L118 Light Gun (Gun, 105mm, Field, L118)

History

The L118 "Light Gun" is the British Army's 105mm howitzer of choice and has been in service with its parachute and commando field artillery regiments since the mid-1970s. This weapon system is considered a modern replacement for various outbound types and is designed to provide British Army units with a powerful, light and powerful field gun that can be towed by a vehicle or flown by transport aircraft (fixed-wing and rotary types). At the same time light enough , which can be maneuvered into place by its crew.

Since then, the weapon has been used in the Western Sahara War, the Falklands War, the Yugoslav War, the Sierra Leone Civil War, and most recently the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

In 1965, a new British Army requirement laid the groundwork for an equally new 105mm caliber light field artillery that could be transported by truck, transport plane or transport helicopter. Design work followed, resulting in several prototype weapons and extensive evaluation in 1968. The Army returned with some requested modifications before the weapon was finalized as "L118" or more formally "Gun, 105mm, Field, L118".

The weapon was adopted in 1975 and subsequently produced by ROF Nottingham's Royal Armouries. In 1976, the first British artillery units received their new gun, which over time became known simply as the "light gun".

The L118 is certified to fire a large number of 105mm rounds: the L31 is a general purpose high-explosive (HE) round, while the L45 is a standard smoke grenade used to confine the enemy by blocking Allied battlefield operations or restricting the enemy's view. The L43 is a special flare envelope with an integrated parachute designed to delay the fall of a flying flare for brief bursts of sunlight in low light conditions. The practice bowl is the L41, while the L42 series is an anti-fortified ballistic using a high-explosive squash (HESH) head. The L50 High Explosive (HE) is a newer type of offensive projectile, while the L52 is another red phosphorus smoke bomb. The L54 is another lighting enclosure, but designed to work with night vision goggles.

The L83 is a standard drill round.

While the L118 series of light field guns was in service with the British Army, it also existed under the guise of "Americanization" as the "L119A1" for the US Army. The (original) base designation L119 was reserved for the British Army version of the weapon, designed to fire existing stocks of American M1 ammunition (also known by the British Army as the British 105mm HOW). These were mainly used to train new British artillery units until the ammunition supply was exhausted. L119 was subsequently removed from the training team.

As such, the official U.S. Army weapon is officially known as the "M119A1", slightly modified to meet the needs of the U.S. military, and production takes place in U.S. factories.

Since its inception, the L118 family of weapons has been modernized in a number of ways, including an integrated power supply, muzzle gauge and optics upgrades in 2002, a light frame in 2007, and new sights in 2010. There have been ongoing British operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The L118 was also accepted into frontline service by the Australian and New Zealand armies, and the Australians dubbed it the "Hammel Gun" and produced the model under license.

For the British, production of the L118 moved from the Royal Armouries label to BAe Systems Land and Armaments, a subsidiary of defence giant BAe Systems, Incorporated.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Performance

Performance

for everyone else in our database)

Armor

Depends on the ammunition carrier. Available projectiles include High Explosive (HE), Lighting, Red Phosphorus, Smoke, Anti-Structure, Practice and Drill types.

Changes