Engineering:Flechette
A flechette or fléchette (/fleɪˈʃɛt/ fle-SHET) is a pointed, fin-stabilized steel projectile. The name comes from French fléchette (from flèche), meaning "little arrow" or "dart". They have been used as ballistic weapons since World War I. Delivery systems and methods of launching flechettes vary, from a single shot to thousands in a single explosive round. The use of flechettes as antipersonnel weapons has been controversial; however, in war, it is not prohibited by the Hague Convention.[1]
Air-dropped
The weapons were designed to be dropped from an aircraft. They contained no explosive charge but as they fell they developed significant kinetic energy making them lethal and able to easily penetrate soft cover such as jungle canopy, several inches of sand or light armor.[2][3]
During World War I, flechettes were dropped from aircraft to attack infantry and were able to pierce helmets.[4][5]
Also during World War II, a version of the flechette with feathers was dropped, and now resides in the Imperial War Museum.[6]
Later the U.S. used Lazy Dog bombs, which are small, unguided kinetic projectiles typically about 1.75 in (44 mm) in length, 0.5 in (13 mm) in diameter, and weighing about 0.7 oz (20 g).[7] Lazy Dog munitions were simple and cheap; they could be dropped in huge numbers in a pass.[3] Though their effects were often no less indiscriminate than other projectiles, they did not leave unexploded ordnance (UXO) that could be active years after a conflict ended. Lazy Dog projectiles were used primarily during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.[citation needed]
Small-arms ammunition
Shotguns
During the Vietnam War the United States employed 12-gauge combat shotguns using flechette loads.[8][9] These plastic-cased shells were issued on a limited trial basis during the Vietnam War. Cartridges manufactured by the Western Cartridge Company contained 20 flechettes, each 18.5 mm (0.73 in) long and weighing 7.3 gr (0.47 g); Federal Cartridge Company rounds contained 25. The flechettes were packed in a plastic cup with granulated white polyethylene to maintain alignment with the bore axis, and supported by a metal disk to prevent penetration of the over-powder wad during acceleration down the bore. The tips of the flechettes were exposed in the Federal cartridges, but concealed by a conventional star crimp in WCC's cartridges.[10] The flechettes demonstrated flatter trajectories over longer ranges than spherical buckshot, but combat effectiveness did not justify continued production.[11]
Rocket and artillery use
During the Vietnam War 105 mm howitzer batteries and tanks (90 mm guns) used flechette rounds to defend themselves against massed infantry attacks. The ubiquitous 105 mm M40 recoilless rifle was primarily used as an anti-tank weapon. However, it could also be used in an anti-personnel role with the use of flechette rounds. The widely used Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle also uses an Area Defence Munition designed as a close-range anti-personnel round. It fires 1,100 flechettes over a wide area.[12] The US Air Force used 2.75 in (70 mm) rockets with WDU-4/A flechette warheads. The 70 mm Hydra 70 rocket currently in service with the US Armed forces can be fitted with an anti-personnel (APERS) warhead containing 1,179 flechettes.[13] They are carried by attack helicopters such as the AH-64 Apache and the AH-1 Cobra.
Israel-Palestine conflict
Israeli authorities have reportedly used flechettes in Gaza since at least 2001.[14][15] That year, Israeli officials stated that "The Israeli military obtained these weapons from the USA after the 1973 war and we have thousands of old shells in warehouses."[16] B'Tselem documented nine Palestinians including four children who were killed by the IDF using flechettes between 2001 and 2003.[17]
Russo-Ukrainian war
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Flechettes have been used during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where samples of the projectiles were recovered in the mass graves in Bucha, Ukraine.[18] A witness described munitions bursting overhead and littering the area with 3 cm flechettes. A British munitions expert reviewed photographs of the flechettes and concluded that they likely came from a 3Ш1 (flèchette) 122 mm artillery round. A speaker for the Ukrainian Ground Forces stated that Ukraine's military does not use shells with flechettes.[19]
See also
References
- ↑ "Declaration (IV,3) concerning Expanding Bullets. The Hague, 29 July 1899". 15 April 2025. https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/assets/treaties/170-IHL-14-EN.pdf.
- ↑ Eades & Powers 1964, passim.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Pursglove 1962.
- ↑ "Dropping Darts From An Aeroplane". 12 September 2014. https://av8rblog.wordpress.com/2014/09/12/dropping-darts-from-an-aeroplane/.
- ↑ "WWI Flechettes – The troop piercing arrows dropped from planes onto German trenches". 3 March 2018. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/03/03/the-flechettes/.
- ↑ "feathered flechette" (in en). https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30000305.
- ↑ Karmes 2014, p. [page needed].
- ↑ Margiotta, Franklin D. (1996). Brassey's Encyclopedia of Land Forces and Warfare. Brassey's. ISBN 1-57488-087-X.
- ↑ Arms Uncontrolled (2nd ed.). Harvard University Press for Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. 1975. p. 109. ISBN 0-674-04655-2. https://archive.org/details/armsuncontrolled00barn/page/109.
- ↑ Di Maio, Vincent J.M. (1999). Gunshot Wounds (Second ed.). Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press. p. 320. ISBN 0-8493-8163-0. https://archive.org/details/gunshotwoundspra00dima/page/320.
- ↑ Canfield, Bruce N. "Vietnam-Era Military Shotshells" American Rifleman July 2015 p. 44
- ↑ "Peace group slams sale of Swedish 'meat grinder' ammunition". 6 March 2011. https://www.thelocal.se/20110306/32424.
- ↑ "Hydra-70 Rocket System - Army Technology" (in en-GB). Army Technology. https://www.army-technology.com/projects/hydra-70-rocket-system-us/.
- ↑ "Dart bombs 'killed four Palestinians'" (in en-UK). BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2225706.stm.
- ↑ "Israel using flechette shells in Gaza" (in en-UK). The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/20/israel-using-flechette-shells-in-gaza.
- ↑ Rodan, Steve (22 May 2001). "Israel's military debates use of flechette round". Jane's Defence Weekly (UK: Janes Information Services).
- ↑ "Flechette Shells: an illegal weapon". 2011. http://www.btselem.org/firearms/flechette.
- ↑ "Dozens of Bucha civilians were killed by metal darts from Russian artillery" (in en-UK). The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/24/dozens-bucha-civilians-killed-flechettes-metal-darts-russian-artillery.
- ↑ "Lethal darts were fired into a Ukrainian neighborhood by the thousands" (in en-US). Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/18/flechette-projectile-ukraine-russia/.
Bibliography
- Eades, J. B.; Powers, C. (1964). Static and Dynamic Stability Studies on Several Lazy Dog Configurations. Naval Ordnance Laboratory. DTIC AD0352807. https://archive.org/details/DTIC_AD0352807. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
- Karmes, David (2014), The Patricia Lynn Project: Vietnam War, the Early Years of Air Intelligence, iUniverse, ISBN 978-1-4917-5227-2
- Pursglove, S. David (February 1962). "Bizarre Weapons for the Little Wars". Popular Mechanics (Hearst Magazines) 117 (2): 107–112. ISSN 0032-4558. https://books.google.com/books?id=reEDAAAAMBAJ&q=lazy%20dog%20weapon&pg=PA107. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
External links
- "How flechettes work"—The Guardian newspaper
- Missiles and Flechettes —Pictures of air dropped flechettes, from World War I through the 1970s at big-ordnance.com
- [US7823509B2 - https://patents.google.com/patent/US7823509B2/en Flechette cartridge]
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