- Rheinmetall 120 mm gun
The Rheinmetall 120 mm gun is a
smoothbore tank gun designed and produced by the German Rheinmetall-DeTec AG company. It comes in two main variants: L44 and the L55.L44
The barrel has a
calibre of 120 mm, and an overall length of 44 calibres (5.28 m). The barrel weight is 1,190 kg, and a complete gun system weighs 3,780 kg.It is also produced under license by
General Dynamics Land Systems Division and used by the U.S. military under the designation M256.The L44 has been superseded by the L55 which is more than a metre longer and hence delivers a higher muzzle velocity.
Ammunition
The L44 can fire a variety of shells, and while the majority are primarily designed for the anti-tank role, most of them can also successfully engage other types of targets as well. The L44 is presently rated to fire the following types of ammunition:
*Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS): a round which uses a dart made of
depleted uranium (used by the U.S. Army and others, but not by the GermanBundeswehr ) ortungsten to pierce the armor of enemy tanks usingkinetic energy . The U.S. version, the M829A1 gained fame during Operation Desert Storm for its lethality againstIraq i tanks, leading some tank crews to give it the nickname "silver bullet".
*High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT): a shell with ashaped charge warhead .
*Multi-Purpose Anti-Tank (MPAT): a HEAT round with an addedproximity fuze to allow it to engage slow, low-flying aircraft such ashelicopter s.
*Canister: a shell filled with tungsten shot that acts like a giantshotgun shell for use against buildings, dug-ininfantry fighting positions, and thin-skinned vehicles.
*High-Explosive Fin-Stabilized (HE-FS): a shell with aproximity fuze for use against low-flying aircraft, and against tanks by air bursts against rear and top armor.Usage
Primary producers
;GER:*
Leopard 1 : experimental use only. :*Leopard 2 up to and including the A5 variant. ;USA:*M1A1/M1A2 Abrams are equipped with the M256.Licensed production
;JPN :*
Type 90 MBT: license built L44.;flagcountry|Egypt:*M1A1 Abrams, and future M1A2 SEP.;KOR :*K1A1 : equipped with KM256, a licensed production model of the U.S. M256, built by World Industries Ace Corporation.;ISR:*Merkava 3 and 4: originally imported, then licensed modification built byIsrael Military Industries (IMI). It was called MG251 (Merkava Mk. 3) and MG253 (Merkava Mk. 4).L55
The Rheinmetall L55 is a 120 mm calibre smoothbore tank gun designed and produced by the Rheinmetall-DeTec AG company of Germany. Its barrel has a length of 55 calibres (hence L55) or 6.6 metres. The barrel weighs 1,374 kg (2,970 lb) and the complete gun system is 4,160 kg (9,170 lb).
The L55 is the successor of Rheinmetall's L44 gun. Being 25% longer, it is significantly heavier, but has higher
muzzle velocity (over 1750 m/s) which gives better range and penetration for APFSDS kinetic energy rounds.Theoretically every tank equipped with the L44 gun, including the older Leopard 2 variants and the M1A1/M1A2 Abrams, can be upgraded to an L55. The British
Challenger 2 , which carries a 120 mm rifled gun, is currently being evaluated with the L55 under the Challenger Lethality Improvement Programme (CLIP).Usage
;GER:*Leopard 2 A6;ESP:*
Leopard 2E ;GRE:*Leopard 2 HEL;KOR :*K2 Black Panther External links
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/120.htm (U.S.) 120mm Ammunition] at GlobalSecurity.org
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