Land Forces
New Ammunition for the Krab Howitzers – The Range Is Longer Than It Was Initially Planned
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According to the information released by the Polish General Command of the Armed Forces, 155 mm extended range ammunition, manufactured by the ZM Dezamet company, has reached the range of more than 40 kilometers. The achievement was gained during the field test programme. The described type of artillery rounds is going to be used in case of the Krab and Kryl self-propelled artillery systems, among other armament. The Management of the Artillery and Missile Forces of the Land Forces Inspectorate, acting within the structures of the Polish General Command of the Armed Forces, issued a positive opinion, pertaining the new projectiles. The new type of ammunition is going to be introduced into service in November.
Four day-long test programme regarding the high-explosive-fragmentation 155 mm ammunition was executed at a Slovak firing range. The activities were supervised by the Artillery and Missile Forces Management experts of the Polish Land Forces Inspectorate, acting under the jurisdiction of the Polish General Command of the Armed Forces: Col. Waldemar Janiak and Major Jacek Piontek. During the test programme, the effective range of 40 km, which was assumed to be reached at the design stage, was exceeded. 40 300 meters - this is the maximum range, at which the rounds turned out to be effective.
The tested ammunition – the license-manufactured Slovakian ZVS high-explosive-fragmentation extended range rounds, fitted a base-bleed system – is being produced at the Polish ZM Dezamet facility in Nowa Dęba. The round is fitted with an impact double-mode detonator (it may be detonated on impact, or with a short delay), meeting all of the requirements defined by the NATO STANAG 4187 standard. The round includes modular case-less self-burning charges.
According to the contract concluded back in 2014, until the end of November the army should receive 1000 examples of the base-bleed rounds, and the same quantity of the conventional ammunition, with a range limited to 32 kilometers. Both types are going to be utilized in case of the Krab and Kryl self-propelled artillery systems.