Beehive (ammunition)
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- This article is about Beehive ammunition. For other uses, see Beehive.
Beehive is an anti-personnel round fired from an artillery or tank gun, packed full of metal darts, flechettes, which are released when the round bursts over the target. It is so-called because of the 'buzzing' sound the darts make when flying through the air and in the manner of numerous bees around an actual beehive. It is deadly when used against concentrations of enemy troops due to its shotgun effect in similarity to claymore mines.
Beehive rounds were extensively used in the Vietnam War, for defence of firebase perimeters against massed enemy attacks, and because it could penetrate the thick canopy of the jungle and "pad" it out.
The term may also refer to "Sanshiki" (lit. "beehive") ammunition, a combined shrapnel and incendiary round for anti-aircraft use, used by the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II.
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