Vehicle weapons (ArmA)

This article lists the technical specifications for munitions fired by certain ground vehicle weapons in ArmA: Armed Assault.

Overview

T-72 (right) moments after being struck by an AP shell.

Munitions in Armed Assault are divided into two classifications:

• High-Explosive (HE)
  • Explosive-based munitions intended for use against infantry and unarmoured/lightly-armoured ground vehicles. They usually do not possess any armour piercing qualities and will not be useful against vehicles with heavy armour plating (e.g. Main Battle Tanks).
• Armour Piercing (AP)
  • Kinetic-based munitions. Unlike HE munitions, AP-type ammo is reserved exclusively for anti-vehicle purposes. They do not have any explosive filling and are useless against infantry. A single hit (regardless of impact location) is usually sufficient to destroy anything that isn't a tank.

Unlike in Cold War Assault, AP munitions are now capable of properly penetrating through vehicle armour while HE-type munitions are significantly less effective against heavy armour. Depending on the slope of the armour, it is also possible for hits to be deflected at certain angles (though this doesn't always apply in every case).

Weapon systems (alphabetical)

PLEASE NOTE:

• Although Armed Assault simulates armour penetration, Rolled Homogenous Armour (RHA) is not factored into damage calculations. Once a vehicle incurs enough "damage" to its armour, it will automatically be destroyed even if the damage source is from HE-based explosions.

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2A42

The 2A42 can switch between firing anti-personnel or anti-vehicle rounds:

Shell type	Base damage value	Splash damage value	Aerodynamic friction	Muzzle velocity (m/s)	Expected velocity (m/s)
HE	55	30	-0.00095	960	900
AP	79	0	-0.00095	960	900

• HE
  • Can load High-Explosive (HE) rounds which have a muzzle velocity of 960 m/s and a blast radius of 1 metre
• AP
  • Can load Armour Piercing (AP) rounds which have a muzzle velocity of 960 m/s and a deflection angle of 10°

Available on:

• BMP-2
• KA-50 (Gun turret only)

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D81

The D81 can load either anti-personnel or anti-vehicle shells:

Shell type	Base damage value	Splash damage value	Aerodynamic friction	Muzzle velocity (m/s)	Expected velocity (m/s)
HE	350	45	-0.00045	905	1,000
SABOT	650	0	-0.00004	1,750	1,800

• HE
  • Can load High-Explosive (HE) shells which have a muzzle velocity of 905 m/s and a blast radius of 7 metres
• AP
  • Can load SABOT shells which have a muzzle velocity of 1,750 m/s and a deflection angle of 15°

Available on:

• T-72

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M256

Shell type	Base damage value	Splash damage value	Aerodynamic friction	Muzzle velocity (m/s)	Expected velocity (m/s)
HE	330	42	-0.00045	1,100	1,300
SABOT	800	0	-0.00004	1,676	1,900

• HE
  • Can load High-Explosive (HE) shells which have a muzzle velocity of 1,100 m/s and a blast radius of 7 metres
• AP
  • Can load SABOT shells which have a muzzle velocity of 1,676 m/s and a deflection angle of 15°

Available on:

• M1A1

Notes

• All information is accurate as of June 10th, 2024 (Patch 1.17).

Trivia

• While Armed Assault does simulate basic penetration, engine-level simulation for RHA steel armour was not included until the release of ArmA 2 (and even then, only in a heavily abstracted form that doesn't actually reflect how RHA interacts with AP projectiles in reality).
• At launch, the M256's 120 mm AP shells were much stronger and could essentially one-shot the T-72 from any distance (often in excess of ~ 4,000 metres) with almost no damage drop off. On the other hand, the D81's 125 mm AP shells were weaker and could barely inflict damage to the M1A1 unless the gunner scored a direct hit on the M1A1's engine or turret.
  • Although the M1A1's M256 AP shells can still technically one-shot the T-72 at point blank range, Patch 1.04 rebalanced the 120 mm/125 mm AP shells so that their damage values were slightly less lopsided compared to release. Likewise, the M256 itself had its effective firing range significantly reduced to ~ 2,500 metres.
• Before Patch 1.08, most HE-type munitions had much smaller blast radii and damage values. For instance, the M1A1's 120 mm HE shell could barely take out half of an infantry squad even if the shell landed directly in the middle of the squad. The patch buffed the splash damage values and blast radius of most explosive munitions, making them actually useful against infantry and light armour targets.