German StuG III with high-velocity 75 mm gun, 1943

An assault gun is a gun or howitzer mounted on a motor vehicle or armored chassis, designed for use in the direct fire role in support of infantry when attacking other infantry or fortified positions. Download high resolution version (709x1000, 251 KB)Obtained from the German Wikipedia This work is copyrighted. ... Download high resolution version (709x1000, 251 KB)Obtained from the German Wikipedia This work is copyrighted. ... StuG III Ausf G The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was one of Germanys most produced AFVs during World War II. It was built on the chassis of the Panzer III. Initially intended as a mobile, armoured light gun for infantry support, the StuG was continually... A gun is a common name given to an object that fires high-velocity projectiles. ... 19th century 12 pounder (5 kg) mountain howitzer displayed by the National Park Service at Fort Laramie in Wyoming, USA A howitzer is a type of artillery piece that is characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small explosive charges to propel projectiles at trajectories with... Indirect fire is a characteristic unique to artillery in which the fire is adjusted out of sight of the guns. ... Infantry of the Royal Irish Rifles during the Battle of the Somme in World War I. Infantry are soldiers who fight primarily on foot with small arms in organized military units, though they may be transported to the battlefield by horses, ships, automobiles, skis, bicycles, or other means. ... Formed in December of 2004, Fortified began creating and shaping their destiny to becoming what it is now. ...

Historically the custom-built fully armored assault guns usually mounted the gun or howitzer in a fully enclosed casemate on a tank chassis. The use of a casemate instead of a gun turret limited these weapons' field of fire, but provided a simpler construction that was cheaper to build and less prone to mechanical breakdowns. The increased space and reduced weight of the turretless design also allowed mounting a larger weapon and providing heavier frontal armour on any given chassis, and in most cases these turretless vehicles also presented a lower profile as a target for the enemy. A Casemate is a heavy duty structure originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress. ... Turret (highlighted) attached to a tower on a baronial building in Scotland In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects from the wall of a building, such as a medieval castle or baronial house. ... Fields of Fire, for the 1978 book by James H. Webb. ... Armour sucks ass alottttttttttt Armour was also commonly used to protect war animals, such as war horses and elephants. ...

History

World War II

Soviet KV-2, an assault gun variant of the KV-1 tank with an oversized howitzer mount replacing the turret, 1940

Assault guns were primarily used during World War II, in the hands of the Germans and Soviets. Early in the war the Germans began to create makeshift assault guns by mounting their infantry support weapons on the bed of a truck or on obsolete tanks with the turret removed. Later in the war both the Germans and the Soviets introduced fully armored purpose-built assault guns into their arsenals. Image File history File links KW-2_1940. ... Image File history File links KW-2_1940. ... The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks were a series of Soviet heavy tanks, named after the Soviet military commander and politician Kliment Voroshilov. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Soviet redirects here. ...

Early on, the Soviets built the KV-2, a variant of the KV-1 heavy tank with a short-barreled 152 mm howitzer mounted in an oversized turret. This was not a success in battle and was replaced with a very successful series of increasingly powerful turretless assault guns, the SU-76, SU-122, and the heavy SU-152, which were followed by the ISU-122 and ISU-152 on the new IS heavy tank chassis. K. 1 is a designation given to two works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the original Köchel Verzeichnis. ... The SU-76 (Samokhodnaja Ustanovka 76) was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during World War II. // History The SU-76 was based on a lengthened version of the T-70 tank chassis. ... The SU-122 was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during World War II. History The SU-122 was an assault gun which used the hull of the T-34 tank and was the result of an April 1942 specification for assault guns aimed with guns of 122 mm calibre... The SU-152 was a Soviet heavy self-propelled gun used during World War II. It was a self-propelled 152-mm gun-howitzer, on the chassis of a KV-1S heavy tank. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into ISU-152. ... The ISU-152 was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during World War II. // History The ISU-152 (in Russian ИСУ-152) used the same concept as the earlier SU-152: a large gun placed on the hull of a heavy tank. ... The Iosif Stalin tank (or IS tank, named after the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin), was a heavy tank developed by the Soviet Union during World War II. The tanks in the series are also sometimes called JS or ИС tanks. ...

Sturmtiger in the Deutsches Panzermuseum at Munster.

The primary German assault gun was the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III). Armed with a high-velocity dual-purpose 75 mm gun, late production StuG III variants blurred the line between assault guns and tank destroyers. The Germans also built a number of other fully armored turretless assault guns, including the StuG IV, StuH 42, Brummbär and Sturmtiger. The latter two were very heavy vehicles, built only in small quantities. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2592x1944, 1340 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sturmtiger Talk:Sturmtiger User:Motorfix Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2592x1944, 1340 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Sturmtiger Talk:Sturmtiger User:Motorfix Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or... The Deutsches Panzermuseum is an Armoured fighting vehicle museum in Munster, Germany. ... Statistics Area: 24,607. ... The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was Germanys most produced armoured fighting vehicle during World War II. It was built on the chassis of the Panzer III tank. ... A self-propelled anti-tank gun, or tank destroyer, is a type of armoured fighting vehicle. ... A slightly modified Sturmgeschütz III superstructure mounted on a Panzer IV chassis. ... The Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun was Germanys most produced armoured fighting vehicle during World War II. It was built on the chassis of the Panzer III tank. ... General characteristics Length 5. ... The Tiger-Mörser, 38 cm RW61 auf Sturm(panzer)mörser Tiger, or Sturmmörser Tiger, more commonly known as the Sturmtiger or Sturmpanzer VI, was a World War II German assault gun built on the Panzer VI Tiger I chassis armed with a large naval mortar, the 38cm...

