Aircraft weapons

[pdoktar]

The Mk44 has APFSDS ammo. No?
The GAU-8 has only APDS ammo. No?

APFSDS is made to have more penetration capability than APDS. I can see no other reason to make such a complicated round if it has not got something to offer. The only thing that an APFSDS has to offer is more penetration and range having that penetration capability.

APDS is inferior in penetration to APFSDS if properly designed and fired from the same gun. The case diameter and lenght are the same for GAU-8 and Mk44, but Mk44 can fire the APFSDS ammmo that GAU-8 probably can too, but mounted on the A-10 can not, since the sabot petals would interfere with the airframe.

You can give some extra pen for the A-10 because the weapon muzzle velocity gets an increase from the speed of the aircraft it is flying when firing. However you can hardly argue that a modern APFSDS has worse pen capabilities than a 1970s APDS.

I personally think that a good 100 round burst hitting a MBT will at probably result in a mobility kill, or not. The engine deck and fans above it, tracks, track guards, main gun etc are vulnerable to the GAU-8. The high rate of fire is probably because of getting multiple hits to the targets in one attack thus increasing the chances of damaging tanks weaker parts.

BTW how many MBT kills did A-10s have in GW1 just using the main cannon.. I´ve only heard of light AFVs, trucks, AA assets which are easily penetrated by the GAU-8 and make up the majority of vehicle targets in any battlefield thus giving the GAU-8 plenty of use even if it called a "tankbuster". Just remember that for example the media refers anything with tracks as a tank, so the tankbuster can really wreak havoc among those "tanks".