6.45×42mm WA CTA
The 6.45×42mm WA CTA ('Faerber') is a rimless, cased telescoped ammunition cartridge developed by Wolf Armaments for the TECT Armed Forces. The Faerber is a derivative of the 6.5mm Grendel cartridge, which had been the military's primary rifle cartridge until being phased out officially starting in 1995. Since the original inception of the 6.45 mm Faerber, Wolf Armaments has launched a series of ammunition based off the original Faerber concept. This project, known as the "Faerber Project," includes the 6.45 mm, 6.48 mm, 7.58 mm, 8.20 mm, and 14.5 mm ammunition; other large caliber ammunition (20-80 mm) were also developed with or under the Faerber Project. The Project developed two design types for its ammunition; pistol and rifle cartridges (6.45-8.20 mm currently) are telescoped cartridges that use a new biodegradable polymer that replaces the majority of the casing and removes most traditional metal components. Larger cartridges (14.5-80 mm currently) use a caseless telescoped cartridge design that fully encases the bullet itself, replacing the traditional casing design entirely. Technically both deisgn styles would work if swapped with the other, but currently this is how Wolf Armaments produces ammunition other than its tank ammunition. Faerber is the primary cartridge family used by the TECT Armed Forces, TECT police forces nationwide, and is very popular among civilians in TECT as well; Faerber exports to other customers worldwide, both military and civilian, remain extensively high to this date.
The stated goal of the Faerber line of ammunition is to "reduce weight and size of ammunition, decrease cost-per-production while also improving quality, and enhancing overall performance of the projectile." As a result, more ammunition can be carried/stored overall, ammunition becomes cheaper, and the recycling process becomes immensely streamlined. This newer material technology has also improved the performance of the munitions itself by making them more efficient, better performing, and easier to store. In order to achieve these results, Faerber cartridges feature two unique improvements over traditionally older cartridge designs. The first is the casing design. Wolf Armaments uses a redesigned telescoped ammunition casing featuring a new molded polymer build that replaces all the metal used in the cartridge aside from the bullet itself. Fully enclosed casings are built with the same polymer but the construction includes another lighter polymer on the end that acts as a bullet cap; said cap breaks apart when ignited so that the bullet passes through without any resistance. The second feature that differentiate Faerber cartridges with older designs is a new propellant that is a blended LOVA propellant. RDX LOVA propellant reduces the amount of propellant needed to achieve maximum force, is far stronger than traditional propellants, has improved performance, and has low sensitivity and vulnerability, making it safer to handle and store. Additional features of Faerber cartridges include easier markings to identify the cartridge type, use of blue glowing pyrotechnics for tracers, and enhanced recyclability. Simulation cartridges (simunition) are available in all calibers in marker, silent, and loud models.
Designs
6.45×42 mm
The 6.45×42, or the original Faerber design, is the 6.45 millimeter intermediate cartridge used with numerous rifle platforms, but was originally created for Wolf Armaments' flagship the AR Scorpion . As a leap in ammunition technology in Commoner munitions manufacturing, 6.45 was to be lighter and perform better than its predecessor the 6.5mm Grendel, a rifle cartridge known for its low recoil and high-precision. Construction is similar to traditional modern firearms cartridges overall, being telescoped ammunition with a bullet capped on top. Changes occur mainly in materials and the concept approach. The casing itself is made out of a strong heat/weather/environment resistant polymer that replaces all metal in the cartridge minus the bullet; this is achieved via the use of molds during manufacturing and complex assembly on production lines. Another leap in Commoner ammunition technology is the incorporation of low sensitivity, low vulnerability, and improved quality propellant, or otherwise known as LOVA propellant. The LOVA propellant, a RDX mix to be specific, is shown to increase the munition's velocity, have lower vulnerability, and overall improved operation characteristics; its more condensed construction means the cartridge requires less propellant to perform its function. Because of the WA CTA's propellant and construction, the 6.45 mm (and other telescoped rounds of the series) are approximately 45%-50% lighter then their traditional brass counterparts. They are also about five percent smaller in volume as well, further increasing its slim characteristics. Tests have shown that velocity and discharge are significantly improved compared to more traditional cartridges - increasing their effective range and stomping power/penetration.
