Instead of towed guns
Burning in our hearts is love for our dear land,
We are going into mortal battle for the honor of our native country.
Cities burning in smoke
The harsh god of war thunders in gray forests.
Artillery march. Text by V. Gusev
We are going into mortal battle for the honor of our native country.
Cities burning in smoke
The harsh god of war thunders in gray forests.
Artillery march. Text by V. Gusev
Military equipment of a possible tomorrow. So, we read articles on the VO and we see that many military experts sing the praises of our cannon artillery in the NVO (although there are those who notice the shortcomings), indicating that it is she who inflicts the main losses on the enemy’s armed forces and mixes it with the ground fortifications.
On the Russian side, the following calibers are used: 100, 120, 122, 152, 203, 240 mm and ... that's all. The opposing side also has 105-mm guns sent as military assistance, and traditional 155-mm, and the same 203-mm "Peonies". The guns "there" are very different, a real panopticon. And Swedish, and French, and German, and the famous "three axes" from the States, in a word, which the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not have.
Swedish self-propelled guns "Archer" ("Archer") - one of the most modern self-propelled guns on a car chassis today
Some guns are very modern, for example, the Swedish "Archer" and the French "Caesar", others obviously hit the battlefield straight from the museum or from the warehouse, but they still somehow shoot.
In fact, if you think about it, then with the way military operations are taking place today, even mortars from the time of the Crimean War could be involved in them! Or some analogue of the American 330-mm Dictator mortar, an indispensable participant in the Civil War of 1861-1865. And what?
You bring such a mortar to a position, unload it from the back of a truck to the ground, point it at the target and ... wow, with a cannonball of a kilogram so under two hundred kilometers by five, only the black powder in the charge should be replaced with smokeless, and the charge in the core - with hexogen, well and put a modern percussion fuse. The action would be truly destructive, but she could not be afraid of return fire. Or rather, take people away, and you can leave the mortar in position, because ... how else can you destroy such cast bronze? Unless a direct hit, and this is already a great rarity. True, the gun carriage can be damaged, but it's as simple as a Siberian felt boot, and it's not difficult to replace it. It seems to be, it seems ridiculous, but why not - as they say, and cheap, another matter - where to get such mortars today.
Archer is firing
Or here's another ... We developed a 406-mm self-propelled gun "Condenser" on the chassis of the Leningrad Kotin heavy tank. It was supposed to fire an atomic projectile, but then it was possible to reduce the caliber of such ammunition, and this gun lost its relevance, just like the Oka mortar of 420 mm caliber. It is good that at least these cannons managed to pass through Red Square, instilling fear and horror in the hearts of the military attachés of other countries present there.
Her trunk was very long. And if she had it shorter? It would be quite possible to use such an ACS for shelling enemy fortifications. And after all, you can’t intercept or shoot down a projectile of such a weapon, and its striking force would be much greater than that of the same 240-mm Tulip mortar.
The 203-mm Malka gun has a long range, and its shells have destructive power. But ... is it really impossible to replace a 203 mm caliber barrel in it with a caliber ... well, say, 210 mm? There were such guns in the past in the Russian army. And the range of such a weapon, of course, will be higher than that of a 203-mm one. But today a lot depends on the range of guns, and the more it is, the better. And if you equip such a powerful weapon with a guided projectile, then it is impossible to come up with a better means for counter-battery combat.
152-mm howitzer 2A65 "Msta-B". Museum of Artillery and Signal Corps, St. Petersburg
It is quite obvious that if things continue as they are now, then the towed artillery will come to an end.
Let us recall at least our 122-mm D-30 howitzer. Until you spread all three of its beds, until you hang out the wheels, until you do all the same in the reverse order, until you attach it to the car ... And then the enemy’s return shells whistled! After all, radar stations today pinpoint artillery positions very quickly and accurately. And the same wheeled self-propelled guns can arrive in the retaliatory strike area much sooner than the towed guns can leave their positions.
