzzle speed (at 21°C) is 1280 m/s. The tracer burns for 2.1 seconds, and the penetrator takes 1.7 seconds to fly 2,000 m. It can penetrate 50 mm of rolled homogenous armor (RHA) at 60° from 1,000 m, and 40 mm of RHA at 60° from 2,000 m. Its dispersion is <5 mil. Operational temperature is from -32°C to 62°C.