Modern artillery ordnance ammunition is generally of two types: separate loading and semi-fixed. Semi-fixed ammunition rounds appear in the form of a projectile mated with a cartridge case which contains the propellant and they resemble small arms rounds.

The canister is outfitted with a primer on its base which fires upon contact from the firing pin. Gunpowder, precision machined to burn evenly, is contained inside of cloth bags that are numbered. US/NATO 105 mm howitzers use semi-fixed ammunition, containing seven powder bags referred to as increments or charges. Putting the powder in bags allows the howitzer crew to remove the increments when firing at closer targets. The unused increments are disposed of by burning in a powder pit at a safe distance from the guns.

Above a certain size, semi-fixed rounds are impracticable; the weight of the whole assembly is too much to be carried effectively. In this case separate loading ammunition is used: the projectile and propelling charge are supplied and loaded separately. The projectile is rammed home in the chamber, the powder charges are loaded usually by hand, then the breech is closed and the primer is inserted into the primer holder on the back the breech. Separate loading ammunition is typically used on 155 mm and larger howitzers. Several propellant types are available for 155 mm howitzer.

All normal projectiles arrive at the weapon with a plug in the fuze well on the nose of the projectile. Using a special fuse wrench, the plug is unscrewed and a fuze is screwed in. The decision as to which type of fuse to use is made by the fire direction center and carried out by the gun crew.

The armaments fitted to early tanks were contemporary field or naval artillery pieces and used the same ammunition. When tank versus tank combat became more important, the trend became that anti-aircraft artillery pieces designed to fire high velocity shells to altitude were often adapted to tank use where a gun specifically made for the vehicle was not available. As the armor applied to tanks increased, ammunition for tank use paralleled that of anti-tank guns. Current tank gun ammunition is a single fixed round shell and charge combined in a single piece for quick load, the charge is in a combustible case - so there is no empty cartridge to be removed and stored in the turret and the "shell" is a saboted shot, a shaped charge or sensor fuzed warhead.

The tank made horse mounted cavalry obsolete and while an infantryman could deal with a horse-borne enemy new weapons were needed to damage a tank or other vehicle or penetrate and disable the crew. The first anti-tank weapons given to infantry were based on small arms, for example the anti-tank rifle. As even the lighter designs of tank carried more armor the limit of a man-portable rifle that could fire a round with sufficient kinetic energy to penetrate the armor was reached.

The introduction of the shaped charge warhead gave the infantry a weapon that used chemical energy rather than kinetic to penetrate armor in a focused manner which made them more effective than large grenades. When propelled by a rocket, the shaped charge gained range as well. Weapons such as the Bazooka or Panzerfaust were never small but they were suitable for infantry use - though they often had to be used at close range where they could be aimed accurately at the vehicles weak points.

Post World War 2, the advent of the missile delivered both great range and accuracy and provided infantry with a weapon that could reliably destroy the heaviest tanks at long distances.

Today's infantryman can deploy sophisticated multi-spectral man-portable surface-to-air missiles equipped with the ability to reject decoys and defeat counter-measures.

In Somalia it was demonstrated that slow moving/stationary aircraft at low altitudes could be defeated with unguided anti-armor infantry weapons. It is also true that aircraft are relatively delicate machines, filled with highly flammable fuel, and since their first usage in World War I a plane can be brought down by single bullet striking something vital. The main weaknesses of ammunition provided to infantry to deal with aircraft are limited range and small warheads, both due to the necessity that such weapons remain portable by men on foot.

The premier SAM for infantry is the FIM-92 Stinger MANPADS , provided as an all-up round in a canister it is attached to a launcher unit and is ready to expend. Numerous other missiles in this class exist from different nations of origin. Infantry machine guns and rifles may improve their ability against aircraft by utilising tracer ammunition, to allow the aimer to better gauge the lead aim necessary to strike his target.

Weapons developed primarily for anti-tank roles can add proximity fusing to increase the probability of a kill by having the warhead detonate nearby the target without having to make contact.