Description
This projectile is fired from 155mm howitzers and is used to illuminate the battlefield at night or during other conditions of reduced visibility.
The projectile is a hollow steel shell containing an illuminant canister, a canister expelling charge in the nose, and a drogue parachute in the base. The illuminant canister contains the main parachute and lines, the illuminant candle assembly, a secondary expelling charge and a delay element holder. The outer shell of the canister is fitted with four longitudinal fins. The fins extend under spin forces when the canister is ejected from the projectile. The base of the projectile is closed with a press fitted steel plug retained by shear and twist pins. A gilding metal rotating band and a plastic obturating band encircle the projectile near the base and are protected by a grommet during shipment and handling. The projectile uses an MT type fuze. The fuze cavity is fitted with a lifting ring plug for shipment and handling.
M485A1 has both shear and twist pins retaining the base plug. M485 has only shear pins. M485A2 has perforated canister fins to decrease the rate of deceleration before the parachute deploys.
Functioning
No information about functioning.
Hazardous Components
No information about hazardous components.
See Also
Nothing else to see.
Source(s)
TM 43-0001-28, Artillery Ammunition (chg 11, 2003)
TM 9-1300-203, Artillery Ammunition (1967)
