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Royal Ordnance L11
The Royal Ordnance L11A5, officially designated Gun, 120 mm, Tank L11, is a 120 mm L/55 rifled tank gun design. It was the second 120 mm calibre tank gun in service with British Army, the first of which was the Royal Ordnance OQF 120mm Tank L1. It was the first of NATO's 120 mm main battle tank guns which became the standard calibre for Western tanks in the later period of the Cold War. A total of 3,012 of the L11 guns were produced by 2005. The list price was US$227,000 in 1990. The L11 was developed by Britain's Royal Ordnance Factories to equip the Chieftain tank as the successor to the 105 mm L7 gun used in the Centurion tank and the heavy Conqueror tank. It was also used on the Challenger 1, which replaced the Chieftain in British and Jordanian service. The weapon has been superseded by the L30 series 120 mm rifled tank gun. History The Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment at Fort Halstead designed a new 120 mm rifled tank g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Halstead
Fort Halstead was a research site of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), an executive agency of the UK Ministry of Defence. It is situated on the crest of the Kentish North Downs, overlooking the town of Sevenoaks, southeast of London. Originally constructed in 1892 as part of a ring of fortresses around London, Fort Halstead was to be staffed by volunteers in the event of a crisis. The base became home to the Projectile Development Establishment, the Ministry of Supply and later was the headquarters of the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE). Design and construction Fort Halstead formed a part of the London Defence Positions, a scheme devised by Lieutenant General Sir Edward Bruce Hamley and implemented by the Secretary of State for War, Edward Stanhope, who announced the plan to Parliament in 1889. The scheme envisaged a line of entrenchments which would be dug in the event of war to protect the southern and eastern approaches t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rheinmetall Rh-120
The Rheinmetall Rh-120 is a 120 mm smoothbore tank gun designed and produced in former West Germany by the Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH company. It was developed in response to Soviet advances in armour technology and development of new armoured threats. Production began in 1974, with the first version of the gun, known as the ''L/44'' as it was 44 calibres long, used on the German Leopard 2 tank and soon produced under license for the American M1A1 Abrams and other tanks. The L/44 gun has a length of , and the gun system weighs approximately . By 1990, the L/44 was not considered powerful enough to defeat future Soviet armour, which stimulated an effort by Rheinmetall to develop a better main armament. This first involved a tank gun named ''Neue Panzerkanone 140'' ('new tank gun 140'), but later turned into a compromise which led to the development of an advanced 120 mm gun, the L/55, based on the same internal geometry as the L/44 and installed in the same breech ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
15 Cm SFH 18
The 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 18 or sFH 18 (German: "heavy field howitzer, model 18"), nicknamed ''Immergrün'' ("Evergreen"), was the basic German division-level heavy howitzer of 149mm during the Second World War, serving alongside the smaller but more numerous 10.5 cm leFH 18. Its mobility and firing range and the effectiveness of its 44 kilogram shell made it the most important weapon of all German infantry divisions. A total of 6,756 examples were produced. It replaced the earlier, First World War-era design of the 15 cm sFH 13, which was judged by the Krupp-Rheinmetall designer team of the sFH 18 as completely inadequate. The sFH 18 was twice as heavy as its predecessor, had a muzzle velocity increase of forty percent, a maximum firing range 4.5 kilometers greater, and a new split-trail gun carriage that increased the firing traverse twelvefold. The secret development from 1926–1930 allowed German industry to deliver a trouble-free design at the beginning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Recoil
Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, for according to Newton's third law the force required to accelerate something will evoke an equal but opposite reactional force, which means the forward momentum gained by the projectile and exhaust gases (ejectae) will be mathematically balanced out by an equal and opposite momentum exerted back upon the gun. Basics Any launching system (weapon or not) generates recoil. However recoil only constitutes a problem in the field of artillery and firearms due to the magnitude of the forces at play. Gun chamber pressures and projectile acceleration forces are tremendous, on the order of tens to hundreds mega pascalAs a perspective, the atmospheric pressure is roughly 0.1 megapascal. and tens of thousands of times the acceleration of gravity ( g's), both necessary to launch the projectile a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Breechblock
A breechblock (or breech block) is the part of the firearm action that closes the breech of a breech loading weapon (whether small arms or artillery) before or at the moment of firing. It seals the breech and contains the pressure generated by the ignited propellant. Retracting the breechblock allows the chamber to be loaded with a cartridge. Breechblocks are categorised by the type or design of the mechanism by which it is locked or closed for firing. The firearm action more fully refers to the mechanism by which the operator actuates the opening and closing of the breech. Variants A way of closing the breech or chamber is an essential part of any breech-loading weapon or firearm. Perhaps the simplest way of achieving this is a break-action, in which the barrel, forestock and breech pivot on a hinge that joins the front assembly to the rear of the firearm, incorporating the rear of the breech, the butt and usually, the trigger mechanism. A breechblock is a separate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Challenger 2
