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

grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade g ...

, that detonates in midair, causing air burst effect

fragment Fragment may refer to: Entertainment Television and film * "Fragments" (''Torchwood''), an episode from the BBC TV series * "Fragments", an episode from the Canadian TV series ''Sanctuary'' * "Fragments" (Steven Universe Future), an episode f ...

damage to an enemy. This makes it easier to hit enemy soldiers behind a wall, in a defensive fighting position, or in a confined space or room. It is used on many guns, 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 sieg ...

to the hand-held XM25 Individual Airburst Weapon System (derived from the XM29 OICW). 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 or some other electronic sighting system is used to quickly program the electronic fuse with any distance, as conditions dictate. Orbital ATK developed 30x173mm Mk310 PABM-T airburst rounds for Mk44 Bushmaster II.

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 ha ...

grenade ** XM29 OICW ** Daewoo K11 **

QTS-11 The Type 11, () designated as QTS-11, is an air burst grenade launcher integrated with the QBZ-03 assault rifle in service of Chinese military since 2015. Reporting on the weapon as early as February 2011 initially identified the weapon as the ZH ...

* 25 mm grenade: ** XM25 Individual Airburst Weapon System ** XM307 Advanced Crew Served Weapon ** Barrett XM109 * 30 mm ** Shipunov 2A42 **2A72 ** Mk44 Bushmaster II ** Rheinmetall MK30-2/ABM ** Rheinmetall Wotan 30 ABM *

35 mm 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format commonly referred to as 35 mm film * 35 mm movie film, a type of motion picture film stock * 35MM 35 mm may refer to: * 135 film, a type of still photography format ...

** PAPOP ** Norinco QLU-11 **Rheinmetall Wotan 35 ABM * 40 mm ** Bofors 40 mm gun **

Mk 47 Striker The Mk 47 or Striker 40 is a 40mm automatic grenade launcher with an integrated fire control system, capable of launching smart programmable 40mm air burst grenades in addition to various unguided rounds. Design The Mk 47 has the latest sensin ...

** Multi Caliber Individual Weapon System ** Norinco LG5 **K40 **

40mm CTA 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest co ...

*57 mm ** AU-220M *

84 mm 84 may refer to: * 84 (number) * one of the years 84 BC, AD 84, 1984, AD 2084 * Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated census-designated place in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States * Seksendört, a Turkish pop group whose na ...

Carl Gustaf 8.4cm recoilless rifle The Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle (, named after '' Carl Gustafs Stads Gevärsfaktori'' which initially produced it) is a Swedish developed caliber man-portable shoulder-fired recoilless rifle, initially developed by the Royal Swedis ...

* 125 mm grenade ** M-84AS1

External media

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

References

Grenades Ammunition {{Ammo-stub