AHEAD ammunition

Cross section of the AHEAD 35 mm ammunition

AHEAD ammunition is an acronym for "Advanced Hit Efficiency And Destruction" ammunition.[1] The 35mm variety produced by Oerlikon Contraves splits each projectile into 152 submunitions "that form a cone-shaped pattern to destroy a target's control surfaces and.. other vital components".[2] This type of ammunition is listed as an official acronym at the Ministry of Defense (UK).[3]

There were in 2017 four types of 35 mm AHEAD ammunition:[4]

• PMD062 with a payload of 152 sub-projectiles,
• PMD330 with 497 sub-projectiles,
• PMD375 with 860 sub-projectiles,
• PMD428 with more than 600 sub-projectiles

AHEAD ammunition was developed as early as 1993.[5]

In 2011 the Taiwanese government procured itself a Skyguard system, which is based on the AHEAD ammunition.[6]

In 2012 AHEAD was delivered to the Luftwaffe by Rheinmetall for their MANTIS defense system.[7]

At the 2018 Euronaval trade show, the Oerlikon Millenium Gun was noted as able to fire AHEAD ammunition.[8]

In 2018, AHEAD ammunition capable Oerlikon Revolver Guns were proposed to the Ministry of Defense (Egypt) by the manufacturer, in order to update its air defense system.[9]

In January 2019 the South African Defence Forces boasted about its upgraded ability to fire AHEAD ammunition at airborne targets via a networked multi-gun emplacement.[10]

In March 2021, Rheinmetall Air Defence unveiled the Skyranger 30, an air defense turret that uses a 30 mm gun firing a 30 mm version of the AHEAD projectile.[11]

In June 2021, Rheinmetall tested its 35mm Revolver Gun against drone swarms with the use of AHEAD ammunition. Firing PMD 428 rounds,[12][13] an eight-drone swarm was neutralized with an 18-round burst, most of them being destroyed with the first 6 rounds.[14]

In summer 2022 AHEAD was the subject of study by a group of Chinese scientists.[15]

In August 2022 the munitions were listed on the scrapped purchase order for the badly-needed towed air defence gun missile systems (ADGMS) of the Ministry of Defence (India) (MODIN).[16] It seemed the matter excited quite some controversy around this time.[17]

In October 2022 the munitions were listed as one of the technical requirements for a gun that would be procured by the MODIN.[18]

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  35mm AHEAD loaded on Oerlikon twin-gun
• 
  30 mm AHEAD internal structure sketch
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  AHEAD 30 mm Internal structure
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  Device at the end of the barrel that programs the burst of the ammunition
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  Equipped for the use of the AHEAD 35 mm