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7.5cm Leichtgeschutz 40 (LG 40)

1941 WORLD WAR 2

History

Since the advent of the air-dropped fighters (commonly known as "paratroopers"), one of the biggest challenges for war planners has been how to equip these soldiers beyond their standards Personal output device weapon. World War II stimulated the development of such systems, which included various solutions such as air-dropped light tanks and artillery. From 1937, two years before the German invasion of Poland, Rheinmetall began developing recoilless artillery designs for the German military (especially its Luftwaffe paratroopers) (and overthrowing rival Krupp), their mission It is to siege land behind enemy lines and, most importantly, to secure a strategic position in front of the main combat ground forces.

Targets may be airports, bridges, or well-defended critical choke points, and surprise is the ultimate advantage. The recoilless gun design was adopted by the German military in 1940, initially under the designation LG1 ("7.5 cm Leichtgeschutz 1"), although this was soon abandoned by the more traditional designation "LG40" to denote its first year of existence ( 1940). The "LG" in the name is derived from the word "Leichtgeschutz", which means "light gun".

Serial production began in 1941.

The recoilless weapon system makes it possible to fire large-caliber shells from tubular barrel assemblies without the need for a complex and heavy recoil system to handle intense reaction forces. This shortens manufacturing time, reduces overall weight, and provides a relatively destructive weapon for traditionally naturally lightly armed forces. Recoilless weapons will eventually come in two forms - their barrels will either have grooves for projectile rotation (for accuracy and longer range), or "smooth" (the barrel's lining remains smooth and Provides acceleration to the projectile without spinning). production and extended service life of components) - each is specifically designated as a "Recoilless Rifle" and a "Recoilless Gun", respectively.

However, despite its technicality, the generic term "recoilless rifle" refers to both types in contemporary documents.

A recoilless rifle/gun is a weapon that can be used in a dual-purpose (DP) role - either as a dedicated artillery delivery system or as an anti-tank measure, depending on the needs of the battlefield (and projectiles) used). ). The recoilless nature of this weapon allows for a relatively lightweight design that typically requires only two crew members and the ability to be hand-carried over rough terrain if necessary. However, the weapon's lack of recoil generally limited attack range and delayed penetration due to the lower rate of fire.

As such, they are not a complete battlefield solution, and despite the limitations of the Airborne Force's inventory, they still prove to be a reliable and effective weapon dropper.

The recoilless rifle eliminates the violent recoil inherent in firing ammunition by providing a fully pre-engineered one-piece projectile/propellant solution where the exiting propellant is forced through the rear of the tube (rather than exiting through the tube) ) launch tube). The muzzle end of the barrel is the same as for conventional weapons). Thus, the action consists of a forward force - the grenade exiting - and a reverse reaction force - the butt ejecting the cartridge case.

In this way, the recoil force is "controlled". That's not to say the recoilless gun itself didn't inherit some form of recoil burst - as it did - although most of the stress was relieved by recoilless action.

The entire operation relies on a well-ventilated gas system, so over time the maintenance of such weapons (compared to traditional rifled artillery weapons) becomes very high to prevent contamination of the main operation.