In the second half of the century before last, attempts by gunsmiths and artillerymen to increase the range of guns ran into limitations created by the fast-burning black powders used at that time. A powerful propellant charge created enormous pressure during detonation, but as the projectile moved along the barrel, the pressure of the powder gases quickly dropped.

This factor influenced the design of guns of that time: the breech parts of the guns had to be made with very thick walls that could withstand enormous pressure, while the length of the barrel remained relatively small, since there was no practical significance in increasing the length of the barrel. The record-breaking guns of that time had an initial projectile speed of 500 meters per second, and ordinary guns were even less.

The first attempts to increase the range of a gun due to multi-chamber

In 1878, French engineer Louis-Guillaume Perreaux proposed the idea of ​​using several additional explosive charges located in separate chambers located outside the breech of the gun. According to his idea, the detonation of gunpowder in additional chambers should have occurred as the projectile moved along the barrel, thereby ensuring constant pressure created by the powder gases.

In theory a weapon with additional chambers it was supposed to surpass the classic artillery guns of that time, both literally and figuratively, but this is only in theory. In 1879, (according to other sources in 1883) a year after Perrault’s proposed innovation, two American engineers James Richard Haskell and Azel S. Lyman implemented Perrault’s multi-chamber gun in metal.

The brainchild of the Americans, in addition to the main chamber in which 60 kilograms of explosives were placed, had 4 additional ones with a load of 12.7 kilograms each. Haskel and Lyman expected that the explosion of gunpowder in the additional chambers would occur from the flame of the main charge as the projectile moved along the barrel and opened fire to access them.

However, in practice, everything turned out to be different than on paper: the detonation of charges in the additional chambers occurred prematurely, contrary to the expectations of the designers, and in fact the projectile was not accelerated by the energy of the additional charges, as expected, but was decelerated.

The projectile fired from the American five-chamber cannon showed a modest 335 meters per second, which meant the complete failure of the project. Failure to use multiple chambers to increase the firing range of artillery pieces caused weapons engineers to forget about the idea of ​​additional charges until World War II.

Multi-chamber artillery guns of World War II

During the Second World War, the idea of ​​using multi-chamber artillery gun to increase firing range actively developed by Nazi Germany. Under the command of engineer August Koenders, in 1944 the Germans began implementing the V-3 project, codenamed (HDP) “High Pressure Pump”.

A monstrous weapon with a length of 124 meters, a caliber of 150 mm and a weight of 76 tons was supposed to take part in the shelling of London. The estimated flight range of its swept projectile was more than 150 kilometers; the projectile itself, 3250 mm long and weighing 140 kilograms, carried 25 kg of explosive. The barrel of the HDP gun consisted of 32 sections 4.48 meters long, each section (except for the breech from where the projectile was loaded) had two additional charging chambers located at an angle to the barrel.

The weapon was nicknamed the "Centipede" due to the fact that the additional charging chambers gave the weapon an insect-like appearance. In addition to range, the Nazis relied on rate of fire, since the estimated reloading time for the Centipede was only a minute: it’s scary to imagine what would have been left of London if Hitler’s plans had come to fruition.

Due to the fact that the implementation of the V-3 project involved the implementation of a huge amount of construction work and the involvement of a large number of workers, the Allied forces learned about the active preparation of positions for the deployment of five HDP type guns and on July 6, 1944, the British Air Force bomber squadron bombed the building under construction in stone adits long-range battery.

After the fiasco with the V-3 project, the Nazis developed a simplified version of the gun under the code designation LRK 15F58, which, by the way, managed to take part in the German shelling of Luxembourg from a distance of 42.5 kilometers. The LRK 15F58 gun was also 150 mm in caliber and had 24 additional charging chambers with a barrel length of 50 meters. After the defeat of Nazi Germany, one of the surviving guns was taken to the United States for study.

