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TELESCOPED AMMUNITION: A FUTURE
LIGHTWEIGHT COMPACT AMMUNITION?
Captain I.A. McGregor
The concept for telescoped ammunition
rst came about at a US Air Force laboratory in
1954.
1
Telescoped ammunition is a form of gun
ammunition in which the projectile is recessed into
the main body with the propellant. While this type
of round has several advantages over conventional
gun ammunition, engineering challenges have
so far prevented its implementation as a military
ammunition. Recently, telescoped ammunition
has been identied as a means of getting 30%
more capability for a given size of ammunition or a
30% size reduction for the same capability.
2
More
importantly, the technology is beginning to reach
a usable maturity. Amongst various NATO allies,
telescoped ammunition is being looked at for future
medium calibre cannons through to light weight
small arms ammunitions. This article examines
both cased and caseless varieties of telescoped
ammunition to give a better understanding of the
technologies and to make recommendations on
potential for use within the Canadian Land Forces.
Telescoped Ammunitions
Telescoped ammunitions have been developed for a number of reasons. When rst
conceived, by the US Air Force, the goal was to produce much higher muzzle velocities in
comparison to conventional ammunition. Since this time there have been several examples
of developmental systems employing the technology in order to increase lethality or reduce
bulk and weight. Telescoped ammunition has been used in experimental small arms, such
as the H&K G11 and the Styer Advanced Combat Rie, both of which were intended to
increase the lethality of infantrymen.
3
In order to improve the lethality of its jet ghters,
a USAF project to develop new compact ghter cannon produced the GUA-7 25 mm
cannon based on telescoped ammunition.
4
Technical challenges prevented any of these
weapon systems from being elded. The weapon system to most closely reach successful
implementation with telescoped ammunition has been a United States Marine Corps effort
to develop a 75 mm telescoped ammunition for its LAV-25 family of vehicles
5
.
Today, it appears that telescoped ammunition has nally developed to the point where it
is ready for war: Mauser has developed a family of 30 mm and 35 mm telescoped ammuni-
tion-based recoilless cannons that it is ready to market,
6
The French and British joint venture
known as CTA International has developed a 40 mm telescoped ammunition and cannon
that is under assessment for use on the UK Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV); and
the United States Joint Services Small Arms Program has selected two types of telescoped
ammunition for the future Lightweight Small Arms Technologies (LSAT) program.
7
Unlike conventional ammunition, in which the projectile protrudes out the front of the
round body, telescoped ammunition has the projectile fully recessed into the body of the
round. Telescoped ammunition exists in two varieties: Cased Telescoped Ammunition (CTA)
and Caseless Telescoped Ammunition (CLA). Both types are fully cylindrical and operate
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of National Defence, 2009
Captain I.A. McGregor, ‘Telescoped Ammunition: A Future Lightweight Compact
Ammunition?’ Canadian Army Journal Vol. 12.2 (Summer 2009) 75-81
Figure 1: Conventional vs Telescoped
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