An ammunition specialist examines a 105mm armor-piercing round to be used in an M-1 Abrams main battle tank during Operation Desert Shield in 1991. The object on the nose of the round is a sabot, a cover that protects and stabilizes the round's needle-like depleted uranium penetrator, then falls away as the projectile leaves the gun barrel. DoD Photo An ammunition specialist examines a 105mm armor-piercing round to be used in an M-1 Abrams main battle tank during Operation Desert Shield in 1991. The object on the nose of the round is a sabot, a cover that protects and stabilizes the round's needle-like depleted uranium penetrator, then falls away as the projectile leaves the gun barrel. DoD Photo SHARE IMAGE: Download Image: Full Size (0.05 MB) Photo By: VIRIN: 040413-R-HDF81-539.jpg Photo Gallery