Battalions of assault guns, usually StuG IIIs, commonly replaced the intended panzer battalion in the German panzergrenadier divisions due to the chronic shortage of tanks, and were sometimes used as makeshifts even in the panzer divisions. Independent battalions were also deployed as 'stiffeners' for infantry divisions, and the StuG III's anti-tank capabilities contributed much to the German's ability to draw out the war long after they had lost the strategic initiative. This article needs cleanup. ... Panzer Division is the German term for armored division. ...

A preserved Sherman M4(105).

British and American forces also deployed vehicles designed for a close support role, but these were conventional tanks whos only significant modification was the replacement of the main gun with a howitzer. Among these was the M4(105), an M4 Sherman tank armed with a 105 mm howitzer. Also, the Mark IV version of the Centaur tank, the Mark V and the Mark VIII versions of the Churchill Tank were all fitted with 95 mm howitzers. Download high resolution version (997x557, 328 KB)Sherman tank from WW2 from [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (997x557, 328 KB)Sherman tank from WW2 from [1] File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... WWII foreign variants and use: Lend-Lease Sherman tanks Post-WWII foreign variants and use: Postwar Sherman tanks The Medium Tank M4 was the primary tank produced by the United States for its own use and the use of its Allies during World War II. Production of the M4 Medium... The A27M Cruiser Tank VIII Cromwell, named after the English Civil War leader Oliver Cromwell, was one of the most successful series of cruiser tanks fielded by Britain in World War II. It was the first tank in the British arsenal to combine a dual-purpose gun, high speed, and... The Infantry Tank IV Churchill was a heavy British infantry tank of the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour and its use as the basis of many specialist vehicles. ...

The AVRE version of the Churchill Tank was armed with a Spigot Mortar that fired a forty pound (18 kg) HE-filled projectile (nicknamed the Flying Dustbin) 150 yards (137 metres). Its task was to attack fortified positions such as Bunkers at close range (see Hobart's Funnies.) US soldier loading a M224 60-mm mortar. ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Bunkers in Albania A bunker is a defensive military fortification. ... Badge of the 79th Armoured Division Amphibious DD tanks await blowing of breaches in the sea wall on Utah Beach. ...

Postwar use

In the post-WWII era vehicles fitting into an "assault gun" category were developed as a light-weight air-deployable direct fire weapon for use with airborne troops. Current weapons were either based on jeeps or small tracked vehicles and the airborne troops thus always fought at a distinct disadvantage in terms of heavy weapons. The Soviet Union and the United States were the most attracted to the idea of providing this capability to traditionally light airborne forces. Their answers to the problem were similar with the United States developing the M56 Scorpion and the Soviet Union developing the ASU-57, both essentially air-droppable light anti-tank guns. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Jeep is an automobile marque (and registered trademark) of DaimlerChrysler. ... U.S. M60 Patton tank. ... The M56 Scorpion was an American military armoured vehicle. ... The ASU-57 was a Soviet assault gun that could be deployed by parachute. ...

The Soviets would develop an improved air-droppable assault gun, the ASU-85, which served right through the 1980s. The US M56, and another similar vehicle the M50 Ontos, were to be the last of the more traditional assault guns in US service. Improvised arrangements such as M113 personnel carriers with recoilless rifles were quickly replaced by missile carrier vehicles in the anti-tank role. The ASU-85 was a Soviet self-propelled gun based on the PT-76 tank chassis, and was equipped with an 85mm gun. ... Ontos M50A1 The 50-cal spotting rifles can be seen on the upper guns The Ontos, officially the 106mm Self-propelled Rifle M50, was a light anti-tank vehicle developed in the US in the 1950s. ... The M113 is an armored personnel carrier family of vehicles in use with the US military and many other nations. ...

The only vehicle with the qualities of an assault gun to be fielded after the removal of the M50 and M56 from service with the US military was the M551 Sheridan. The Sheridan's gun was a low-velocity weapon suitable in the assault role, but with the addition of the Shillelagh missile could double in the anti-tank role as well. It is important, however, to remember that the Sheridan was not developed as an assault gun, but as a light reconnaissance vehicle. The M551 Sheridan was an Armored Reconnaissance Airborne Assault vehicle, developed by the United States, and named after Civil War General Philip Sheridan. ... The Ford MGM-51 Shillelagh was a guided anti-armor missile designed to be launched from a conventional gun (cannon). ...

Currently, there appears to be a move toward wheeled vehicles fitting a "tank destroyer" or "assault gun" role, with the US testing the M1128 Stryker MGS. The Centauro Wheeled Tank Destroyer of the Italian Army and the French AMX 10 RC heavy armored car are also good examples. While these vehicles might be useful in a direct fire role, none were developed with this specifically in mind, reminiscent of the use of tank destoyers by the US military in the assault gun role during WWII. The Mobile Gun System is an eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicle mounting a 105 mm tank gun, derived from the Mowag Piranha. ... The Centauro is a wheeled tank-destroyer developed by a consortium of manufacturers, the Consorzio Iveco Fiat - Oto Melara. ... Coat of Arms of the Italian Army Dardo IFV on exercise in Campo Teulada. ... The AMX-10RC is an armoured car built by GIAT. Over 300 are in service in the French Army. ...

See also

• Tank destroyer
• Armored fighting vehicle