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The word flechette is French and means "dart" (literally, "little arrow"). It is a projectile having the form of a small metal dart, usually steel, with a sharp-pointed tip and a tail with several vanes to stabilize it during flight.

Flechettes were used as an air-dropped weapon in World War I. These were about four inches long and weighed a couple of ounces. Dropped from an airplane over enemy trenches, these gravity missiles were capable of penetrating a helmet and the wearer's skull.

Modern day flechettes are used in special artillery shells called "beehive" rounds (so named for the very distinctive whistling buzz made by thousands of flechettes flying downrange at supersonic speeds) and intended for use against troops in the open. There are also flechette rounds for the M203 grenade launcher and the 12-gauge shotgun.

In the 1960s the U.S. Army began early developmental work on a flechette rifle cartridge. It fired steel darts that looked very much like steel nails with fins stamped into the back. The flechettes were 3–5 cm long, and 1–2 mm in diameter, with a 4–5 mm fin diameter. It was never fielded.

Flechette rounds were developed for small arms for a number of reasons. Being very small and light compared to traditional jacketed lead or steel bullets, flechette ammunition weighs less per round, and thus an infantryman can carry more ammunition. Second is the issue of recoil--for the same amount of kinetic energy, a lighter bullet produces less recoil, and thus less shot dispersion in automatic fire. The last reason was the emergence of lightweight, flexible body armor for the average infantryman. The long, thin flechette has a very high sectional density, which gives it not only very good external ballistics, but extreme penetration upon contact with the target (see terminal ballistics).

However, the flechette has a number of weaknesses that limit its effectiveness as small arms ammunition. Because of the hard nature of the flechette, it does not deform on impact, and while it penetrates extremely well, it produces very little tissue damage. Since the purpose of firing at an opponent is to disable them, either by wounding or fear of wounding, having a projectile that does not cause major wounds is counterproductive. The last issue with small arms flechettes is accuracy. To fire the finned flechette out of a cylindrical bore (the only practical shape) requires the use of a sabot. Since flechettes do not work well when spun by rifling, the only source of stabilization is the fins. When the sabot separates, it can disturb the effectively unstabilized flechette, and cause deviations in its flight.

An interesting variation of the flechette, that is addresses or obviates the difficulties of the flechette is the SCIMTR, developed as part of the CAWS project.

• Projectiles