Readied, Aimed, Fired: To Helmand And Back -- The TelegraphFrom factory to firefight, what is the life cycle of an Army bullet?
In the heat of a Helmand summer, we sit cross-legged on the floor drinking tea with Afghan elders and British soldiers. Suddenly, the crack of a bullet shatters the afternoon calm. Then comes another shot, and another, until the rat-tat-tat of a gun battle perhaps a mile or so away sounds clearly over the flat, parched land.
My cameraman and I look for a higher vantage point to film from, expecting the unit we are with to be called in to help the patrol that’s come under fire. Instead, everyone goes on drinking tea. Later, we learn that insurgents had ambushed the patrol, but that the soldiers had enough fire-power to defend themselves.
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My Comment: In short .... making bullets is a big and complicated business.