6.45 mm comes in several different variations preoduced by Wolf Armaments while other smaller ammunition makers in TECT have made after-market variants based on the 6.45 or designed for 6.45 rifles. The standard design since its inception is the "Standard Penetrator Bullet" or "SPB" for short. It is a 123 grain steel core bullet with a zinc jacket. For claridy, the SPB has more kenetic energy and armor penetration than the standard M80 7.62 NATO round due to its intermediate nature. But this is the case with the Grendel too, thus the 6.45, an improvement on the concept design, even out performs the Grendel in these aspects too.
Standard Penetrator Bullet (SPB): Standard use for militaries all over the world, the "SPB" is 123 grain full metal jacket with a steel core and zinc jacket. It travels at a muzzle velocity of over eight-hundred and twenty-four meters per-second, making it a signifigant threat even past a full kilometer in distance. Although not entirely traditional in material design, the SPB was designed to excel in kenetic energy, accuracy, and armor penetration.
Standard Penetrator Bullet-Armor Penetrator (SPB-AP): Built upon the SPB, "SPB-AP" is an improved armor penetrating variant of the SPB cartridge. It utilizes a stronger, more streamlined dart-shaped steel alloy core for maximum armor penetration. Although not as powerful as some AP ammunition, the improvement to armor penetration when compared to the SPB is statistically far greater while also saving money on more expensive AP ammunition.
Armor Penetrating Bullet (APB): Punching harder than the SPB, the "APB" is 138 grain full metal jacketed cartridge that uses a dual method of armor penetration. While still using the streamlined core method used with the SPB-AP, the APB uses a different hardened steel alloy as its core with the same zinc jacket. Furthermore, the APB uses a tungsten-carbide (Tungsten-Cobalt alloy) tip as a penetrator. Thus creating a dual penetration method; the penetrating tip creates a tunnel into the armor plate while the hardened steel core strikes through the created opening. With an eight hundred meters per-second muzzle velocity, the APB is adapt at defeating even the sturdiest of armored plates at over a kilometer's distance.
Ballistic Tip, Hollow-Point (BT-HP): For those fleshy targets, the "BT-HP" is a 123 grain cartridge design with a muzzle velocity of eight-hundred twenty-four meters per-second. BT-HP rounds are closely designed to their FMJ sibling the SPB with notable changes to the bullet itself. The tip of the bullet itself is a circular hollow section similar to most hollow-point ammunition. Included, however, is a synthetic polymer tip fitted inside the hollow end of the bullet. This inclusion of a "ballistic tip" serves three vital functions: First, as a malfunction reducer since many feed systems can be prone to jamming when using hollow point ammuniton due to lacking a full body design. Second, the inclusion of a ballistic tip retains the bullet's aerodynamics, which is vital for long range energy delivery and accuracy. Lastly, the ballistic tip assists the hollow section to better form a "mushroom" upon impact since the ballistic tip is forced down into the cavity upon impact - the natural result is enhanced lethality. The rest of the bullet is deisnged similar to SPB ammunition as previously noted, including the use of the same steel core and zinc jacket. Although not particularly lethal to armored targets, fleshy or un-armored targets will take immense damage if struke by said bullet. Even at over a kilometer away the BT-HP is a potent threat.
Standard Penetrator Tracer (SPT): Simply an SPB with a small pyrotechnic charge at the base of the bullet. SPTs utilize a pyrotechnic mixture that produces a fairly bight looking light up to around eight hundred meters; said light often appears as a dull white color during daylight hours while darker hours produce a more distinguishing blueish hue.
