High-explosive squash head

High explosive squash head
(HESH)
Cross section of a 120 mm HESH round from the Arjun main battle tank

A high-explosive squash head (HESH), in British terminology, or a high-explosive plastic/plasticized (HEP), in American terminology,[1] is a type of explosive projectile with plastic explosive that conforms to the surface of a target before detonating, which improves the transfer of explosive energy to the target. Squash head projectiles are similar to high-explosive projectiles and are well suited to many of the same targets. However, while HESH projectiles are not armour-piercing, they can defeat armored targets by causing spall, which can injure or kill a vehicle's occupants or detonate some types of ammunition.[2]

  1. ^ "Explosive_weapon_effects_web.pdf" (PDF). gichd.org. p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-03-15. Retrieved 2021-10-10.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).