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A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. Modern tank guns are large-caliber high-velocity guns, capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high explosive anti-tank rounds, and in some cases guided missiles. Download high resolution version (1600x772, 334 KB)public domain image from http://www. ...
Download high resolution version (1600x772, 334 KB)public domain image from http://www. ...
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. ...
The word calibre (British English) or caliber (American English) designates the interior diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod. ...
French anti-tank round with its sabot APFSDS at point of separation of sabot. ...
A HEAT round. ...
A guided missile is a military rocket that can be directed in flight to change its flight path. ...
Overview
Tank guns are a specific field of weapon design that meet the particular needs of the tank. They must provide accuracy, range, penetration, and rapid fire in a package that is as compact and lightweight as possible, to allow mounting in the cramped confines of an armored turret. As the tank's primary armament, they are almost always employed in a direct-fire mode to defeat a variety of ground targets at all ranges, including dug-in infantry, lightly-armored vehicles, and especially other heavily-armored tanks. They use self-contained ammunition, allowing rapid loading (or use of an autoloader).Image:Http://www.geocities.com/peru defensa nacional/images1/merkava 4.jpg Indirect fire is a characteristic unique to artillery in which the fire is adjusted out of sight of the guns. ...
Military vehicles are commonly armoured to withstand the impact of shrapnel, bullets or shells, protecting the soldiers inside from enemy fire. ...
An Autoloader is a data storage device consisting of at least one tape drive (the drive), a method of loading tapes into the drive (the robot), and a storage area for tapes (the magazine). ...
History The first tanks were used to break through trench defences in support of infantry actions particularly machine gun positions during the First World War and they were fitted with machine guns or high explosive firing guns of modest calibre. These were naval or field artillery pieces stripped from their carriages and mounted in turrets or sponsons on armored vehicles. They were generally short-barrelled weapons, longer barrels being an unnecessary encumbrance and action was at short ranges. The thin armour of the tanks meant that such weapons were effective against other vehicles, though the Germans fielded few tanks anyway and the Allied tanks concentrated on anti-infantry and infantry support activities. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
The Panzerkampfwagen IV (PzKpfw IV), more commonly referred to as the Panzer IV, was a tank developed by Germany and used extensively in World War II. It was designed initially as an infantry-support medium tank, to work in conjunction with the anti-tank Pzkpfw III. Later in the war...
The muzzle brake of the 105 mm gun on an AMX 10 RC fighting vehicle. ...
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. ...
A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ...
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...
This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ...
Historically, artillery (from French artillerie) refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ...
Corbelled corner turrets at Newark Castle, Port Glasgow. ...
Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats , etc. ...
An anti-personnel weapon is one primarily used to injure or kill people. ...
This thinking remained pervasive into the dawn of World War II, when most tank guns were still modifications of existing artillery pieces, and were expected to primarily be used against unarmored targets. The larger caliber, shorter range artillery mounting didn't go away however. Tanks intended specifically for infantry support (the infantry tanks) which were expected to take out emplacements and infantry concentrations carried large calibre weapons to fire large high explosive shells though these were quite effective against other vehicles. Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead...
The infantry tank was a concept developed by the British in the years leading up to World War II. They were intended to work alongside infantry. ...
However, other strategists saw new roles for tanks in war, and wanted more specifically developed guns tailored to these missions. The ability to destroy enemy tanks was foremost on their minds. To this end, the emerging anti-tank gun designs were modified to fit tanks. These weapons fired smaller shells, but at higher velocities with higher accuracy, improving their performance against armor. Such light guns as the 2-pounder and 37 mm equipped a number of cruiser tanks in the 1930s. However, these proved insufficient against more heavily armored tanks, and lacked the ability to fire a large high-explosive shell for attacking infantry and fortifications. The QF 2-pounder gun was a British anti-tank gun. ...
Cruiser tanks were a British tank design concept of the interwar period, which saw action during the Second World War. ...
World War II saw a leapfrog growth in all areas of military technology. As tanks became heavier and better protected, their weapons grew from 37 to 50, 75, 88 and 90-millimetre calibre. Shells were improved to provide better penetration with harder materials and scientific shaping. All of these meant improvements in accuracy and range, although the average tank had to grow as well to carry the ammunition, mounting, and protection for these powerful guns.
During the Second World War, the British produced some variants of their tanks with howitzers, notably the Churchill tank which had a hull mounted gun similar to the contemporary French Char B as well as a turret gun. This was dropped as an unworkable idea and the majority of British "Close Support" (CS) tanks had their turret gun replaced with a howitzer or similar as with the Centaur CS with its 95 mm HE firing gun. 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. ...
A27M Cruiser Tank VIII 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 reasonable armor. ...
Post war By the end of the war the variety in tank designs was narrowed and the concept of the main battle tank emerged. After World War II, the race to increase caliber slowed. Slight increases were made between tank generations. In the West, guns of around 90 mm gave way to the ubiquitous 105 mm. This lasted a long while with a shift to 120 mm in the 1970s and 80s (the UK changed in the late 60s with their Chieftain tank). In the East, the 85 mm quickly yielded to the 100 mm and 115 mm gun, with the 125 mm caliber now standard. Most of the improvements were instead made in ammunition and fire control systems. The US M1A1 Abrams tank is a typical modern main battle tank. ...
