Beehive anti-personnel round
Beehive was a
Vietnam war era anti-personnel round packed with metal flechettes fired from an artillery gun most popularly deployed during that conflict. It is also known as flechette rounds or their official designation, antipersonnel-tracer (APERS-T). Typically, artillery gunners fire using indirect fire, firing at targets they cannot see by line of sight, with information provided by a forward observer. However, during the Vietnam War, there was a demand for a munition that could be fired directly
at enemy troops, in cases where an artillery unit was attacked.
History
The flechette rounds were developed under a contract administered by
starshells were shot into the air prior to their use to warn friendly troops that such a round was being shot.[citation needed
]
The 105mm howitzer round was not the only artillery piece provided with APERS-T. Beehive rounds were also created for
40×46 mm
were also available for the M79, M203, and M320 grenade launchers.
Subsequently, it was reported that the USSR had developed similar rounds for 122 mm and 152 mm artillery for use in indirect fire.
Beehive rounds became less popular in the United States following Vietnam, with low-angle
Killer Junior
supplanting the use of Beehive.
See also
- Canister shot (or case-shot)
- Lazy Dog (bomb)
References
- ^ Eitan Barak, ed. (2011), Deadly Metal Rain: The Legality of Flechette Weapons in International Law, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, p. 40
- ^ Major General David Ewing Ott (1975), Field Artillery, 1954-1973 (PDF), Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army, p. 61, archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-06-29, retrieved 2014-06-16
- ^ M546 APERS-T 105-mm
- ^ ONTOS mounting six 106mm recoilless rifle, the world's biggest shot gun