The XM1028 shell holds 1100 10mm tungsten balls that are propelled out of the gun barrel and begin to disperse. The tungsten projectiles are lethal at up to 700 meters. The official requirement of the XM1028 is to kill or disable more than 50 percent of a 10 man squad with 1 shot and do the same to a 30 man platoon with 2 shots.

Production of the shell began in 2002, with plans for up to 30,000 shells (costing over $3,000 each) being produced. After initial production of some 2,000 shells, another 3,000 were to be built in 2004 and 5,000 in the year after that. But numerous delays over effectiveness, safety and reliability issues, delayed official introduction until now. Only small numbers of M1028 shells were shipped to Iraq since the round first became available in 2003. In the meantime, army and marine tank crews were getting more and more vocal in their displeasure at the leisurely pace of M1028 development. In terms of technology, there's nothing particularly special about it. Similar shells have been in service for decades. In Iraq, M-1 tank crews want a "shotgun" type shell to deal with groups of hostile Iraqis, especially at night when the Iraqis still don't realize that the thermal sight on the M-1 makes people clearly visible at night to the gunner, especially if they are carrying AK-47s or RPG launchers. The Iraqis still tend to bunch up, which allows one XM1028 round to wipe out entire teams of hostile fighters. The M-1 using the XM1028 shell is the world's largest shotgun, and makes tanks much more effective in urban combat. The 10mm projectiles are also effective against vehicles and lightly built structures. Israel has been using a similar round for years, making American tank crews even more impatient about when they would get an American made version.


The genesis of the XM1028 120mm Canister Tank Cartridge also comes from recent developments in Korea -- - with the removal of 105mm equipped M-60 and M-1 tanks, USFK has an urgent need to field a 120mm-based antipersonnel projectile to replace the 105mm M494E3 APERS round these tanks fired. In 1999, ARDEC responded with the introduction and testing of the 120mm XM1028 canister round, which fulfills the requirement for a dedicated antipersonnel round used against close-in (up to 500 meters) massed infantry armed with automatic weapons and hand-held anti tank munitions or devices.

Lacking an explosive component, the XM1028 is, in effect, a 120mm shotgun shell. But it's no ordinary shotgun shell, for sure: a typical OO buckshot round 2 ¾" long contains 9 pellets. But the XM1028 cartridge contains 1,100 tungsten steel balls that are expelled and immediately begin dispersing once they exit the cannon muzzle. Since the balls lack guidance, the pattern of dispersion increases with range, but the dense tungsten helps maintain kinetic energy.

[ Ссылка ]
Cross-sectional view of the XM1028, with its tungsten ball payload (over 1000 of them).
This XM1028 cartridge is thus a milestone: as the Army's first antipersonnel projectile for the Abrams tank, it can be used in lethal and non-lethal situations, allows Abrams tanks to survive rocket-powered grenade (RPG) ambushes, and enables them to support friendly infantry assaults.

Given this lethality (against infantry and other non-armored and soft targets), the XM1028 is an excellent round for use in Low Intensity Conflicts (where the threat of enemy armored forces such as tanks is slight) and in urban or built-up areas, (where ranges are typically less than 200 meters). In these conditions, the XM1028 can be used against anti-armor ambushes (RPG teams) where immediate return fire is critical or in situations where a conventional breaching round, such as the M908 or the M830A1, would result in over-penetration, or unacceptable levels of collateral damage. In addition, since the XM1028 is not designed for use against heavily armored targets, it makes it the ideal round for clearing friendly vehicles overrun by enemy infantry (provided the crew of the overrun vehicle has "buttoned up").

So in the apples and oranges world of ground assault operations -- - whether the task at hand is to inflict heavy damage on enemy structures, or stem the tide of an enemy infantry advance -- - the M908 and the XM1028 are both representative of the new breed of specialized projectiles, putting a new spin on the good old standbys. The nearly 10,000 Abrams tanks in service around the world must be smiling.

свернуть