Aircraft weapons

[thatguy96]

kevineduguay1 said:
Tungsten tends to blunt its own tip and even shatter at very high velocities while a DU round self sharpens until it penetrates or runs out of energy and destroys itself.

I'd like to see some sources on that, seeing as how widespread Tungsten is as a core metal in kinetic energy penetrators. It really seems to be the metal of choice for such things. The only reason DU seems to have been chosen is because it was a cheaper and equally satisfactory alternative, not because it was superior.

In fact, that's exactly what my copy of Gunston's book says, "cheaper and much easier to fabricate" (pg 190). My copy (dated 1988) also only mentions the DU round, not any other type of AP.