ARTILLERY AMMUNITION

Combustible Cartridge Cases (CCCs) & Bi-Modular Charge System (BMCS)for 155 mm Artillery Guns

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Description

Combustible cartridge cases (CCCs) for tank/ artillery gun ammunition are being introduced all over the world, because of their definite advantages over brass cartridge cases. There has been, however considerable demand in improving their combustion properties to ensure proper performance under different environmental conditions. When a CCC is inserted in a hot gun chamber and allowed to remain there for some time, it can result in automatic ignition of CCC/propellant which is termed as cook-off. Thus, cook- off may be defined as an unintended ignition of a CCC as a result of heat transfer from overheated barrel or gun chamber to CCC. In the case of conventional ammunition, a part of the heat is dissipated outside due to the heat capacity of the metallic material (brass) while in a CCC a more rapid cook-off is expected because of the absence of the metallic case. The advantages of using CCCs are:-
  • Fully combustible concept with no spent
  • Improved crew compartment environment due to the reduction of noxious fumes and clutter from spent
  • Total reduction in the weight of round resulting in easing the burden on crew and also resulting in improved
  • Increase in crew
  • Ballistic performance from -40 deg C to +60 deg
  • Increase in firing
  • Reduction in Barrel
  • Compatibility with Auto
  • Contribution to charge vulnerability
  • Better protection of propellant
  • Reduction in the cost of
  • Works at higher chamber pressures for which extraction of metallic cartridge cases are
  • CCCs are chemically compatible with Single, Double and Triple Base
  • Improves the shelf life of
  BMCS has been developed which is adoptable to various 155 mm artillery guns operating in all Indian terrains. It replaces the traditional cloth bag charge system which consists of a number of increments to achieve full range. Modular charge consists of a combustible case (CC) filled with cooler propellant to achieve improved barrel life and eliminates the wastage of propellant. The BMCS consists of two types of charges – Lower Zones (LZ) for shorter ranges and Higher Zones (HZ) for longer ranges. The system utilises fully indigenous raw materials, equipment and processes. Debris-free burning is ensured over a wide range of operating temperatures to take care of different weather conditions prevailing in Siachen to Rajasthan. Apart from primary ammunition, secondary ammunition can also be fired with BMCS. The BMCS was extensively evaluated and provisional range tables are generated. BMCS is adoptable to various guns by generating requisite range tables and are finalised during initial production.   The state-of-art technology of modular charge system eliminates wastage of costly incremental propellant charges and safety hazards. This MCS uses rigid combustible cases, which are called modules. These modules can be combined as per requirement to form propellant charge system. Thus, the primary function of the BMCS is to provide adequate pressure to propel a projectile with the required muzzle velocity as applicable to specific range. One more advantage of this MCS is that rigid combustible charge cases allow the charges to be handled by an automated loading system, a process that could be difficult with bagged charges.   Responding to the new concept of Modular Charge system, SMPP has developed Combustible cases for the entire range of Artillery Guns. Most prominent are :- 105mm- Modular charge system has been introduced in the 105mm IFG with the combustible cases comprising of lower Zone Charge Modules (LZ) and Higher Zone Charge Modules (HZ) where each module is made of 3 components. 155mm- Modular Combustible cases are available in both Bi-Modular (BMCS) and Uni-Modular (UMCS) variants, each comprising of Lower Zone Charge Modules (LZ) and Higher Zone Charge Modules (HZ).y Attributes
  • Modular Concept
  • LZ Intended for zone 1 and 2
  • HZ intended for zone 3 to 5 (39 caliber guns) and Zone 3 to 6 (52 caliber guns)
  • Support for automatic and manual loading
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