APFSDS
Military abbreviation · Weapon and Military Equipment
| Stands for | Armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot |
|---|---|
| Categories | Military |
APFSDS stands for Armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot, a weapon and military equipment abbreviation.
Tank ammunition firing a long, dense dart, usually tungsten or depleted uranium, at very high velocity to punch through armor by kinetic energy. A sabot holding the dart falls away after it leaves the barrel.
Example: The Abrams fired an APFSDS round that penetrated the target's frontal armor.
Usage notes
US M829-series rounds, nicknamed "silver bullets," use depleted uranium. British usage spells it "armour." Tank crews often shorten it to "sabot," pronounced "SAY-bo." Because it relies on velocity, the round loses effectiveness at very long ranges, while HEAT rounds do not. Most modern tank guns, such as the 120 mm smoothbore, fire it.
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