Military

Who Makes the World's Finest Tank Ammo Anyway?

Tank ammunition is not easy to manufacture. Modern tanks require ammo that is made to withstand immense pressure while also maintaining very high accuracy. This presents challenges for all types of rounds, although modern Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) ammunition is the hardest to manufacture due to the very hard materials necessary to craft them.

This piece was originally featured in November 2018 and is being republished due to reader's interest.

Which countries have mastered making these advanced rounds? Here are five countries that could be considered the best at making tank ammunition, in no particular order.

1. United States of America

Since the US proclaimed itself to be the “arsenal of democracy” during WWII, the US has been at the forefront of the development of advanced tank guns and ammunition. Fierce competition with the Soviet Union to develop more and more powerful cannons resulted in the US developing a powerful line of 105mm APFSDS ammunition for the British L7 (adopted as M68) cannons...