These used a variety of sabot designs and a new penetrating material, depleted uranium (DU). By the mid 1960s, Picatinny's efforts concentrated on a very high pressure, smoothbore cannon in a 120mm caliber and on experimental fin stabilized projectiles.
They eventually led to the revolutionary development of accurate, long-rod, fin stabilized penetrators encased in aluminum sabots that filled the full diameter of the inside of the barrel and were capable of defeating the heaviest tank armor. Picatinny began to research upgrades to the penetrator in the early 1950s. The XM578 cartridge used a tungsten alloy that was slightly denser than the British alloy, consisting of 97.5 percent tungsten and 2.5 percent binder, which had a density of 18.5 gm/cc.
From 1965 to 1972, the US Army conducted a parallel development program for the 152mm XM578 cartridge, which was co-developed with the prototype MBT-70 Tank. The new WA alloy had a density of 17 gm/cc - versus 13 gm/cc for tungsten carbide. Initially, the British government developed a higher density tungsten alloy consisting of 93 percent tungsten and 7 percent binder tungsten alloy (WA). In response to the new operational requirements, military developers evaluated a succession of metal alloys. This deficiency spurred the development of new alloys and materials capable of defeating any armored threats. With the advent of double and triple plated armor in the 1960s, however, tungsten munitions showed a tendency to break up before penetrating the layered armor. Its higher density (approximately 13 gm/cc) gave it superior penetration performance against existing armor targets.
When first fielded, tungsten carbide represented a quantum improvement over its nearest competitor, high carbon steel. During the late 1950s, tungsten carbide was the primary material used for kinetic energy, armor-piercing projectiles.
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