PGU-13b 30mm Round

The 30mm round used on the A-10 Thunderbolt II (Warthog) is the 30×173mm cartridge, fired by the GAU-8/A Avenger rotary cannon. This is a standard metric designation where "30" refers to the nominal bore/projectile diameter (approximately 30 mm or 1.18 inches), and "173" indicates the case length (173 mm or about 6.81 inches).

The complete assembled cartridge (case + projectile) has these key dimensions:

• Overall length: 290 mm (11.4 inches). This is the standard loaded cartridge length, consistently reported across sources including Wikipedia, military fact sheets, and ammunition overviews.

• Diameter: Approximately 30 mm at the projectile (bore caliber), with the rim/base and case body slightly larger (around 1.7–2 inches or 43–50 mm depending on exact measurement point, as seen in product listings and comparisons).

For context:

• The projectile itself (e.g., in PGU-13/B API rounds) is around 30 mm in diameter.

• The cartridge weighs about 0.69–0.75 kg (1.53 lb or more), depending on the variant (e.g., PGU-13/B HEI, PGU-14/B API with depleted uranium penetrator, or PGU-15/B TP).

• It's a large, powerful round—often compared in size to a large carrot or notably bigger than a .30-06 Springfield rifle cartridge in photos.

These specs are for the complete round as loaded and fired from the A-10.