From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gun-howitzer
(also referred to as
gun howitzer
) is a type of
artillery
weapon that is intended to fulfill the roles of both an ordinary
cannon
or
field gun
, and of a
howitzer
.
It is thus able to convey both
direct
and
indirect fire
.
Modern gun-howitzers are usually identified just as howitzers.
To be able to serve as a howitzer, gun-howitzers are typically built to achieve at least 60° to 70° of
elevation
. For effective direct fire, the gun-howitzers typically employ a fairly long
gun barrel
, usually not shorter than 30
calibres
. Also, its
ammunition
has a high
muzzle velocity
and is usually of large calibre (120 millimetres (4.72 in) or greater).
History
[
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]
Historically the first gun-howitzer was the French
canon obusier
of the mid-19th century. The smooth-bore
Canon obusier de 12
was a versatile weapon that quickly replaced both ordinary cannons and howitzers in French service, and became one of the basic types of artillery used by both sides of the
American Civil War
.
Owing to their versality, gun-howitzers gained prominence in the period leading to
World War II
as a more flexible weapon than ordinary howitzers and were adopted by armies of both the Allies (for instance the Soviet
ML-20 152 mm M1937
and British (88 mm)
Ordnance QF 25-pounder
) and the Axis (German
10.5 cm leFH 18
, classified just as howitzer).
A modern example of gun-howitzer is
M-84 NORA
.
After World War II, barrel length of howitzer designs started to grow gradually in order to obtain longer range, and as a result, separate category of gun-howitzer merged with howitzers and cannons.
[4]
In modern armies gun-howitzers are usually identified just as howitzers.
[4]
See also
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References
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Citations
[
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]
- ^
a
b
Szulc, Tomasz (2021). "Nowa generacja rosyjskich dział samobie?nych" [New generation of Russian self-propelled guns].
Nowa Technika Wojskowa
(in Polish). No. 2/2021. pp. 34?35.
ISSN
1230-1655
.
Bibliography
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]