Projectile HE ER FB-BT ⇒ OFD M3 (alternative name) 
Contents
Projectile HE ER FB-BT ⇒ OFD M3
HE ER FB-BT, also known as OFD M3, is a 155 mm high-explosive fragmentation projectile from a Slovak manufacturer, one of a whole series of 155 mm munitions with improved aerodynamics.
A full-caliber extended-range high-explosive fragmentation projectile with a tapered lower section (boat tail): a modern long-range design with four flight-stabilizing vanes along the body. Manufacturers: MSM Group (Slovakia), Czechoslovak Group CSG (Czech Republic), Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa (Poland), Ukrainian Armor.
The BT designation indicates that there is no base-bleed generator. FB (marked M3 on the analogue) refers to the stabilizing vanes along the projectile body.
It has a moderate blast effect (8.1 kg of TNT) but a larger number of fragments, so it is mainly used against personnel and lightly armored vehicles at long range.
The projectile has a hollow, tapered unit screwed onto the lower part of the body, which extends the firing range to 33,000 meters when fired from a 52-caliber gun.
Technical specifications
Maximum range, 52 caliber:
- Zone 10 ⇒ 6th charge TC-F: 32.4 km
- Zone 9 ⇒ 5th charge TC-F: 26.6 km
- Zone 8 ⇒ 4th charge TC-F: 20.6 km
- Mass with fuze: 43.55 kg
- Length with fuze: 917 mm
- Amount of explosive: 8.1 kg
- Weight with fuze: 44 kg
- Operating temperature: −63 °C / +71 °C
Usage notes
The HE ER FB-BT ⇒ OFD M3 projectile is described in Kropyva with charges Zone 10, 9 and 8, which correspond to TC-F propellant charges of 6, 5 and 4 modules respectively.
It is also listed under the designation OFD M3 for the Zuzana 2 gun.
Note: the modular TC-F propellant charges are the most powerful in the range of propellant charges of the BMCS bi-modular charging system.
Accordingly, if modules M232, M232A1, TC-F, DM72, DM92 or TCME 100 are chosen, expect the round to fall short.
For the Bohdana, the projectile of this series that is described is ERFB-BB. The letters FB indicate stabilizing vanes along the length of the projectile.
The manufacturer, MSM Group, changed the names of its projectiles three times in a short period and also licensed production in the Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine, where the names (and, in Poland, the projectile length) were changed as well. Hence the confusion.
For example, the ERFB BT MKM projectile became ERFB BT VMK in Poland and is 50 mm shorter, because it did not fit the Korean K9 guns the country had bought, and so on. As a result, the markings on the projectile and the designations in Kropyva differ in places.
Range may also differ somewhat, but the ballistics of the projectiles are the same.
Oleh Syrota (Georgich©) for the Armed Forces of Ukraine /
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