25 mm caliber



The 25 mm caliber is a specific size of cannon or autocannon ammunition. Such ammunition includes the NATO standard 25×137 mm and 25×184 mm rounds, as well as the World War II-era French designed 25×163 mm and 25×193.5 mm R rounds.

Usage
The 25 mm round can be used in both an anti-materiel and anti-personnel fashion. When operating in the anti-personnel role, a 25 mm weapon armed with HE rounds can effectively kill large numbers of opposing troops either in the open or in light fortifications. When operating in the anti-material role, a 25 mm weapon armed with AP rounds can disable many aircraft and vehicles, including some main battle tanks.

The US military uses 25 mm weapons in their AV-8B Harrier, AC-130 gunship, M2 Bradley, LAV-25, F-35 Lightning II and as a standard ship-based munition in the Mk 38 autocannon.

Types of 25 mm ammunition


Several sub-types of the NATO 25 mm ammunition are available—the most common being armor piercing, high explosive, sabot, tracer, and practice rounds. Cartridges are usually composed of a combination of the aforementioned categories. For example, the M791 pictured to the right is an armor-piercing discarding sabot with tracer (APDS-T) round. It is used against lightly armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, and aerial targets such as helicopters and slow-moving fixed-wing aircraft.

25 mm weapons
Each weapon is listed with its cartridge type appended.

Current weapons

 * M242 Bushmaster: 25×137mm
 * GAU-12 Equalizer: 25×137mm
 * GIATs, 25M811: 25×137mm
 * Oerlikon KBA: 25×137mm
 * Oerlikon KBB: 25×184mm
 * Oerlikon KBD: 25×184mm

Historical weapons

 * 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-aircraft gun/Type 96 25 mm AT/AA Gun: 25×163mm
 * 25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun: 25×193.5mm R
 * 25mm M1940 anti-aircraft gun: 25x218mm SR