Ideas for using multi-chamber guns to launch satellites

Perhaps inspired by the successes of Nazi Germany and having a working prototype in hand, the United States, together with Canada, in 1961 began work on the High Altitude Research Project HARP, the purpose of which was to study the ballistic properties of objects launched into the upper atmosphere. A little later, the military became interested in the project and hoped with the help multi-chamber light gas guns and probes.

In just six years of the project's existence, more than a dozen guns of various calibers were built and tested. The largest of them was a gun located in Barbados with a caliber of 406 mm and a barrel length of 40 meters. The cannon fired 180-kilogram projectiles to a height of about 180 kilometers, while the initial velocity of the projectile reached 3600 meters per second.

But even such an impressive speed, of course, was not enough to launch the projectile into orbit. The project leader, Canadian engineer Gerald Vincent Bull, developed the Marlet rocket-like projectile to achieve the desired results, but it was not destined to fly and the HARP project ceased to exist in 1967.

The closure of the HARP project was of course a blow to the ambitious Canadian designer Gerald Bull, because perhaps he was just steps away from success. For several years, Bull has been unsuccessfully looking for a sponsor to carry out a grandiose project. Eventually, Saddam Hussein became interested in the talent of the artillery engineer. He offers Bull financial patronage in exchange for the post of project manager to create a super weapon as part of Project Babylon.

From the scanty data available in the public domain, four different guns are known, of which at least one used a slightly modified multi-chamber principle. To achieve constant gas pressure in the barrel, in addition to the main charge, there was an additional charge attached directly to the projectile and moving with it.

Based on the results of testing a 350 mm caliber gun, it was assumed that a two-ton projectile fired from a similar 1000 mm caliber gun could launch small (weighing up to 200 kilograms) satellites into orbit, while the launch cost was estimated at about $600 per kilogram, which is an order of magnitude cheaper than a launch vehicle.

As you can see, such close cooperation between the ruler of Iraq and a talented engineer was not to the liking of someone, and as a result, Bull was killed in 1990 in Brussels after working on the super-weapon project for only two years.

In one of the specialties I received, I am an artilleryman, commander of a platoon of 2S3M “Akatsiya” self-propelled howitzer guns, so the topic of artillery is close to me.

Surely many of you do not know the differences between a cannon, self-propelled gun, howitzer and mortar, so first I will tell you a little.
So,
A gun- an artillery gun that fires along a flat trajectory. It is distinguished by a large barrel elongation against mortars and howitzers (40-80 calibers) and a smaller barrel elevation angle.

Howitzer– an artillery gun that fires along a hinged trajectory, i.e. from closed firing positions. The conditional boundary between a howitzer and a cannon barrel is considered to be its length of 40 calibers.

Mortar– an artillery gun with a short barrel (less than 15 calibers) for mounted shooting. Designed to destroy enemy equipment and manpower hidden behind walls and trenches by firing along an overhead trajectory.

self-propelled guns– a self-propelled artillery mount, without reference to the type of weapon, can be equipped with different types of artillery systems – a cannon (SU-100), or a howitzer (ISU-152).
Video to introduce the power of the 2S3M Akatsiya, of course, it is not the 2S19 MSTA, but it is still capable of firing tactical nuclear warheads.

1 Mortar Little David (Little David) 914 mm

Experimental American mortar from the end of World War II. Despite a much more modest appearance than, for example, the Schwerer Gustav or Karl, it still holds the record for the largest caliber (914 mm or 36 inches) among all modern artillery

2 Tsar Cannon 890 mm

Medieval artillery gun (bombard), cast in bronze in 1586 by Russian master Andrei Chokhov at the Cannon Yard. The length of the gun is 5.34 m, the outer diameter of the barrel is 120 cm, the diameter of the patterned belt at the muzzle is 134 cm, the caliber is 890 mm, the weight is 39.31 tons (2400 pounds).

3 Dora gun 800 mm

Super-heavy railway artillery gun. Developed by Krupp (Germany) in the late 1930s. It was intended to destroy the fortifications of the Maginot Line and fortifications on the border of Germany and Belgium. The gun is named after the wife of the chief designer.