Standard Frangible Bullet (SFB): Often shortened to simply "Frangible," SFB ammunition shares the same specifications as the SPB/SPT round with the sole difference being the bullet design. Crafted entirely of compressed granules of alloy copper, SFB is designed to shatter upon striking any hard surface; this also means that SFB is the only official 6.45 cartridge to feature a non-zinc jacket. The purpose behind this design is to reduce or totally eliminate any penetration by having the bullet itself disperse in every other direction using its own propelled force - it is the ultimate spear striking the ultimate shield. This is useful mostly for training purposes, such as kill-house training and hitting metal targets at closer ranges; non-lead SFB's are safer to be around health wise and since they break apart upon impact, there are no chances of ricochets. SFB's are also far cheaper than standard FMJ styled ammunition since they only utilize a cheap copper alloy, making them excellent practice rounds all around.
6.48×28 mm
The 6.48×28 millimeter Faerber is a small caliber, high velocity, rebated rim pistol cartridge used with various pistol platforms, but is mainly utilized in Wolf Armaments pistol caliber firearms such as the SM Stinger. As a design largely based off the original rifle model, the construction is mostly similar to the 6.45x42 Faerber but with drastic alterations made. 6.48 remains a telescoped ammunition casing made out of a strong heat/weather/environment resistant polymer that replaces all metal compnents traditionally found in older cartridges; 6.48 cartridges also incorporate the same low sensitivity, low vulnerability, and improved quality LOVA propellant. Alterations begin with the actual dimensions of the cartridge itself and the bullet designs used in its increasingly large divserse selection of cartridge variants.
As previously stated, changes begin with dimensions of the casing and bullet. The casing is fourteen millimeters shorter and now has a more defined bottlenecked design compared to other similar legacy pistol cartridges. In large part, the 6.48 is largely based off the 6.5×25mm CBJ which was used as a model when creating a pistol cartridge for the TECT Armed Forces, thus it shares many unique features seen in the 6.5. Additionally, instead of a rimless design, the 6.48 utilizes a rebated rim for the same reason the 6.5 uses them. Rebated rims are functionally the same as a rimless case but they allow a gun to be easily converted to fire a larger-than-normal cartridge. In TECT's case, the use of this design was to allow guns previously using 9×19mm Parabellum to be easily converted to 6.48 and vice versa; rebated rims allow relatively familiar rounds to be used by the same gun with only a simple barrel change needed, thus allowing legacy guns to use the new 6.48 cartridge and legacy 9.19 rounds to be fired in newer guns if needed. The only reason this is possible is because both rounds are dimensionally identical, otherwise the addition of the rebated rim to be mostly moot other than reduced stress on the gun's action (automatic reloading part stress).
Lastly, the bullet itself was enlarged by a small degree - three percent to be exact. This was largely due to the more diverse design outlook of the 6.48 would have and to match the Parabellum's dimensions as previously stated prior. As a pistol caliber for military use, the 6.48 had to have qualities befitting it. But since it would see service in with police forces and be used by civilians, variants to the cartridge would be vital to reach all three markets. To reach all three markets, the bullet of the 6.48 cartridge changes greatly per variant Wolf Armaments developed. This is in contrast to the 6.45 which was fairly streamlined in design across its official lineup of produced variants.
Standard Ball (SB): The flagship of the 6.48 line of ammunition, the "SB" is a thirty-four grain full metal jacket with a steel core, zinc jacket, and [spoon tip]. It travels at a muzzle velocity of over seven hundred and forty-five meters per-second, making it a signifigant threat even past four hundred meters in distance. Even though it is the standard model of the 6.48, the SB has considerably high armor penetration due in part to its high muzzle velocity and bullet design. Furthermor, the incorporation of the "spoon tip" has especially been a net positive for the 6.48. Made of polymer, the spoon tip is applied over the bullet with asymmetry over the bullet's tip, causing the bullet to both tumble and create a cavity once impact has been made. The results are that penetration is further increased and potential damage also taken, although damage brought by penetration itself remains unchanged. Spoon tips also greatly increase the accuracy and energy delivery through the use of improved aerodynamics.
