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The XM943 shell is an intelligent shell developed by the United States for the M256 tank gun during the Cold War. This shell employs an armor-piercing warhead. Unlike other shells, it utilizes a miniature millimeter-wave radar as a seeker head, enabling it to fire and forget, automatically attacking detected targets.
This shell is also known as STAFF, which stands for Smart Target Activated Fire and Forget. No modifications are required to the tank to fire this shell; any vehicle equipped with an M256 tank gun can use it. The crew simply needs to set the activation distance for the shell and fire it towards the enemy’s general direction. Once the shell is activated, the millimeter-wave radar will continuously scan the surroundings. When it detects and locks onto a target, it will automatically enter a top-attack trajectory and launch an attack from above the enemy’s head. This means that the tank can launch an attack without detecting the enemy, and even if the enemy is behind a hill or cover, the shell can automatically identify and attack them. Meanwhile, friendly helicopters and reconnaissance drones can also indicate the attack direction for it.
This shell can also be used to attack helicopters flying at low altitudes. Simply launch the shell in the direction of suspected enemies, and it will automatically launch an attack as it approaches the target.
The warhead of this shell differs from ordinary armor-piercing shells, as it utilizes a new type of EFP warhead, namely the Explosively Formed Penetrator. The working principle of this warhead is that the shell structure resembles a metal disk with a slightly concave bottom (usually made of copper, tantalum, or iron), followed by high-energy explosives. When the explosives are detonated, the resulting ultra-high pressure does not shatter the metal disk, but instead squeezes it towards the center like plasticine and flips it outward, transforming it into a projectile similar to an armor-piercing shell during the explosion. The metal projectile, “forged” by the explosion, can impact the target at extremely high speed, relying on its tremendous kinetic energy to penetrate armor and cause damage.
The project for this shell was completely discontinued in 2000 due to various reasons. These included prohibitive costs, as each shell fired represented a significant expenditure. Additionally, the internal microelectronic components of the shell were numerous, and their instability after firing could potentially lead to component malfunction due to vibration, rendering the shell incapable of attack. Furthermore, the dissolution of the Soviet Union eliminated the demand for similar shells in the United States. Although the STAFF project itself was canceled, its core technology did not disappear; instead, it evolved into other systems, such as terminal-sensitive munitions and XM1147 smart munitions. Moreover, a similar shell, known as KSTAM, has been developed for the South Korean K2 tank. Its working principle is similar, but it is more advanced than the XM943.
The XM943 shell is a versatile multi-purpose anti-armor shell. Due to its ability to automatically seek and attack targets, it will be an excellent choice for attacking helicopters. Players can use the tank’s built-in locking function to designate an attack target for the shell, and then launch it. The shell will automatically track the target, and even if the tank cancels the lock, it can continue to attack until it hits the enemy helicopter. When using it for ground attacks, due to the short engagement distance on some maps in the game, it is not possible to provide conditions for the shell to attack from above. Therefore, it is used as a regular anti-armor shell. When used on large maps, it can be similar to a Spike missile, locking onto the enemy, launching from above the enemy’s head, and automatically tracking.
Sources
- https://www.forecastinternational.com/archive/disp_pdf.cfm?DACH_RECNO=1609
- XM943 120mm Tank Round- Smart Target Activated Fire and Forget (STAFF}
- XM943 120mm Tank Round- Smart Target Activated Fire and Forget (STAFF}
- https://www.benning.army.mil/armor/eARMOR/content/issues/1995/MAR_APR/ArmorMarchApril1995web.pdf