4 Mortar Karl 600 mm

German heavy self-propelled mortar from the Second World War. One of the most powerful self-propelled guns of its period. They were used to storm fortresses and heavily fortified enemy positions.

The world's largest cast iron cannon, which is also a military weapon, the 20-inch Perm Tsar Cannon was manufactured in 1868 by order of the Naval Ministry at the Motovilikha Cast Iron Cannon Factory. It is not clear why the largest one is inferior in caliber to the Moscow 508 versus 890, and the barrel length is also 4.9 versus 5.34.

6 Mortar Big Bertha 420 mm

German 420 mm mortar. The mortar was intended to destroy particularly strong fortifications. The Bertha's rate of fire was 1 shot per 8 minutes, and the flight range of the 900-kg projectile was 14 km. All three types of shells used had enormous destructive power for that time.

7 Mortar launcher 2B2 Oka 420 mm

Soviet self-propelled 420 mm mortar unit. Rate of fire - 1 shot per 5 minutes. Firing range - 25 km, active-reactive mine - 50 km. Mine weight - 670 kg. Designed for firing nuclear charges. During testing, it was established that the monstrous recoil does not allow long-term operation of such a weapon. After which serial production was abandoned. There is only one “Oka” left in the metal out of four released.

8 Railway GunSaint-Chamond 400 mm

In October 1914, the French government formed a special commission responsible for the creation of railway weapons, which, in turn, turned to the largest arms concerns with a proposal to develop large-caliber guns on railway transporters. Design and construction work took very little time, and already in May 1915, eight railway guns from the Schneider-Creuzot company appeared at the front, and a few months later the especially powerful 400-mm howitzers from the Saint-Chamon company received their baptism of fire.

9 Rodman Columbiad 381mm

Manufactured in 1863, it had a barrel with a caliber of 381 mm, and its weight reached 22.6 tons. The American Civil War contributed to the emergence of new types of weapons - armored ships and armored trains, and the creation of means of combating them - smooth-bore Columbiad guns, named after one of the first guns of this type.

10 Self-propelled gun 2A3 Capacitor 406 mm

Soviet self-propelled 406-mm gun SM-54 (2A3) for firing “Kondensator” nuclear ammunition. In 1957, the 2AZ self-propelled gun was paraded on Red Square and created a sensation among domestic citizens and foreign journalists. Some foreign experts have suggested that the cars shown at the parade are simply props, designed for a frightening effect. However, this was a real artillery system, fired at the training ground.

Do you know which branch of the military is respectfully called the “god of war”? Of course, artillery! Despite developments over the past fifty years, the role of high-precision modern barrel systems is still extremely large.

History of development

The German Schwartz is considered to be the “father” of guns, but many historians agree that his merits in this matter are rather doubtful. Thus, the first mention of the use of cannon artillery on the battlefield dates back to 1354, but there are many papers in the archives that mention the year 1324.

There is no reason to believe that some of them were not used before. By the way, most references to such weapons can be found in ancient English manuscripts, and not at all in German primary sources. So, especially noteworthy in this regard is the fairly famous treatise “On the Duties of Kings,” which was written in honor of Edward III.

The author was the king's teacher, and the book itself was written in 1326 (the time of Edward's assassination). There are no detailed explanations of the engravings in the text, and therefore one has to rely only on the subtext. So, one of the illustrations shows, without a doubt, a real cannon, reminiscent of a large vase. It is shown how a large arrow, shrouded in clouds of smoke, flies out of the neck of this “jug”, and at a distance stands a knight who has just ignited gunpowder with a hot rod.

First appearance

As for China, where gunpowder was most likely invented (and medieval alchemists discovered it no less than three times), there is every reason to assume that the first artillery pieces could have been tested even before the beginning of our era. Simply put, artillery, like all firearms, is probably much older than is commonly believed.

During the era, these guns were already widely used on walls whose walls by that time were no longer such an effective means of defense for the besieged.