Standard Ball-Armor Penetrating Bullet (SB-APB): An enhanced armor penetrating variant of the standard ball cartridge, the "SB-APB" is a thirty-eight grain full metal jacket with a streamlined harder steel core, zinc jacket, and tungsten-carbide (Tungsten-Cobalt alloy) tip surrounded by a [spoon tip]. With a seven hundred and fifty meters per-second muzzle velocity, the APB is adapt at defeating even the sturdiest of armored plates at over four hundred and fifty meters away.
7.58×54 mm
7.58×54 mm is a 7.6 mm Faerber; it is identical in almost all fashions to the 6.5 mm version and is often called the 'Faerber Mk. 2 (or just '2')'. The 7.6 mm is designed to be used in larger rifle weapons, such as machine guns and sniper rifles - therefore, Wolf Armaments created 7.6 mm with the exact same technology behind the 6.5 mm. Its improved qualities for weight and size follow over from the 6.5 mm - its improved propellent performance also the same. The Faerber II is the standard cartridge for DMRs and sniper rifles, light machine guns, and other rifle systems. It is used most often in the [TECT Armed Forces] as a medium machine gun cartridge for the LSW MareV2 and similar systems. The Faerber II fits into standard magazines like traditional ammunition and can be fitted on belt systems.
8.20×60 mm
8.20×60 mm is an eight millimeter heavy assault rifle cartridge part of the Faerber line of assault rifle cartridges. It is identical in most fashion to the earlier 7.58 and 6.45 in its construction; the difference begin in the shaping of the cartridge, which has a larger base to accustom more propellant. The .30-06 Springfield was the initial inspiration for the 8.20, considering its long history of effectiveness. 9.68 was designed initially as a possible replacement to earlier seven millimeter cartridges; the conversion never came, leaving designers to design cartridge for the Nashorn CAR, which serves as a "heavy automatic assault rifle". As a large caliber round, the 8.20 draws its design heavily from the .30-06; key features include a thicker base, larger rifle bullet, and additional propellant. 9.68 wasn't designed for use in general infantry, but rather for supporting forces using stationary arms such as marksmen rifles and machine guns; it now serves as a machine gun round for medium machine guns, marksmen rifles, and sniper rifles. Wolf Armaments claims the 8.20 is "shy from a heavy machine gun cartridge", meaning it has improved range, penetration, and stomping power compared to its 7.58 round, but it doesn't match up compared to 12.7mm rounds.
14.5×114mm (WA 14.5 mm)
The 14.5×114mm (WA 14.5 mm), or 'Faerber Mk. 3' (or 'Faerber III'), is a heavy machine gun/anti-material cartridge designed by Wolf Armaments originally for the TECT Armed Forces. Largely based on the Russian 14.5×114 mm (.57 Cal) cartridge, Faerber III uses a fully encased telescoped design that surrounds the projectile instead of traditional brass cased ammunition (as with smaller Faerber cartridges). The polymer case protects the internal components, which include the bullet, LOVA or other propellants (including cup mixes), and cups for primer and case end. Operation is largely not changed since the rotary bolts (like the traditional Russian KPV and the Commoner SMJ) will eject the case rather than brass in similar fashion. The Faerber III shares many statistical boosts that previous Faerber cartridges enjoy over older traditional designs, including a 45% decrease in weight, as well as 5% smaller volume. Improved propellants have greatly reduced misfires and increased safety along with cartridge performance. There are currently three main variants of the Faerber Mk. 3 manufactured by Wolf Armaments:
AP-DU14: The AP-DU14 is an armor-piercing full metal jacketed cartridge utilizing a depleted uranium core and zinc jacket. It weighs sixty-eight grams and has a muzzle velocity of one thousand and eighty meters per-second. Armor penetration at five hundred meters is rated to forty-six millimeters of rolled homogenous armor (RHA) at zero degrees. Tracer-tipped variants are rated to burn for two thousand five hundred meter burn. Specially designed for maximum armor penetration, DU14 utilizes a costly depleted uranium core surrounded by a zinc jacket. Depleted uranium is inherently incendiary, doubling its deadliness against thicker armor at no additional cost. Although performance is exceptional, combining armor penetration with damage potential, the cost per round is far more expensive than other armor penetrating rounds for the caliber. Such rounds are additionally more expensive to produce depending on how much access manufacturers have to depleted uranium. As such, its primary users have opted to use the DU14 either on ground-attack aircraft or on certain vehicle platforms where anti-armor ammunition is crucial.
