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120 mm HE improved bomb HE-L
Region
Germany
Category
Ammunition, Missiles and precision weapons
Armament All NATO 120 mm smoothbore mortars and can be optimised for the US Army 120 mm mortar system. Development By Rheinmetall for high-efficiency top attack against semi-hard targets or field emplacements. Description A streamlined, pointed bomb with alloy tailboom and fins. The head of the body is threaded and fitted with a proximity sensor. Beneath this is a curved heavy metal plate of prefragmented sphero-hexagonal tungsten fragments and the interior of the body is prefragmented. The body cavity is filled
with high explosive and a base detonating fuze is inserted into the rear of the body and retained by the tailboom. At the optimum distance from the target, the Kongsberg P424 proximity sensor ignites an acceleration charge and the ogive is separated and accelerated forward, to clear the way for the tungsten fragments. The impulse of the separation decelerates the bomb so that the base fuze initiates the main explosive charge. The detonation wave then blows the heavy plate forward in a cloud of fragments that have penetrative effect against semi-hard targets. At the same time the body is fragmented and distributed in the usual pattern to provide anti-personnel fragments. As an option, the fuze may be set to PD to provide a groundburst. Manufacturer Rheinmetall Industrie AG.