Chronic stagnation

So why didn’t the ancient peoples conquer the whole world with the help of the “god of war”? It's simple - guns from the early 14th century. and 18th century differ little from each other. They were clumsy, overly heavy, and provided very poor accuracy. It was not for nothing that the first guns were used to destroy walls (it’s difficult to miss!), as well as to fire at large concentrations of the enemy. In an era when enemy armies marched at each other in colorful columns, this also did not require the high accuracy of cannons.

Let’s not forget about the disgusting quality of gunpowder, as well as its unpredictable properties: during the war with Sweden, Russian gunners sometimes had to triple the weight rate so that the cannonballs would cause at least some damage to enemy fortresses. Of course, this fact had a frankly bad effect on the reliability of the guns. There were many cases when nothing was left of an artillery crew as a result of a cannon explosion.

Other reasons

Finally, metallurgy. As with steam locomotives, only the invention of rolling mills and deep research in metallurgy provided the necessary knowledge to produce truly reliable barrels. The creation of artillery shells for a long time provided the troops with “monarchical” privileges on the battlefield.

Don’t forget about the calibers of artillery guns: in those years they were calculated both based on the diameter of the cannonballs used and taking into account the parameters of the barrel. Incredible confusion reigned, and therefore the armies simply could not adopt something truly unified. All this greatly hampered the development of the industry.

Main types of ancient artillery systems

Now let's look at the main types of artillery pieces, which in many cases actually helped change history, refracting the course of the war in favor of one state. As of 1620, it was customary to distinguish between the following types of tools:

• Guns ranging in caliber from 7 to 12 inches.
• Feathers.
• Falconets and minions (“falcons”).
• Portable guns with breech loading.
• Robinets.
• Mortars and bombards.

This list reflects only “true” guns in a more or less modern sense. But at that time the army had relatively many ancient cast-iron guns. Their most typical representatives include culverins and semi-culverins. By that time, it had already become completely clear that the giant cannons, which were to a large extent widespread in earlier periods, were no good: their accuracy was disgusting, the risk of the barrel exploding was extremely high, and it took a lot of time to reload.

If we turn again to the times of Peter, historians of those years note that for each battery of “unicorns” (a type of culverin) hundreds of liters of vinegar were required. It was used diluted with water to cool barrels that were overheated from shots.

It was rare to find an antique artillery piece with a caliber greater than 12 inches. The most commonly used were culverins, the core of which weighed approximately 16 pounds (about 7.3 kg). In the field, falconets were very common, the core of which weighed only 2.5 pounds (about a kilogram). Now let's look at the types of artillery pieces that were common in the past.

If you looked carefully at this table and saw a musket there, do not be surprised. this was the name not only for those clumsy and heavy guns that we remember from films about musketeers, but also for a full-fledged artillery piece with a long barrel of small caliber. After all, imagining a “bullet” weighing 400 grams is very problematic!

In addition, do not be surprised by the presence of a stone thrower on the list. The fact is that, for example, the Turks, even in the time of Peter, made full use of barrel artillery, firing cannonballs carved from stone. They were much less likely to penetrate enemy ships, but more often they caused serious damage to the latter from the very first salvo.

Finally, all the data given in our table is approximate. Many types of artillery guns will remain forever forgotten, and ancient historians often did not have much understanding of the characteristics and names of those guns that were massively used during the siege of cities and fortresses.

Innovators-inventors

As we have already said, barrel artillery for many centuries was a weapon that seemed to be forever frozen in its development. However, everything quickly changed. As with many innovations in military affairs, the idea belonged to naval officers.

The main problem with cannon artillery on ships was the serious limitation of space and the difficulty of performing any maneuvers. Seeing all this, Mr. Melville and Mr. Gascoigne, who was in charge of the production he owned, managed to create an amazing cannon, which today historians know as the “caronade.” There were no trunnions (mounts for the carriage) on its barrel at all. But it had a small eyelet into which a steel rod could be easily and quickly inserted. He clung firmly to the compact artillery piece.

