ABSTRACT
Terminal ballistics is the regime that the projectile enters at the conclusion of its flight. It has been delivered into its flight by the interior ballistician, pursued and guided through its flight by the exterior ballistician, and now, at its target, becomes the responsibility of the terminal ballistician. The basic objective of firing the projectile is to defeat some type of target, and we will study the widely varying phenomena of terminal effects that are the tools of the terminal ballistician. These end effects are dependent on the design and mission of the projectile. The most common of the missions are as follows: fragmentation of the projectile body by its cargo of high explosives; penetration or perforation of the target by the application of kinetic or chemical energy; blast at the target area delivered by the chemical energy of the explosive cargo; and the dispersal of the cargo for lethal or other missions, e.g., smoke, illumination, and propaganda dispersal.
