What comes out of the gun
APFSDS, HEAT, HE, HESH, gun-launched missiles — pick the nature for the target.
APFSDS
Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot. A long dart (tungsten or depleted uranium) in a sabot that falls away at the muzzle. Velocity is everything: 1,500–1,800 m/s. DU darts self-sharpen and pyrophorically ignite inside the fighting compartment. This is the round you fire at another MBT’s glacis.
HEAT and tandem HEAT
High-Explosive Anti-Tank uses a shaped charge: a copper liner collapses into a jet that punches armor independent of speed. That is why a slow ATGM can kill a tank. ERA was invented against it. Tandem HEAT fires a precursor charge to trigger ERA, then the main jet. Still the standard missile warhead.
HE, HEP/HESH, canister, AMP
High explosive is for infantry, bunkers, and the side of an IFV. HESH (Britain) pancakes plastic explosive on a wall and throws spall off the inside — excellent vs concrete, poor vs composite. Canister is a shotgun for dismounts. The U.S. AMP round tries to replace HEAT, HE, and canister with one programmable nature.
Gun-launched ATGMs
Soviet 125 mm guns can fire a missile (Kobra, Svir, Refleks) to 4–5 km, beyond typical APFSDS battlesight. Useful against helicopters and hull-down tanks. Western armies generally refused the complication and invested in better KE darts and separate ATGM teams.
Open Compare and watch firepower ratings track caliber plus ammunition generation, not caliber alone.