The word flechette is French and means "dart" (literally, "little arrow"). It is a projectile having the form of a small metal dart, usually steel, with a sharp-pointed tip and a tail with several vanes to stabilize it during flight. Darts are missile weapons, designed to fly such that a sharp, often weighted point will strike first. ...

Bulk use

Flechettes were first used as an air-dropped weapon in World War I by combatants on both sides. These were about four inches long (10 cm) and weighed a couple of ounces (60 g). Dropped from aeroplanes or Zeppelins over enemy trenches or airfields, these gravity missiles were capable of penetrating a helmet and the wearer's skull. Similar weapons were 'Lazy Dogs' (or 'Devil Dogs'), used by the U.S. in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. These 1 3/4" diameter (4.5 cm) bomblets were air-dropped at height in canisters by aircraft or scattered from buckets by helicopter crews, reaching high sub-sonic speeds as they fell. Targeted at enemy personnel and unarmored vehicles, the flechette hit the targets with the force of a bullet. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Airplane and Aeroplane redirect here. ... This is an article about Zeppelin airships. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Smaller flechettes were used in special artillery shells called "beehive" rounds (so named for the very distinctive whistling buzz made by thousands of flechettes flying downrange at supersonic speeds) and intended for use against troops in the open - a ballistic shell packed with flechettes was fired and set off by pressure-sensitive detonators, scattering flechettes and shrapnel in all directions. They were used in the Vietnam War by artillery gunners to defend their positions against infantry attacks. For other uses, see Artillery (disambiguation). ... Beehive is an anti-personnel round fired from an artillery or tank gun, packed full of metal darts, flechettes, which are released when the round bursts over the target. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000...

Controversy

The use of artillery flechette rounds in populated areas has recently been criticized due to their use by the Israel Defense Forces in the Gaza Strip. ^[1] These criticisms focus on the wide area of effect of artillery flechette rounds, and their use in areas with large civilian populations. Detractors argue that the such use of the rounds conflicts with the Fourth Geneva Convention provisions protecting non-combatants. ^[2][3] Emblem of the IDF The Israel Defense Forces are part of the Israeli Security Forces. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Fourth Geneva Convention The Fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV) relates to the protection of civilians during times of war in the hands of an enemy and under any occupation by a foreign power. ...

Heavy flechettes

An APFSDS round discarding its sabot shortly after leaving the muzzle

Known by most forces as discarding sabot rounds, these anti-tank rounds can be more effective than high explosive devices; see kinetic energy penetrators. For reasons why a smaller diameter projectile is desirable, see external ballistics and terminal ballistics. Image File history File links Sabot_separating. ... Image File history File links Sabot_separating. ... Soviet ammunition BM 15 of 125mm French anti-tank round with its sabot APFSDS at point of separation of sabot. ... Soviet ammunition BM 15 of 125mm French anti-tank round with its sabot APFSDS at point of separation of sabot. ... Preparing C-4 explosive This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Soviet ammunition BM 15 of 125mm French anti-tank round with its sabot APFSDS at point of separation of sabot. ... External ballistics is the part of ballistics tht refers to the behavior of a bullet after it exits the barrel and before it hits the target. ... Terminal ballistics, a sub-field of ballistics, is the study of the behavior of a projectile when it hits its target. ...

The M1A1 (US Army Main Battle Tank) and the Challenger 2 (British Army MBT) both employ APFSDS (Armor-Piercing, Fin-Stabilized, Discarding Sabot) rounds as their primary AT capacity, fired from a 120-mm main gun. The M1 Abrams main battle tank is the principal combat tank of the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps and the Australian Army, with three main versions being deployed starting in 1980: the M1, M1A1, and M1A2. ... The British FV4034 Challenger 2 is the main battle tank (MBT) currently in service with the armies of the United Kingdom and Oman. ...

The CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon is an air-dropped guided bomb containing 3,700 non-explosive steel and tungsten penetrator rods of various sizes. It was designed to attack targets where an explosive effect may be undesirable, such as fuel storage tanks in civilian areas.^[4] The CBU-107 Passive Attack Weapon is an air-dropped guided bomb containing 3,750 non-explosive steel and tungsten penetrator rods of various sizes. ...

Controversy

Modern anti-tank penetrator rounds are most effective when made with the highest density materials practical, and a common choice is tungsten, but depleted uranium, or DU, is in use by NATO forces. The controversy involves the residue of the use of DU rounds. Uranium metal is chemically very reactive, and the force of impact causes the round to ignite and burn. The resulting ash is a mixture of various uranium oxides, all of which are either known or suspected toxins. The depleted uranium in the round is also mildly radioactive, though less so than naturally occurring uranium ores.^[5] The health risks of exposure to the residues of DU rounds are still under debate. See the article on depleted uranium for more information. For other uses, see Tungsten (disambiguation). ... Depleted uranium storage yard. ... Uranate is the chemical term for oxide anions of the element uranium The metal uranium forms several oxides: Uranium dioxide or uranium(IV) oxide (UO2) Uranium trioxide or uranium(VI) oxide (UO3) Uraninite or pitchblende, a mineral (U3O8) Yellowcake, an intermediary product in uranium processing, also contains various uranium oxides. ... Radioactive decay is the set of various processes by which unstable atomic nuclei (nuclides) emit subatomic particles. ... Depleted uranium storage yard. ...

Small arms ammunition

Examples of various small arms flechettes. (Scale in inches.)