The FV 4201 Chieftain was the Main battle tank of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s. ...
A fire-control system is a computer, often mechanical, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. ...
With kinetic energy rounds, solid shot and armour-piercing shell gave way to armour-piercing discarding sabot (APDS) (a product of 1944), and fin-stabilized (APFSDS) rounds with tungsten or depleted uranium penetrators. Parallel developments brought rounds based on chemical energy; High explosive squash head (HESH), and shaped-charge High explosive anti-tank (HEAT). These had the same penetrating power irrespective of muzzle velocity or range. Armor Piercing Discarding Sabot is a type of shell used to combat heavy 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. ...
High explosive squash head (HESH) is a type of explosive ammunition designed to defeat tank armour. ...
Sectioned HEAT round with the inner shaped charge visible A shaped charge is an explosive charge shaped to focus the effect of the explosives energy. ...
A HEAT round. ...
Stadiametric range-finders were successively replaced by coincidence and laser range-finders. Accuracy of modern tank guns is pushed to the limits by computerized fire control systems, wind sensors, and muzzle referencing systems which compensate for barrel warping, wear and temperature. Fighting capability at night, in poor weather and smoke was improved by infrared, light-intensification, and thermal imaging equipment. Stadia is a technique of measuring distances with a telescopic instrument. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with LIDAR. (Discuss) A laser range-finder, or LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging), is a device which uses a laser beam in order to determine the distance to an opaque object. ...
A fire-control system is a computer, often mechanical, which is designed to assist a weapon system in hitting its target. ...
Image of a small dog taken in mid-infrared (thermal) light (false color) Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. ...
An image intensifier is a device that amplifies visable and near-infrared light from an image so that a dimly lit scene can be viewed by a camera or by eye. ...
Thermography can refer to a printing process and a imaging process. ...
Gun technology has had only a few innovations. Throughout the history of tank guns, they have almost exclusively been rifled weapons. Rifling of the barrel imparts spin on the projectile, improving ballistic accuracy. The best traditional antitank weapons have been kinetic energy rounds, whose penetrating power and accuracy decrease with range. For longer ranges, high explosive anti-tank rounds are better, but accuracy still suffers and for extremely long ranges, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) are considered to have a better chance of hitting the target. Rifling of a Canon de 75 modèle 1897 A 35 caliber Remington, with a microgrove rifled barrel with a right hand twist. ...
A HEAT round. ...
An Anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) or weapon (ATGW) is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles. ...
The use of autoloaders has been a development favoured by some nations and not others. Some countries adopted it as a means to keep the overall size of the tank down. Interest has also been shown as a means to protect the crew by separating them further form the gun and ammunition.
Smoothbore guns -
In the 1960s smoothbore tank guns were developed by the Soviet Union and by the experimental U.S.–German MBT-70 project. Based on their experience with the less-capable gun/missile system of the BMP-1, the Soviets produced the T-64B main battle tank, with an auto-loaded 125 mm smoothbore high-velocity tank gun, capable of firing APFSDS ammunition as well as ATGMs. Similar guns continue to be used in the latest Russian T-90 and Ukrainian T-84 MBTs. The German company Rheinmetall developed a more conventional 120 mm smoothbore tank gun which does not fire missiles, adopted for the Leopard 2, and later the U.S. M1 Abrams. The chief advantages of smoothbore designs are their greater suitability for fin stabilised ammunition and their greatly reduced barrel wear compared with rifled designs. Smoothbore refers to a firearm which does not have a rifled barrel. ...
Smoothbore refers to a firearm which does not have a rifled barrel. ...
MBT-70: Prototype of the German 120 mm-armed version, identifiable due to the fume extractor. ...
The BMP-1 is a Soviet infantry fighting vehicle which was first introduced in the early 1960s. ...
The T-64, a Soviet main battle tank, was introduced in the late 1960s. ...
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. ...
The T-90 is a main battle tank of Russian Federation Army. ...
The T-84 Main Battle Tank is a Ukrainian development of the Soviet T-80 main battle tank, first built in 1993. ...
Rheinmetall is a German defense company with factories in Düsseldorf and Unterlüß. It has a long tradition of making guns and artillery pieces. ...
The Leopard 2 is a German main battle tank built by the German company Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann, developed in the early 1970s and first entering service in 1979, replacing the earlier Leopard 1 as the foremost MBT in the Bundeswehr. ...
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. ...
Future The recent Russian Black Eagle prototype, shown at some arms exhibitions, reportedly can be equipped with a 152 mm tank gun. The Black Eagle tank (Russian: ) is a prototype main battle tank, that could be developed for export in the Russian Federation. ...
The near future of the tank gun does not look likely to hold many revolutionary developments. Whereas, in the past, caliber had been limited by technological issues, now they are as large as reasonable to fit on vehicles in the size class of today's main battle tanks. Instead, the emphasis is on the electronics and the ammunition more than ever. A focus on crew survivability and technology may also lead to more tank guns with autoloaders, mounted in remote controlled turrets or on light vehicles, like the proposed Mobile Gun System. The Mobile Gun System is an eight-wheeled armored fighting vehicle mounting a 105 mm tank gun, derived from the Mowag Piranha. ...
See also
External links - Specification and Armor Penetration Values of Soviet Tank Guns - up to the end of World War II, at the Russian Battlefield (battlefield.ru).
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