The gun turned out to be light and short, easy to handle. The approximate effective firing range from it was about 50 meters. In addition, due to some of its design features, it became possible to fire incendiary shells. “Caronade” became so popular that Gascoigne soon moved to Russia, where talented craftsmen of foreign origin were always welcome, and received the rank of general and the position of one of Catherine’s advisers. It was in those years that Russian artillery pieces began to be developed and produced on a previously unseen scale.

Modern artillery systems

As we already noted at the very beginning of our article, in the modern world artillery has had to “make room” somewhat under the influence of rocket weapons. But this does not mean at all that there is no place left for barrel and rocket systems on the battlefield. Not at all! The invention of high-precision projectiles with GPS/GLONASS guidance allows us to confidently assert that “immigrants” from the distant 12-13 centuries will continue to keep the enemy at bay.

Barrel and rocket artillery: who is better?

Unlike traditional barrel systems, multiple rocket launchers provide virtually no noticeable recoil. This is what distinguishes them from any self-propelled or towed gun, which, in the process of being brought into combat position, must be secured as firmly as possible and dug into the ground, since otherwise it may even overturn. Of course, there is no question of any quick change of position here in principle, even if a self-propelled artillery gun is used.

Reactive systems are fast and mobile and can change their combat position in a few minutes. In principle, such vehicles can fire even while moving, but this has a bad effect on the accuracy of the shot. The disadvantage of such installations is their low accuracy. The same “Hurricane” can literally plow up several square kilometers, destroying almost all living things, but this will require a whole battery of installations with rather expensive shells. These artillery pieces, photos of which you will find in the article, are especially loved by domestic developers (“Katyusha”).

A salvo of one howitzer with a “smart” projectile can destroy anyone in one attempt, while a battery of rocket launchers may require more than one salvo. In addition, “Smerch”, “Hurricane”, “Grad” or “Tornado” at the moment of launch will not be able to be detected except by a blind soldier, since a significant cloud of smoke will form in that place. But such installations can contain up to several hundred kilograms of explosive in one projectile.

Barrel artillery, due to its accuracy, can be used to fire at the enemy when he is close to his own positions. In addition, the barreled self-propelled artillery gun is capable of conducting counter-battery fire, doing this for many hours. Multiple launch rocket systems wear out their barrels quite quickly, which is not conducive to their long-term use.

By the way, in the first Chechen campaign, “Grads” were used, which managed to fight in Afghanistan. Their barrels were so worn out that the shells sometimes scattered in unpredictable directions. This often led to the “covering up” of their own soldiers.

The best multiple launch rocket systems

Russian artillery pieces "Tornado" inevitably take the lead. They fire 122 mm caliber shells at a distance of up to 100 kilometers. In one salvo, up to 40 charges can be fired, covering an area of ​​up to 84 thousand square meters. The power reserve is no less than 650 kilometers. Coupled with the high reliability of the chassis and speed of up to 60 km/h, this allows you to transfer the Tornado battery to the right place and with minimal time.

The second most effective is the domestic 9K51 Grad MLRS, notorious after the events in the South-East of Ukraine. Caliber - 122 mm, 40 barrels. It shoots at a distance of up to 21 kilometers, and can “process” an area of ​​up to 40 square kilometers in one pass. The power reserve at a maximum speed of 85 km/h is as much as 1.5 thousand kilometers!

The third place is occupied by the HIMARS artillery gun from an American manufacturer. The ammunition has an impressive 227mm caliber, but only six rails detract from the installation somewhat. The firing range is up to 85 kilometers, covering an area of ​​67 square kilometers at a time. Travel speed is up to 85 km/h, power reserve is 600 kilometers. It performed well in the ground campaign in Afghanistan.

In fourth position is the Chinese installation WS-1B. The Chinese did not waste time on trifles: the caliber of this terrifying weapon is 320 mm. In appearance, this MLRS resembles the Russian-made S-300 air defense system and has only four barrels. The range is about 100 kilometers, the affected area is up to 45 square kilometers. At maximum speed, these modern artillery pieces have a range of approximately 600 kilometers.

