 A 120 mm M1 anti-aircraft gun at Fort Meade in February 1953. The 120 mm Gun M1 was the US Army's standard super-heavy anti-aircraft gun, complementing the smaller and more mobile 90 mm M3 in service. Its maximum altitude was about 60,000 ft, which garnered it the nickname the stratosphere gun. 120's served primarily in US defensive roles, although it had been designed to be mobile and saw some action during the Korean War. The 120 was phased out quite quickly in the 1950s with the introduction of the first truly effective missile systems, notably the Nike Ajax. The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ...
American troops man an anti-aircraft gun near the Algerian coastline in 1943 Anti-aircraft, or air defense, is any method of combating military aircraft from the ground. ...
A powerful American anti-tank and anti-aircraft gun similar to the renowned German 88. ...
Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea United States United Kingdom Canada Australia The Netherlands France Philippines Turkey Ethiopia Communist states: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee Chung Il Kwon Douglas MacArthur Mark W. Clark Matthew Ridgway Kim Il-sung Choi...
Launch of a Nike Zeus missile Project Nike was a US Army project, proposed in May 1945 by Bell Labs, to develop a line-of-sight anti-aircraft missile system. ...
History
The Army had originally attempted to make a 120 mm design just after the end of World War I, with a prototype being presented in 1924. The system was considered far too heavy and expensive to be useful, and the project slowed down, although it was never cancelled outright. Combatants Allied Powers: British Empire France Italy Russia United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Paul...
In 1938 the Army started studying its needs for newer AAA systems, and decided to order new systems for both the heavy and super-heavy role. The former was filled by the new 90 mm gun, which replaced the earlier 3-inch gun then in use, while work on the 120 was dusted off and mated to a new eight-wheel carriage to produce the 4.7-inch M1 when it was accepted in 1940. A powerful American anti-tank and anti-aircraft gun similar to the renowned German 88. ...
The 3-inch M1917 was the USs first dedicated anti-aircraft gun, entering service during World War I. Only a few were built, as the similar 3-inch M1918 on a mobile mount was considered more useful and was produced in large numbers, only being replaced by the 90...
Only a small number of 120's were built, about 550 in total. They were mostly used on fixed mounts at various points around the continental US, although about fifteen were shipped to the Canal Zone to replace the semi-experimental 105 mm M3 gun that had filled this role. Four were sent, perhaps by mistake, to Northern Ireland. No 120 was ever fired at an enemy aircraft. In 1944 the gun was renamed as the 120 mm Gun M1, as metric naming became the standard. Around the world there are a number of canal zones. ...
Motto: [citation needed] (French for God and my right)2 Anthem: UK: God Save the Queen Regional: (de facto) Londonderry Air Capital Belfast Largest city Belfast Official language(s) English (de facto), Irish, Ulster Scots 3, NI Sign Language Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - Prime Minister Tony Blair...
Like the 90 mm, the 120 was typically operated in a battery of four guns, initially with an associated searchlight and SCR-268 radar, and later with the much-improved SCR-584 radar and M9 predictor that automatically laid the guns as well. Edisons classical searchlight cart. ...
Exterior view of the SCR-584. ...
Specifications - Gun: 120 mm L/60
- Length: 23 1/2 feet (7.16 m) barrel, 24 1/2 feet (7.39 m) overall
- Weight: 10,500 lb (4 850 kg) barrel, 49,000 lb (22 136 kg) overall
- Shell weight: 50 lb (22.7 kg)
- Muzzle velocity: 3,100 ft/s (945 m/s)
- Range: 81,000 ft (24 700 m), 57,500 ft (17 500 m) maximum altitude
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