25 mm caliber



25 mm caliber is a range of autocannon ammunition. It includes the NATO standardized Swiss 25×137mm, the Swiss 25×184mm, the Soviet 25x218mmSR, and the Chinese 25×183mmB.

Usage
The 25 mm round can be used for anti-materiel or anti-personnel purposes. In the anti-personnel role, a 25 mm weapon armed with HE rounds can kill large numbers of opposing troops either in the open or in light fortifications. In the anti-materiel role, a 25 mm weapon armed with armor-piercing rounds can disable many types of aircraft and ground vehicles, including some main battle tanks.

The US military uses 25 mm weapons in their AV-8B Harrier, AC-130 gunship, M2 Bradley, LAV-25, F-35 Lightning II and as a standard ship-based munition in the Mk 38 autocannon.

Types of 25 mm ammunition


Several sub-types of the NATO 25 mm ammunition are available—the most common being armor-piercing, high-explosive, sabot, tracer, and practice rounds. Cartridges are usually composed of a combination of the aforementioned categories. For example, the M791 is an armor-piercing discarding sabot with tracer (APDS-T) round. It is used against lightly armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, and aerial targets such as helicopters and slow-moving fixed-wing aircraft.