In last place is the Indian Pinaka MLRS. The design includes 12 guides for 122 mm caliber shells. Firing range - up to 40 km. At a maximum speed of 80 km/h, the car can travel up to 850 kilometers. The affected area is as much as 130 square kilometers. The system was developed with the direct participation of Russian specialists and has proven itself excellently during numerous Indian-Pakistani conflicts.

Cannons

These weapons are far removed from their long-standing predecessors, who ruled the fields of the Middle Ages. The caliber of guns used in modern conditions ranges from 100 (Rapier anti-tank artillery gun) to 155 mm (TR, NATO).

The range of projectiles they use is also unusually wide: from standard high-explosive fragmentation rounds to programmable projectiles that can hit a target at a distance of up to 45 kilometers with an accuracy of tens of centimeters. True, the cost of one such shot can be up to 55 thousand US dollars! In this regard, Soviet artillery pieces are much cheaper.

Mortars

Modern mortar systems trace their origins to ancient bombards and mortars, which could fire a bomb (up to hundreds of kilograms in weight) over a distance of 200-300 meters. Today, both their design and maximum range of use have changed significantly.

In most armed forces of the world, the combat doctrine for mortars considers them as an artillery weapon for mounted fire at a distance of about a kilometer. The effectiveness of the use of these weapons in urban environments and in suppressing scattered, mobile enemy groups is noted. In the Russian army, mortars are standard weapons; they are used in every more or less serious combat operation.

And during the Ukrainian events, both sides of the conflict demonstrated that even outdated 88 mm mortars are an excellent means both for and for countering it.

Modern mortars, like other cannon artillery, are now developing in the direction of increasing the accuracy of each shot. Thus, last summer, the well-known arms corporation BAE Systems for the first time demonstrated to the world community high-precision 81 mm mortar rounds, which were tested at one of the English test sites. It is reported that such ammunition can be used with all possible effectiveness in the temperature range from -46 to +71 ° C. In addition, there is information about the planned production of a wide range of such projectiles.

The military pins particular hopes on the development of high-precision 120 mm mines with increased power. New models developed for the American army (XM395, for example), with a firing range of up to 6.1 km, have a deviation of no more than 10 meters. It is reported that such shots were used by crews of Stryker armored vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the new ammunition showed its best performance.

But the most promising today are the developments of guided projectiles with active homing. Thus, domestic artillery guns “Nona” can use the “Kitolov-2” projectile, with which you can hit almost any modern tank at a distance of up to nine kilometers. Considering the low cost of the weapon itself, such developments are expected to be of interest to military personnel around the world.

Thus, the artillery gun is still a formidable argument on the battlefield. New models are constantly being developed, and more and more promising projectiles are being produced for existing barrel systems.

A firearm, as a heat engine, has an efficiency higher than that of an internal combustion engine, and the resistance to movement experienced by the projectile, on the contrary, is lower than that of a car or airplane. It turns out that artillery is the most profitable way to transport cargo over long distances. However, often what is good in theory is difficult to implement in practice and inconvenient to use. The history of the creation of superguns that send a projectile far beyond the horizon is a vivid example of how the same problem can be solved in different ways.

"Colossal" explores the stratosphere

On the morning of March 23, 1917, Paris came under sudden artillery fire. The front was far from the city, and no one could have expected this. Three German cannons installed in the Lana area fired 21 shells that day, 18 of them fell in the capital of France. The French soon disabled one of the cannons; the other two continued regular shelling for more than a month. The sensation had its own backstory.

