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U.S. M39 Sub-Muniton for Artillery |
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| The M39 is a "Bounding"
type device, where the spherical grenade is projected back up into the air
after contacting the ground, and detonates at a pre-determined height. A
spring pushes the base plate down, deploys the braking wings, and arms the
grenade. Contact with the ground pushes the plate back in, firing the grenade. There is a fragmentation matrix inside the golf ball size plastic grenade body. |
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 globalsecurity.org |
105mm Artillery Round, M444 APICM The M444 projectile is an "Anti-Personnel Improved Conventional Munition" capable of delivering M39 anti-personnel grenades. During Operation DESERT STORM, these proved less than ideal due to the high number of unexploded grenades that would result at the target. One estimate places the number as high as 50%. Some commanders hesitated to employ the munitions if the unit might have to move through the area later. |
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A similar type, the M43A1, was used as early as 1962. It was shot out of the Navy's 16 inch guns. The projectile would then separate over the target area and saturate the ground. This munition was arranged inside like stacked pies. Each "slice" of a pie being one of these devices. It is shares similar traits to the M39 as it is a "bounding" grenade type, and has folding fins. (The grenade is nested inside the top surface and is not visible.) The field of sub-munitions is a vast area of military weaponry. For an interesting display of various U.S. types, take a look at Big-Ordnance.com | 
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