The FV4034 Challenger 2 (MoD designation "CR2") is a third generation British main battle tank (MBT) in service with the armies of the United Kingdom, Oman, and Ukraine. It was designed by Vickers Defence Systems (now Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL)) as a private venture in 1986, and was an extensive redesign of the company's earlier Challenger 1 tank. The Ministry of Defence ordered a prototype in December 1988. The Challenger 2 has four crew members consisting of a commander, gunner, loader, and driver. The main armament is a L30A1 rifled tank gun, an improved derivative of the L11 gun used on the Chieftain and Challenger 1. Fifty rounds of ammunition are carried for the main armament, alongside 4,200 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition for the tank's secondary weapons: a L94A1 EX-34 chain gun mounted coaxially, and a L37A2 (GPMG) machine gun. The turret and hull are protected with second generation Chobham armour, also known as Dorchester. Powered by a Perkins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fume Extractor
A bore evacuator or fume extractor is a device which removes lingering gases and airborne residues from the barrel of an armored fighting vehicle's gun after firing, particularly in tanks and self-propelled guns. By creating a pressure differential in the barrel after the shell leaves, the bore evacuator causes most of the propellant gases and combustion residues to exit via the muzzle. Thus, when the breech opens for reloading, those gases and residues do not escape into the crew compartment and pose a hazard to the gun crew. Description The evacuator is a passive device generally consisting of a ring of holes drilled into the barrel, surrounded by a cylindrical pressure reservoir that is sealed to the barrel's surface. When the gun is fired, high pressure gas generated by the burning propellant pushes the projectile forward. When the projectile passes the holes drilled into the barrel the propellant gasses are free to flow into the reservoir. When the projectile leaves ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muzzle Reference System
A muzzle reference system (MRS) is a device used on most modern tank guns and some artillery systems that measures the bending of the barrel due to heat, gravity and other issues. It normally consists of a laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ... device and detector mounted at the breach end of the gun, often co-located with other optics like the gunner's sight, and a mirror at the muzzle. By measuring the deflection of the barrel, corrections can be applied by the ballistic computer to correct for changes as the gun is fired. Static muzzle reference system (SMRS) Dynamic muzzle reference system (DMRS) See also * Thermal sleeve References * External links Ballistics {{mil-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T-55
The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet medium tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2004, p. 6 From the late 1950s, the T-54 eventually became the main tank for armoured units of the Soviet Army, armies of the Warsaw Pact countries, and many others. T-54s and T-55s have been involved in many of the world's armed conflicts since their introduction in the second half of the 20th century. The T-54/55 series is the most-produced tank in history. Estimated production numbers for the series range from 96,500 to 100,000. They were replaced by the T-62, T-64, T-72, T-80 and T-90 tanks in Soviet and Russian armies, but are still used by up to 50 other armies worldwide, some having received sophisticated retrofitting. The Chinese version of the T-54A is the Type 59. During the Cold War, Soviet tanks never directly faced their NA ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Ogorkiewicz
Richard Marian Ogorkiewicz (2 May 1926 – 24 November 2019) was a Polish British engineer and armoured fighting vehicle historian. Life Richard Ogorkiewicz, born Ryszard Marian Ogórkiewicz, was born in Bydgoszcz. He was a son of Polish Colonel Oberst Marian Ogórkiewicz (1898–1962). Following the invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 his family fled first to Romania, then to France in February 1940. In May they moved to Scotland, where Richard attended school. Richard studied mechanical engineering at Imperial College London. After completing his studies, he continued to teach at Imperial. He then worked at Humber and Ford on gas turbine engines. From 1957 through 1985 he was back at Imperial and concentrated on armoured fighting vehicles. From 1972 to 2006, he was an independent member of various committees of the British Defence Scientific Advisory Council. In 1979 he became a lecturer, and from 1988 a visiting professor at the Royal Military College of Science in Shri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
High-explosive Squash Head
A high-explosive squash head (HESH), in British terminology, or a high-explosive plastic/plasticized (HEP), in American terminology, is a type of explosive projectile with plastic explosive that conforms to the surface of a target before detonating, which improves the transfer of explosive energy to the target. Squash head projectiles are similar to high-explosive projectiles and are well suited to many of the same targets. However, while HESH projectiles are not armour-piercing, they can defeat armored targets by causing spall, which can injure or kill a vehicle's occupants or detonate some types of ammunition. Design Function HESH rounds are thin metal shells filled with plastic explosive and a delayed-action fuze at the base of the shell. On impact, the inert material, followed by plastic explosive, is 'squashed' against the surface of the target and spreads out to form a disc or 'pat' of explosive. The inert material helps prevent premature detonation of the plastic exp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
