Logo from Scott Cunningham.

Glossary A

AA

Anti-Aircraft.

AAG

Anti-Aircraft Gun.

AC

Antichar — anti-tank. (French)

AFV

Armoured Fighting Vehicle.

AM

Automitrailleuse — armoured car. (French)

AMC

Automitrailleuse de Combat — combat armoured car. Used to designate a cavalry or cruiser tank. (French)

AMD

Automitrailleuse de Découverte — long range reconnaissance armoured car. Used to designate a wheeled vehicle. (French)

AMR

Automitrailleuse de Reconnaissance — short range reconnaissance armoured car. Used to designate a light tank. (French)

Anklopf

Anklopf — tapping. The Pak 35/36 was sarcastically nicknamed the Panzer Anklopf Kanone (tank tapping gun) in 1941 after it proved incapable against the Soviet T–34 and KV–1 tanks. (German)

anticarro

anticarro — anti-tank. (Italian)

antichar

antichar — anti-tank. (French)

AP

Armour Piercing. An anti-tank round where the projectile is a full calibre projectile of high strength material, such as steel, which is either completely solid or which contains a small amount of high explosive. The latter type of projectile is sometimes distinguished in other texts by appending the suffix “/HE”. Solid shot AP projectiles were uncommon in World War II so to avoid unnecessary repetition the suffix “/HE” is not used; all projectiles can be assumed to have explosive unless otherwise noted. In other texts “AP” is sometimes used as a general term to describe any anti-tank projectile, although on this site I spell out the term “armour piercing” rather than using “AP” to indicate this. More information about this and other ammunition types is in the Background Information section.

APBC

Armour Piercing with Ballistic Cap. An AP projectile with a truncated nose (as if the end had been sawn off) covered by a light weight ballistic cap to improve flight characteristics. Nearly all APBC projectiles contained a small amount of explosive but to avoid unnecessary repetition the suffix “/HE” is not used; solid shot projectiles will be specified where applicable. More information about this and other ammunition types is in the Background Information section.

APC

Armour Piercing Capped. An AP projectile with a metal piercing cap fitted over the tip. Nearly all APC projectiles contained a small amount of explosive but to avoid unnecessary repetition the suffix “/HE” is not used; solid shot projectiles will be specified where applicable. More information about this and other ammunition types is in the Background Information section.

APCBC

Armour Piercing Capped with Ballistic Cap. An APC projectile with a light weight ballistic cap fitted over the piercing cap to improve flight characteristics, as the optimum shape for the piercing cap is not usually the best for stable flight. Nearly all APCBC projectiles contained a small amount of explosive but to avoid unnecessary repetition the suffix “/HE” is not used; solid shot projectiles will be specified where applicable. More information about this and other ammunition types is in the Background Information section.

APCR

Armour Piercing Composite Rigid. An anti-tank projectile which has a high density solid core (the penetrator) of smaller calibre than the gun bore. The penetrator is carried by a full calibre sabot of light weight material. In an APCR projectile the sabot remains with the penetrator in flight after firing, unlike an APDS projectile in which the sabot is discarded. In the USA this type of projectile was called HVAP. More information about this and other ammunition types is in the Background Information section.

APCNR

Armour Piercing Composite Non-Rigid. An anti-tank projectile which has a high density solid core (the penetrator) of smaller calibre than the gun bore. Unlike an APCR projectile, the penetrator is surrounded by a thin skirt of malleable metal which is squeezed down to the sub-calibre’s size by a tapering gun bore during firing. More information about this and other ammunition types is in the Background Information section.

APDS

Armour Piercing Discarding Sabot. An anti-tank projectile which has a high density solid core (the penetrator) of smaller calibre than the gun bore. The penetrator is carried by a full calibre sabot of light weight material. In an APDS projectile the sabot is discarded in flight after firing, unlike an APCR projectile in which the sabot remains with the penetrator. In Britain this type of projectile was called SVDS during World War II. More information about this and other ammunition types is in the Background Information section.

APFSDS

Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discarding Sabot. Developed after World War II, this is an APDS projectile which uses fins for stabilisation instead of spin stabilisation. More information about this and other ammunition types is in the Background Information section.

APHV

Armour Piercing High Velocity. An AP projectile with a greater propellant charge resulting in a higher muzzle velocity. Usually used to distinguish later AP rounds from earlier versions of the same calibre.

APX

Atelier Puteaux — Puteaux workshop. Puteaux is located in the Hauts de Seine, where the main city is Nanterre. It used to be a great industrial site. (French)

armata

armata — gun. Implies high velocity. (Polish)

AT

Anti-Tank.

ATG

Anti-Tank Gun.

ATR

Anti-Tank Rifle.

Atelier Puteaux

Atelier Puteaux — Puteaux workshop. Puteaux is located in the Hauts de Seine, where the main city is Nanterre. It used to be a great industrial site. (French)

Ausf.

Ausfuehrung — model. (German)

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