D-30 in the Middle East
That is, most likely, the place of towed artillery pieces will be taken by highly mobile self-propelled guns on automobile chassis. He came, shot and left again - this is the tactic that the gunners of the Northern Military District already adhere to today, and in the near future it will undoubtedly become dominant.
Well, of course, here a lot depends on the rate of fire. With manual loading: a projectile - a cartridge case with a charge - a shot, it is impossible to develop a high rate of fire. Meanwhile, it is she who allows you to immediately cover the target with a large number of shells even from one gun and immediately inflict serious losses on the enemy. 12 rounds per minute, and no less, that is, five seconds per shot maximum - this is the rate of fire of modern guns of 152/155 mm caliber today. Well, it is clear that the physical possibilities of such a calculation simply do not allow.
Shells 155 mm caliber. In this form, they are transported over long distances, while the hole for the fuse is screwed with a stopper with a handle!
This is how they are equipped with fuses ...
And this is how they carry it to the gun!
The projectiles are too heavy, and in general manual loading cannot but be slow. This means that, again, it is necessary to abandon towed and manually loaded artillery systems in favor of guns with automated loading, like, again, the Swedish Bandkanon gun, which appeared in the early sixties of the last century. Then only multiple launch rocket systems could fire their ammunition with such speed, because the 14-round magazine of this gun was emptied in just 48 seconds (about 3,5 seconds between shots), which is still a kind of record among barreled artillery systems.
By the way, all the operations to reload the magazine container took no more than two minutes, after which the gun could repeat its fire attack, and only after that leave the firing position, fleeing return fire.
The loading of the M777 is capped, that is, the powder charges are inserted into the metal sleeve separately.
American howitzer M777A2 on firing in Paju, Republic of Korea, 2013
But Bandcanon is already yesterday. But what weapon can become a replacement for existing towed systems in the near future?
And it happened that in the early 2000s, the United States began to develop a new self-propelled gun specifically for their beloved marines, using the LAV-25 armored car chassis for this. Its main feature was the emphasis of the breech of the gun on the ground, that is, in this regard, it resembled our 240-mm Tulip mortar. There was a base plate, and on the body of the machine - a powerful paw of the manipulator, which put the tool on the ground. The project began to be developed, but for many reasons it was not possible to adopt this weapon.
SAU "Caesar"
ACS PzH2000
But ... in the light of the experience of the special operation, this project looks more than reasonable, although it needs some improvement.
Look at the picture. Before us is an armored combat vehicle, in the aft part of which a 155-mm gun with a cradle and recoil mechanisms is mounted, which rests on a massive ribbed metal plate when firing. It is lowered along with the barrel to the ground using a telescopic manipulator. When firing, the body of the BA rises so that it rests only on the front wheels, which should have added stability to this self-propelled gun when firing. But it had to be loaded manually, and, apparently, this was not a very convenient thing, since the calculation was located on both sides of the gun, but it could not be behind it - there was a car!
And what if this project is somewhat developed and improved?
Equip the gun with a magazine for 12-14 (6-7 cassettes) shells, like the same Swedish guns "Bandcanon" and "Archer".
And then this: the machine arrives at the position, the gun is put into firing position and then automatically shoots the entire ammunition load, say, in one minute. Then the gun, together with the support, is “thrown on its back”, and the self-propelled guns move away from return fire at full speed. It is only necessary to automate all the processes associated with firing, calculate the strength of the base plate and the most advantageous shape, as well as the effort needed by the manipulator, and, again, its strength - and ... that's it!
Hypothetical self-propelled 155 mm automatic gun on the LFV-25 chassis. Illustration by A. Sheps
By the way, by lengthening the barrel of this gun, you can get a very, very long-range system.
Remember at what angles the famous "Paris Cannon" fired at Paris? More than 52 degrees! Because her projectile at the same time rose very high and made its flight in highly rarefied layers of the atmosphere. Here the same situation can take place in this case, and it will turn out that we will kill two birds with one stone at once!
Of course, experts will have to say the final word, but purely hypothetically, the idea seems to be quite sound.
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