LW25 (25 mm)

Description

The 25 mm LW25 ("Light Weight" 25 mm) is an American autocannon currently exclusively equipped onto the M60 AMBT. A derivative of the 25 mm M242 autocannon, the LW25 acts as a lightweight weapon system for vehicle mounts in the same niche as weapon systems such as the .50 calibre M2 Browning.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• M60 AMBT

General info

The LW25 is a cupola-mounted autocannon on the M60 AMBT. Although it is considered a derivative of the 25 mm M242, the ballistic performance the two weapons have on the same calibre are completely different. The LW25 fires its projectiles rather slowly at 405 m/s, a muzzle velocity that makes the weapon akin to a grenade launcher. This makes the weapon rather inefficient against airborne targets, even helicopters unless they are flying low and in close-range.

However, the one ammunition available to the LW25 on the M60 AMBT, the default HEDP type, allows the weapon to be used rather well on soft target as the HEDP round gives a penetration rating of 36 mm that deal with armour. This is enough to deal with most enemy light tanks even in top rank battles.

Available ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
	10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
HEDP	36	36	36	36	36	36

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
						0%	50%	100%
HEDP	405	0.14	0.05	0.1	26.88	62°	69°	73°

Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

The 25 mm LW25 serves mostly as a backup role among the different weapon systems on the M60 AMBT. The LW25 fires HEDP rounds that have more armour-penetration compared to a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun, but they are also fired at a lower muzzle velocity than the 12.7 mm. As such, it would be a poor weapon against a fast-moving enemy jet (although firing a tracer stream towards them could shake up their attack run), but the LW25 is a good fall back weapon should the M60 AMBT encounter a lightly-armoured vehicle such as light tanks or SPAA, or even a low-flying helicopter, that the HEDP could have good effect on.

Since the gun is on the roof of the tank's turret, the lower muzzle velocity of the 25 mm shells could also allow some higher angled shots to fire at enemy behind cover or terrain.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Good against lightly armoured vehicles or helicopters
• One continuous 300-round belt so shooters do not need to worry about reloading
• Entire ammo belt has tracers, meaning one could just walk the 25 mm shells into the enemy or intimidate them by firing at their location.
• Low muzzle velocity means projectile drop could be sufficient to attack enemies behind low cover
• Mounted high on the M60 AMBT turret, which allows for an elevated firing perspective

Cons:

• Insufficient armour-piercing power for attacking most tanks from any angles, except possibly roof armour and weak points.
• Low muzzle velocity makes weapon rather poor for long-range engagements or against fast-moving vehicles.
• Low rate of fire
• Only a single ammo choice (HEDP) available

History

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Media

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See also

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• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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USA tank cannons
20 mm	M139
25 mm	LW25 · M242
37 mm	M3 · M5 · M6
57 mm	M1
75 mm	M2 · M2 Howitzer · M3 · M6 · M1897A4 · XM274
76 mm	M1 · M7 · M32 · T185E1
90 mm	M3 · M3A1 · M36 · M41 · M54 · T15E1 · T15E2 · T54 · T208E9
105 mm	M4 · M68 · M68A1 · M68A1E8 · T5E1 · T5E2 · T140E2 · T140E3 · XM35
106 mm	M40A1C
120 mm	M58 · M256 · T53
152 mm	M81 · M162 · XM150E5
155 mm	M185 · T7
165 mm	M135
	Foreign:
20 mm	Rh202 (Germany)
57 mm	6pdr OQF Mk.III (Britain) · ZIS-2 (USSR)
105 mm	Sharir (Israel)
120 mm	IMI MG251 (Israel)