Engineering:Gun-howitzer
Gun-howitzer (also referred to as gun howitzer) is a type of artillery weapon that is intended to fulfill both the role of ordinary cannon or field gun, and that of a howitzer.[1] It is thus able to convey both direct and indirect fire.[1] Currently, gun-howitzers are usually identified just as howitzers.
To be able to serve as a howitzer, gun-howitzers are typically built to achieve at least 60° to 70° of elevation. For effective direct fire, the gun-howitzers typically employ a fairly long barrel, usually not shorter than 30 calibres. Its ammunition also has a high muzzle velocity and often large calibre (usually of 120 mm calibre and larger).[1]
History
Historically the first gun-howitzer was the French canon obusier of 19th century. The smooth-bore Canon obusier de 12 was a versatile weapon that quickly replaced both ordinary cannons and howitzers in French service, and became one of the basic types of artillery used by both sides of the American Civil War.[2] Owing to their versality, gun-howitzers gained prominence in the period leading to World War II as a more flexible weapon than ordinary howitzers and were adopted by armies of both the Allies (for instance the Soviet ML-20 152 mm M1937 and British (88 mm) Ordnance QF 25-pounder) and the Axis (German 10.5 cm leFH 18, classified just as howitzer).[3]
A modern example of gun-howitzer is M-84 NORA.
After World War II, barrel length of howitzer designs started to grow gradually in order to obtain bigger range, and as a result, separate category of gun-howitzer merged with howitzers and cannons.[4] In modern armies gun-howitzers are usually identified just as howitzers.[4]
See also
- Gun-mortar
References
Citations
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ciepliński & Woźniak 1994, pp. 83–84.
- ↑ Hazlett, Olmstead & Parks 2004, pp. 28–29.
- ↑ Carruthers 2013, p. 174.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Szulc, Tomasz (2021). "Nowa generacja rosyjskich dział samobieżnych" (in pl). Nowa Technika Wojskowa (2/2021): 34-35. ISSN 1230-1655.
Bibliography
- Carruthers, Bob (21 January 2013). German Artillery in Combat. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-78159-133-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=dqN2BQAAQBAJ. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
- Ciepliński, Andrzej; Woźniak, Ryszard (1994) (in pl). Encyklopedia współczesnej broni palnej (od połowy XIX wieku). Warsaw: Wydawnictwo WiS. pp. 83–84. ISBN 83-86028-01-7.
- Hazlett, James C.; Olmstead, Edwin; Parks, M. Hume (2004). Field Artillery Weapons of the Civil War. University of Illinois Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-252-07210-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=twcQGSi1F7QC. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
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