The 155mm L33 Argentine Model gun (Argentine Army denomination: ''Cañón 155 mm. L 33 Modelo Argentino'') is an Argentine artillery field gun in service with the

Argentine Army The Argentine Army ( es, Ejército Argentino, EA) is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of Argentina. Under the Argentine Constitution, the president of Argentina is the command ...

Development

Developed in late 1970s by

CITEFA The Institute of Scientific and Technical Research for Defense ( es, Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa, also known for its acronym CITEDEF), is an Argentine federal agency in charge of research and development ...

as ''obus 155 mm L33 X1415 CITEFA Modelo 77'' in order to replace the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

era

M114 155 mm howitzer The M114 is a towed howitzer developed and used by the United States Army. It was first produced in 1942 as a medium artillery piece under the designation of 155 mm Howitzer M1. It saw service with the US Army during World War II, the Korean ...

still in service in the

. The ordnance is based on the gun carried by the French Mk F3 155mm self-propelled gun, also in service with the Argentine Army. Also designed by CITEFA is a slightly improved version named "''Modelo 81''".

Service

Examples of ''Modelo 77'' were used during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territori ...

. A total four guns were captured by the British, these were flown in via

Argentine Air Force "Argentine Wings" , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 August (anniversary) 1 May (Baptism of fire during the Falklands War) , equipment = 139 aircraft , equipment_label = , battles = * Operation Independence * Operation Soberanía * Falkl ...

C-130 Hercules during the conflict's last weeks in order to repel British naval gun fireArgentine Forces in the Falklands, Osprey Publications
/ref> after direct request from Argentinian commander to Buenos Aires Junta. They were feared by British soldiers and were considered high value targets for British commanders. Some were sold on the black market and were purchased by the Croatian Army where they were used in combat with Serbian forces during the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yu ...

Operators

Current operators

* :

- 109 * : Croatian Army - 12-18

References

Bibliography

External links

Official Argentine Army website - Artillery Branch, field artillery equipment webpage

Official Argentine Army Military Academy webpage - Artillery Branch webpage
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155 mm artillery Artillery of Argentina Field artillery of the Cold War Field artillery Fabricaciones Militares