AP-DU-T14: The AP-DU-T14 is an armor piercing full metal jacketed cartridge utilizing a depleted uranium penetrating tip and hardened steel alloy core covered with a zinc jacket. DU-T14 is a more economically generous variant of the DU-14 which replaces the DU core for a cheaper steel penetrator alloy and DU tip for increased penetration. While not as deadly as the original DU14 at a standard five hundred meters with forty millimeters of rolled homogenous armor (RHA) penetration at zero degrees, DU-T14 is both cheaper than DU14 and better at penetrating armor than AP14.
AP14: The AP14 is an armor-piercing full metal jacketed cartridge utilizing a tungsten-carbide (tungsten-cobalt alloy) core and zinc jacket. It weighs sixty-four grams and has a muzzle velocity of one-thousand and fifty meters per-second. Armor penetration at five-hundred meters is rated for thirty-eight millimeters of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) at zero degrees. A tracer variant of the AP14 allows for a two-thousand five-hundred meter burn. Similar to the Soviet B-32 standard AP round it was based on, the AP14 differs largely starting with the alloy mix and lack of incendiary components. AP14 is designed for maximum penetration over potential damages, therefor focus on the penetrating core and muzzle velocity were the primary concerns for designers. As such, AP14 is often used on aircraft that may fire on ground vehicles often or ground vehicles which may have need to defeat thick vehicle armor.
AP14-B: An incendiary variant to the AP14 which includes an incendiary tip for increased potential damage once penetration is achieved. At a slight cost to penetration (thirty-two millimeters of RHA), damage to components or personnel behind defenses will greatly increase. For this and many other reasons, AP14-B is a preferred dual-use ammunition for operators who may encounter vehicles with significant armor plating such as mine-resistance personnel carriers and combat aircraft.
HE14: The HE14 is a high-explosive full metal jacketed incendiary cartridge that utilizes an explosive fragmenting steel core along with an instant-action detonation tip. It weighs sixty grams and has a muzzle velocity of one-thousand and three meters per-second. Armor penetration at five-hundred meters is rated for zero to five millimeters of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) at zero degrees and fragmentation spread is roughly a few meters. A tracer variant of the HE14 allows for a two-thousand five-hundred meter burn. Unlike its sibling cartridges, the HE14 is largely based on the Soviet MDZ cartridge which is designed to explode upon impact rather than penetrating any specified target. Although not capable of penetrating most hard armors (namely most basic vehicle armor liners), HE14 rounds are designed to explode upon impact, creating more than several dozen fragments that are sent flying in (often) every direction. While not deadly to armor per-say, this feature is however deadly to exposed infantry, light skinned vehicles, and most aircraft components.
HE14-P: A penetrating variant of the HE14 which utilizes a high-explosive fragmenting hardened steel core along with a delayed-action detonation tip. Armor penetration at five-hundred meters is rated for twenty millimeters of rolled homogeneous armor (RHA) at zero degrees and fragmentation spread is roughly a few meters. HE14-P's key difference is its delayed detonation tip and armor penetrating steel core. Delay of the explosion is achieved by merely moving the trigger deeper into the core of the bullet instead of at the tip. So while the term "delayed-action" is technically correct in function, it is also not correct by design given the tip is a normal hardened steel penetrator similar to smaller caliber armor penetrating bullets. Thus when a bullet impacts a target, the tip will slowly concave or be sheered away until the trigger makes contact with the target, causing the explosion. This feature, although imperfect at achieving full pentation at rare times, is failsafe from non-explosions due to its sensitive trigger. Key trade off is adding significant armor penetration and damage potential at the cost of smaller explosive charge. For this reason the HE14-P is popular with operators for its dual-use or with combating combat aircraft.