As seen above this is the first Special issue for an International Symposium on Ballistics published by Defence Technology,which aims to become a worldwide recognised scientific Journal covering the entire sphere of defence science and technology.Ballistics,in its wide sense,is an important part of this,not widely recognised outside the community of ballisticians.The International Symposia on Ballistics have been organised since 1974,and from a modest start these symposia now typically attract an attendance of 4-500 scientists and engineers every 1?years.

One of the important goals of the Symposia is to forward the science of ballistics.Proceedings from the Symposia constitute a very important collection of knowledge and information,and they all can now be accessed and downloaded via the International Ballistics Society's website www.ballistics.org.

However the only accepted way to establish the quality of science and research is by scientific,peer reviewed publication.Beginning at the 25th Symposium,which was coorganised by the China Ordnance Society and the Nanjing University of Science and Technology,in Beijing in 2010,it was decided to publish a number of qualified papers from the Symposium in a renowned scientific Journal.Then the choice fell on the Journal of Applied Mechanics,published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers,USA.I had the pleasure of being the first Guest Editor for the 25th ISB Special issue,this collaboration has then continued for two more Symposia,and I have continued this work.That has meant a considerable amount of practical work with organising reviews,corresponding with reviewers,authors and the publisher,and finally editing the issue.That collaboration was quite successful and the number of papers published showed a steady increase in both numbers and quality.

In 2013 the Executive Board of the International Ballistics Society,after sending enquiries to several scientific journals,decided to start a new collaboration with Defence Technology,which is sponsored by the China Ordnance Society.This Journal was the one which best fulfilled our requirements and wishes,in particular by being able to accommodate all topics current for the Ballistic Symposia.Also bearing in mind the excellent collaboration at the organising of the 25th ISB,Defence Technology felt like a natural publication partner.This collaboration has now resulted in the present issue,which contains somewhat fewer papers than those lately published special issues,most likely since authors were not quite used to this arrangement.

The reviews for Defence Technology are double blind,meaning that authors will not know who the reviewers are,and reviewers do not know the names or affiliations of the authors.At least two independent and highly qualified reviewers,and often more,will be assigned to review any paper.These are,arguably,the best kind of arrangements for peer review,reducing the possibility of any type of bias,only letting the paper speak for itself.In addition Defence Technology is a Gold Open Source Journal,produced by Elsevier,meaning that all papers will be fully accessible and download able at Science Direct,at no cost to either readers or authors.If you would wish to receive the Journal on paper,subscriptions are available.1Printed issues of DT can be ordered,with contacting Zhou Li from the editorial office of DT.Tel.:+86 010 68964830.Email:bgxbywk@163.com.A single issue will be quite affordable at USD 20.

I was invited again to serve as Guest Editor for this Special Issue,and it has indeed been much easier work than I ever experienced before,since the Editorial Office of DT has done an excellent job of handling all practical issues,while the rigidity of reviews and the quality of the papers has been kept at an equal or higher level than ever before!I am much impressed and very grateful for the excellent cooperation that has been extended by the journal to the International Ballistics Society and me!

So please accept my sincere thanks to:

The China Ordnance Society,and the Defence Technology journal,

All authors,

All,anonymous,reviewers serving on this issue,

Professor Chang-gen FENG,Editor-in-Chief,

Professor Zhong-yuan WANG,Associate Editor-in-Chief,

Ms.Ying LI,Ms.Li ZHOU,Executive Editors,

The Defence Technology Editorial Office,all of whom have contributed much to this successful ISB Special Issue,and to facilitating my task!