With the outbreak of the First World War, it became obvious that the general staffs, preparing for the coming clashes, had neglected many artillery issues. It was not only a matter of the lack of heavy, large-caliber guns among the combatants. Too little attention was paid to the range of the guns. Meanwhile, the course of hostilities made the troops more and more dependent on the immediate and deep rear - control and supply points, communications routes, warehouses, and reserves. To defeat all this, long-range artillery was required. And since the firing range of ground-based guns did not exceed 16-20 km, naval guns transferred to the land fronts were used. The importance of range was obvious to sailors. Existing dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts carried guns with a caliber of 305-381 mm with a firing range of up to 35 km. New weapons were also developed. There was a temptation to implement an idea that had previously only occurred to enthusiasts - to shoot at a distance of 100 km or more. Its essence was to give the projectile a high initial speed and force it to fly most of the way in the stratosphere, where air resistance is much less than at the surface of the Earth. The development of the weapon at the Krupp company was undertaken by F. Rausenberger.

A composite 21-cm pipe with a rifled channel and a smooth muzzle was mounted into the drilled barrel of a 38-cm naval gun (in Germany at that time calibers were designated in centimeters). The combination of a barrel of the same caliber with a chamber from a larger caliber made it possible to use a propellant powder charge that weighed one and a half times more than the projectile itself (196.5 kg of gunpowder per 120 kg of projectile). Guns of those years rarely had a barrel length of more than 40 calibers, but here it reached 150 calibers. True, in order to prevent the barrel from bending under the influence of its own weight, it was necessary to hold it with cables, and after the shot, wait two to three minutes until the vibrations stopped. The installation was transported by rail, and in position it was placed on a concrete base with a ring rail that provided horizontal guidance. In order for the projectile to enter the stratosphere at a maximum range angle of 45° and leave the dense layers of the atmosphere faster, the barrel was given an elevation angle of more than 50°. As a result, the projectile flew about 100 km in the stratosphere, almost reaching its upper limit - 40 km. The flight time for 120 km reached three minutes, and in ballistic calculations it was even necessary to take into account the rotation of the Earth.

As the barrel pipes were “shot”, shells of slightly larger diameter were used. The survivability of the barrel was no more than 50 shots, after which it needed to be changed. The “shot” pipes were drilled out to a caliber of 24 cm and put back into use. Such a projectile flew a little less, at a range of up to 114 km.

The created cannon became known as the “Colossal” - this is the definition they liked to use in Germany. However, in the literature it was called both the “gun of Kaiser Wilhelm”, and the “Parisian cannon”, and - erroneously - “Big Bertha” (this nickname was actually worn by a 420-mm mortar). Since only the naval ones had experience in servicing long-range guns at that time, the Colossal crew was made up of coastal defense gunners.

In 44 days, the Colossal cannons fired 303 shells into Paris, 183 of which fell within the city. 256 people were killed and 620 wounded, and several hundred or thousand Parisians fled the city. The material losses from the shelling did not correspond in any way to the costs of carrying it out. And the expected psychological effect - up to and including the cessation of hostilities - did not follow. In 1918, the guns were taken to Germany and dismantled.

Idea-fix

However, the idea of ​​an ultra-long-range gun fell into fertile soil. Already in 1918, the French built a so-called “response cannon” of the same caliber - 210 mm with a barrel length of 110 calibers. Its projectile weighing 108 kg with an initial speed of 1,450 m/s was supposed to fly 115 km. The installation was mounted on a 24-axle railway conveyor with the ability to fire directly from the track. This was the heyday of railway artillery, the only one capable of quickly maneuvering guns of high and special power (then vehicles and the roads along which they moved could not even compete with railway communications)... The French, however, did not take into account the fact that the “response gun” Not a single bridge can withstand it.

Meanwhile, the Italian company Ansaldo, at the end of 1918, designed a 200-mm cannon with an initial projectile speed of about 1,500 m/s and a firing range of 140 km. The British, in turn, hoped to hit targets on the continent from their island. To do this, they developed a 203-mm cannon with an initial velocity of 109-kg projectile of 1,500 m/s and a range of up to 110-120 km, but did not implement the project.