In the 1960s the U.S. Army began early developmental work on a flechette rifle cartridge. It fired steel darts that looked very much like steel nails with fins stamped into the back. The flechettes were 3 – 5 cm long, and 1 – 2 mm in diameter, with a 4 – 5 mm fin diameter. It was never fielded. Attempts have been made to develop a selective-fire flechette several times since, with mixed results. There were also experimental flechette rounds for the M203 grenade launcher and the 12-gauge shotgun, but the military eventually decided that standard ammunition worked best in both. Image File history File links Flechettes. ... Image File history File links Flechettes. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... The United States Army is the largest and oldest branch of the armed forces of the United States. ... The SIG 550 has four modes : Security (S), One round (1), Three-round burst (3) and Full automatic (hidden under the metal security which is removed if needed) A selective fire firearm can be fired in both semi-automatic and any number of automatic modes by means of a selector. ... M203 generally refers to the U.S. Militarys designation for a single shot 40 mm grenade launcher that attaches to the M16 assault rifle or the M4 Carbine. ... A grenade launcher is weapon that fires or launches a grenade to longer distances than a soldier could throw by hand. ... For other uses, see Shotgun (disambiguation). ...

Flechette rounds were developed for small arms for a number of reasons. Being very small and light compared to traditional jacketed lead or steel bullets, flechette ammunition weighs less per round, and thus an infantryman can carry more. Second is the issue of recoil — for the same amount of kinetic energy, a lighter bullet (with a higher muzzle velocity) produces less recoil, and thus less shot dispersion in automatic fire. The last reason was the emergence of lightweight, flexible body armor for the average infantryman. A very high velocity, small diameter projectile is able to easily penetrate body armor. Also its mass-to-piercing-area ratio was much better than that of regular bullets. Small arms captured in Fallujah, Iraq by the US Marine Corps in 2004 The term small arms generally describes any number of smaller infantry weapons, such as firearms that an individual soldier can carry. ... Boxes of ammunition clog a warehouse in Baghdad Ammunition is a generic military term meaning (the assembly of) a projectile and its propellant. ... The kinetic energy of an object is the extra energy which it possesses due to its motion. ... A guns muzzle velocity is the speed at which the projectile leaves the muzzle of the gun. ... An early naval cannon design, allowing the gun to roll backwards a small distance when firing The recoil when firing a gun is the backward momentum of a gun, which is equal to the forward momentum of the bullet or shell, due to conservation of momentum. ...

However, the flechette has a number of weaknesses that limit its effectiveness as small arms ammunition. They tended to penetrate heavy armor less deeply than heavier, higher momentum rifle bullets. Their extreme light weight caused them to be deflected extremely easily; a single leaf, or even a raindrop, could destabilize a flechette and cause it to tumble wildly. Because of the hard nature of the flechette, it does not deform on impact, and while it penetrates extremely well, it produces very little tissue damage. The last issue with small arms flechettes is accuracy. To fire the finned flechette out of a smoothbore requires the use of a sabot. Since flechettes do not work well when spun by rifling, the only source of stabilization is the fins. When the sabot separates, it can disturb the effectively unstabilized flechette, and cause deviations in its flight. In classical mechanics, momentum (pl. ... An APFSDS separating from its spindle sabot Anti-tank flechette round with its sabot A sabot refers to a device named for a shoe used in a firearm or cannon to fire a projectile or bullet that is smaller than the bore diameter. ... Rifling of a Canon de 75 modèle 1897 A 35 caliber Remington, with a microgroove rifled barrel with a right hand twist. ...

An interesting variation of the flechette that addresses its difficulties is the SCIMTR, developed as part of the CAWS project. Also, in 1989 and 1990 the U.S. Army experimented with the Steyr ACR. However, the rifle did not achieve the necessary performance to be considered a viable avenue to pursue. SCIMTR was an experimental military shotgun ammunition created in the 1970s. ... Early Springfield Armory SPIW prototype (Circa 1964) Final Springfield Armory SPIW prototype (Circa 1966) The Special Purpose Individual Weapon (SPIW) was a long-running US Army program to develop, in part, a workable flechette-based rifle, though other concepts were also involved. ... Steyr ACR Steyr ACR ammunition The Steyr ACR was a prototype flechette-firing assault rifle built for the US Armys Advanced Combat Rifle program of 1989/90. ...

In fiction

Flechette weapons see heavy use in science fiction, particularly in cyberpunk settings like William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy. They are called by a variety of names, including fletchers, needlers, needle guns, or a variety of realistic weaponry firing flechettes (such as a flechette rifle), and are most often employed as pistols. They are typically characterized as having short range, high impact firing capabilities. Berlins Sony Center reflects the global reach of a Japanese corporation. ... There are a number of people who have been (or are) named William Gibson. ... The Sprawl-trilogy, of which Neuromancer is the first part. ... A needlegun, also known as a needler, flechette gun or fletcher, is a firearm that fires small fin-stabilized, metal darts. ...

An example is the "Flechette Gun" from Turok Evolution, an apparently gas-powered device that fires large darts. The Strider Hunters in Half-Life 2 Episode Two also fire exploding flechettes. Turok: Evolution is a first-person shooter video game developed and published by Acclaim Entertainment. ... Half-Life 2: Episode Two will be the second game in a series of expansion episodes for the game Half-Life 2 from Valve Corporation. ...

A flechette-based bomb is used in a terrorist attack in Thomas Harris' novel Black Sunday. This article is about the author Thomas Harris. ... This article is about the novel. ...

References

External links

• Pictures of air dropped flechette, from WWI through the 1970s.
• Israeli Supreme Court decision on the use of flechette rounds in the Gaza Strip; the petition to ban their use was rejected by the court.
• Carr center paper use on flechettes in urban environments
• Types of Ammunition
• Sunward Aerospace, Flechette inspired model rocket kit