ABSTRACT
Rudyard Kipling used the words “mystery” and “art” when describing an artilleryman. The mystery may have been the manner and variety in which the ordnance functioned, and art may have alluded to the accuracy projectiles can attain when fired over great distance. Munitions under the projectile category meeting these three defining factors are fired from mortars, howitzers, recoilless rifles, and guns. There are exceptions to this definition, such as projected grenades which meet all defining characteristics of a projectile but are categorized under grenades. A projectile is described as a munition propelled by external force and continuing in motion under its own inertia. The first projectiles include stones thrown from a medieval trebuchet to black powder-filled exploding cannonballs to the many different ordnance categories. A projectile can be a teardrop, square, or dart-shaped munition with fins for stabilization, or a finless munition stabilized by spin generating centrifugal force.
