Armor-piercing Ammunition

       Tungsten carbide is often used in armor-piercing ammunition, especially where depleted uranium is not available or is politically unacceptable. However, it is also common to use powder metallurgic tungsten alloys (in which metallic tungsten powder has been cemented with a metallic binder). W2C projectiles were first used by German Luftwaffe tank-hunter squadrons in World War II. Owing to the limited German reserves of tungsten, W2C material was reserved for making machine tools and small numbers of projectiles. Tungsten carbide-cored HVAP (high-velocity armor-piercing) ammunition allowed the U.S. Army's 3-inch, 76mm, and 90mm anti-tank guns to knock out heavily armored German tanks, which they could not do with more conventional ammunition. It is an effective penetrator due to its combination of great hardness and very high density.