L118 light gun

Gun, 105mm, field, L118
Gun, 105mm, field, L118
	Royal Artillery firing 105 mm light guns on exercise in 2013
Type	Towed field gun
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1974–present
Used by	See Operators
Wars	Western Sahara War; Falklands War; Yugoslav Wars; Sierra Leone Civil War; Iraq War; Afghanistan War; Russo-Ukrainian War; 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine;
Production history
Designer	Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment
Designed	1966–1973
Manufacturer	Royal Ordnance Factory (later BAE Systems Land and Armaments)
Produced	1974–2016
No. built	Over 1,100
Variants	L119; M119;
Specifications (L118)
Mass	1,982 kg (1.951 long tons; 2.185 short tons)
Length	7.01 m (23 ft) firing; 4.876 m (16 ft) travelling
Barrel length	3.9 m (12 ft 10 in) L/37
Width	1.778 m (5 ft 10 in)
Height	1.371 m (4 ft 6 in) travelling
Crew	6 (minimum 3)
Shell	L31 HE (16.1 kg (35 lb)); L50 HE‐IM ER (base bleed); L42 HESH (10.49 kg (23 lb)); L43 Illuminating; L45 Smoke (15.89 kg (35 lb)); L37 Smoke, red; L38 Smoke, orange;
Calibre	105 mm (4.1 in)
Barrels	L19 ordnance
Breech	Vertical sliding block
Recoil	Hydro-pneumatic
Carriage	L17 box trail carriage with circular firing platform
Elevation	+1244 mils (+70 °); –98 mils (–5.5 °);
Traverse	200 mils (11.25 °) fine; 6400 mils (360 °) on turntable;
Rate of fire	12 rds/min rapid; 3 rds/min sustained
Maximum firing range	17.2 km (10.7 mi); 20.6 km (12.8 mi) base bleed;
Sights	Hall & Watts artillery sighting system; Selex ES LINAPS; Direct fire telescope;
References	Janes & BAE Systems

The L118 light gun is a 105 mm towed howitzer. It was originally designed and produced in the United Kingdom for the British Army in the 1970s. It has since been widely exported. The L119 and the United States Army's M119 are variants that use a different type of ammunition.

The L118 uses separate-loading cased-charge ammunition – the projectile is loaded into the gun and rammed by hand, then the cartridge with propellant is loaded behind it. The L119 and M119 use "semi-fixed" ammunition – when it is prepared for firing, the projectile is fitted into the top of the cartridge case and the shell loaded into the gun as a complete round.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.