Loosely known as ammo, military ammunition is any form of material fired, scattered, dropped or detonated from any kind of weapon. Ammunition is can either be expendable weapons such as bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines. They can also be component parts of other weapons that create the effect on a target such as bullets as well as warheads). Almost all mechanical weapons require some sort of ammunition to effectively impact targets and cause damage. Many of these ammunitions can be stopped by plate carriers, while some cannot. It all depends on the ballistic-rated level of the plate carrier.

Have you ever heard the military talking about their ammo? Did you feel lost at some point? If you did, it is majorly because of their use of ‘codes’ and military jargon. Here are some military “codes” that can help your understanding of ammo and what they do.

• Round

This is a single cartridge that contains a projectile, propellant, primer, and casing.

• Shell

This kind of ammo is usually fired by a large caliber cannon or artillery piece. Before the mid-19th century, shells were majorly designed from solid materials. The manufacturers often relied on kinetic energy for the shell to have an impact of the target. However, a lot has changed since that time. Now, shells are more often filled with high-explosives.

• Shot

This simply refers to a single release of a weapon system. It can also be interpreted as firing just one round or piece of ammunition. Additionally, it might also infer the release a large number of projectiles at the same time.

• Dud

This simply refers to failed ammo. In other words, an ammo that fails to function as intended or one that fails to detonate on landing.

• Bomb

It can either be guided or unguided bomb. A guided bomb is released from missiles or rockets. On the other hand, unguided bombs are released from aircrafts.

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