An M1 Abrams tank firing the Rheinmetall L44 fitted with a hoffman device.

The Rheinmetall L44 is a smoothbore tank gun designed and produced by the German Rheinmetall-DeTec AG company. Image File history File links M1-tank-19. ... Image File history File links M1-tank-19. ... The M1 Abrams main battle tank is the principal combat tank of the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps, with three main versions being deployed starting in 1980: the M1, M1A1, and M1A2. ... Smoothbore refers to a firearm which does not have a rifled barrel. ... Panzerkampfwagen IV with long-barrelled gun ISU-122 A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. ... Rheinmetall is a German defense company with factories in Düsseldorf and Unterlüß. It has a long tradition of making guns and artillery pieces. ...

The barrel has a calibre of 120 mm, and an overall length of 44 calibres (5.28 m). The barrel weight is 1,190 kg, and a complete gun system weighs 3,780 kg. The barrel of a gun or other firearm is the tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion is released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at great speed. ... The word caliber (American English) or calibre (British English) comes from the Italian calibro, itself from the Arabic quâlib, meaning mould. ...

It is also produced under license by General Dynamics Land Systems Division and used by the US military under the designation M256. GD redirects here. ...

The L44 has been superseded by the L55 which is significantly longer, more than a metre, and hence delivers a higher muzzle velocity. The Rheinmetall L55 is a 120 mm calibre smoothbore tank gun designed and produced by the Rheinmetall-DeTec AG company of Germany. ...

Ammunition

The L44 can fire a variety of shells, and while the majority are primarily designed for the anti-tank role, most of them can also successfully engage other types of targets as well. The L44 is presently rated to fire the following types of ammunition:

• APFSDS (Armor-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot, a shell that uses a depleted uranium (for example used by the US Army, but not by the German Bundeswehr) or tungsten dart to pierce the armor of enemy tanks with kinetic energy. Gained fame during Operation Desert Storm for its' lethality against Iraqi tanks, leading some tank crews to give it the nickname 'silver bullet'.)
• HEAT (High-Explosive Anti-Tank)
• MPAT (Multi-Purpose Anti-Tank, a HEAT round with an added proximity fuze to allow it to engage slow, low-flying aircraft such as helicopters.)
• The L44 can also fire a 'canister' shell filled with tungsten spheres that acts like a giant shotgun shell for use against buildings, dug-in infantry fighting positions, and thin-skinned vehicles.

A kinetic energy penetrator, long-rod penetrator, or APFSDS (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilized Discarding Sabot) is a type of ammunition which, like a bullet, does not contain explosives, but uses kinetic energy to penetrate the target. ... Depleted uranium storage yard. ... The Bundeswehr ( ) (Federal Defence) is the armed forces of Germany and its administration. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tungsten, W, 74 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 6, 6, d Appearance grayish white, lustrous Atomic mass 183. ... Kinetic energy is the energy that a body possesses as a result of its motion. ... Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders George H. W. Bush, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan Al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 ~545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also Persian... In physics, heat, symbolized by Q, is defined as energy in transit. ... Look up Proximity fuze in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A proximity fuze (also called a VT fuze) is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive automatically when close enough to the target to destroy it. ... General Name, Symbol, Number tungsten, W, 74 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 6, 6, d Appearance grayish white, lustrous Atomic mass 183. ... A shotgun shell is a self-contained cartridge loaded with shot or a slug designed to be fired from a shotgun. ... 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, or other means. ...

Usage

• Germany
  • Leopard 1 main battle tank - experimental use only
  • Leopard 2 up to and including the A5 variant.

• USA
  • M1A1/M1A2 Abrams are equipped with the M256.

• Japan
  • Type 90 MBT - license built L44.

• South Korea
  • K1A1 MBT is equipped with the American-built M256.