
The Royal Australian Air Force intends to equip its F-35A fighter aircraft with 25 mm APEX ammunition supplied by Nammo. (Nammo )
Norwegian company Nammo has signed a contract to deliver its 25 mm Armour Piercing Explosive (APEX) round to Australia, the company announced in a recent press release.
The APEX round is designed specifically for the 25 mm GUA-22/A cannon fitted to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operates 72 F-35A fighters, with the final batch of nine delivered in December 2024.
Nammo said its production of the round for Australia will commence in 2025 with deliveries scheduled to be completed by 2027. Neither the company nor the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) had responded to Janes questions about the contract at the time of publication.
APEX is an armour piercing and high-explosive (HE) round that features a dual-safety time delay FMU-171/U fuze, developed by Polish company Zaklady Metalowe Dezamet.
According to Nammo, the APEX round provides extended range, greater accuracy compared with rounds fired from older systems such as the M61 cannon, tracer capability, and versatility. Nammo said the round is effective against airborne and armoured ground targets.
The round features a tungsten carbide penetrator as well as HE filling. The penetrator, fitted in the nose of the round, provides the APEX round with armour piercing capability, while the HE filling coupled with delayed initiation ensures detonation within the target, causing blast, fragmentation, and incendiary effects.
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