Munição de infantaria para combates em ambientes urbanos

Abstract

Throughout recent history firearms technology has imposed large modifications upon weapons and ammunition whose bullets, as a matter of fact, are the ultimate bearers of the harm and destruction meant to the oponent, reason why is significantly relevant to know and study their behavior. The enhanced battlefield lethality triggered, still in the second half of the 19th century, the appearance of an international set of rules on war situations, initially focused on the fate of soldiers wounded in combat, which evolved into the well known International Law on the Armed Conflicts, or just the Law of War (LOW). Besides, the increased destructiveness of the ammunition that has been developed since the closure of the 19th century produced not just more serious wounds, but cast destruction beyond the imediate vicinity of the combatants, hitting inadvertently in undiscriminating ways those who are not directly involved in the clash. In the context of military operations in urban areas, such as Peace Operations or Law and Order Vouch operations, using ammunition with military oriented characteristics, comprised of bullets with high transfixing and bouncing power, could be problematic in face of the threat it brings on the civilian population. An accurate planning should consider not only the infantry weapons to be used in urban areas, but also the adequate ammunition employed in assault rifles, submachine guns, and pistols that complies with the LOW principles and have the expected combat effectiveness, in order to contribute to lower the risks to non-combatants without jeopardazing troop’s security or mission accomplishment