Already in the early 1920s, French and German experts substantiated the need to have a gun of about 200 mm caliber with a firing range of up to 200 km. Such a gun was supposed to fire at strategically important and preferably (due to the dispersion of hits) area targets. These could be enemy concentration areas, administrative and industrial centers, ports, and railway junctions. Opponents of superguns reasonably noted that bomber aircraft could easily solve the same problems. To which supporters of ultra-long-range artillery responded that guns, unlike aviation, can hit targets around the clock and in any weather. In addition, with the advent of military aviation, air defense systems were born, and neither fighters nor anti-aircraft guns could interfere with the ultra-long-range cannon. The advent of long-range, high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft and the development of ballistic calculation methods gave hope for increasing the accuracy of ultra-long-range shooting, due to more accurate information about the coordinates of the target and the ability to adjust shooting. Since the number and rate of fire of such guns were small, there was no talk of “massive” shelling. The most important factor in this case was considered to be the psychological factor, the ability to keep the enemy on edge with the threat of surprise attacks.

Methods for increasing the firing range are well known - increasing the initial velocity of the projectile, selecting the elevation angle, improving the aerodynamic shape of the projectile. To increase speed, the propellant powder charge is increased: for ultra-long-range shooting, it should have been 1.5-2 times heavier than the projectile. So that the powder gases can do more work, the barrel is lengthened. And to increase the average pressure in the barrel bore, which determines the speed of the projectile, progressively burning powders were used (in them, as the grain burns out, the surface engulfed in flame increases, which increases the rate of formation of powder gases). Changing the shape of the projectile - lengthening the head part, narrowing the tail - was intended to improve its streamlining by air flow. But at the same time, the useful volume and power of the projectile decreased. In addition, speed losses due to air resistance can be reduced by increasing the lateral load, that is, the ratio of the mass of the projectile to the area of ​​its largest cross-section. In other words, the projectile in this case must be lengthened. At the same time, it was necessary to guarantee its stability in flight by ensuring a high rotation speed. There were other specific problems. In particular, in long-range guns, conventional copper leading belts of projectiles often could not withstand very high pressure and could not “guide” the projectile correctly along the rifling of the barrel. We remembered the polygonal (in the shape of an oblong prism twisted with a screw) shells that Whitworth experimented with in the 1860s. After World War I, the prominent French artilleryman Charbonnier transformed this idea into projectiles with ready-made projections (“rifled”), the shape of which followed the rifling of the bore. Experiments with polygonal and “rifled” projectiles have begun in a number of countries. The projectile could be lengthened to 6-10 calibers, and since the energy consumption for forcing and friction was less than with leading belts, it was possible to obtain longer ranges even with heavier projectiles. In the second half of the 1930s, it was considered quite likely “that in the near future guns with a caliber of 500-600 mm, firing at a distance of 120-150 km, will appear.” At the same time, towed guns with a firing range of up to 30 km and railway guns with a range of up to 60 km were simply considered “long-range”.

The development of ultra-long-range shooting issues was one of the main tasks of the Commission for Special Artillery Experiments created in 1918 in the RSFSR. The Chairman of the Commission is the famous artilleryman V.M. Trofimov proposed a project for an ultra-long-range gun back in 1911. Now he had the theoretical foundations for shooting at ranges of up to 140 km ready.

It was expensive to create giant guns for Soviet Russia, and not really necessary. What seemed more interesting were the “ultra-long-range” shells for existing naval guns, which could be installed on both stationary and railway installations. Moreover, for battleships and coastal batteries the ability to fire at targets from 100 km would also be useful. We experimented with sub-caliber shells for a long time. A long-range sub-caliber projectile was proposed back in 1917 by another prominent Russian artilleryman E.A. Berkalov. The caliber of the “active” projectile was smaller than the caliber of the barrel, so the gain in speed was accompanied by a loss in “power”. In 1930, a Berkalov system projectile for a naval gun “flew” 90 km. In 1937, due to the combination of a barrel drilled to 368 mm, a 220-mm projectile weighing 140 kg, a “belt” pallet and a powder charge of 223 kg, it was possible to obtain an initial speed of 1,390 m/s, which provided a range of 120 km. That is, the same range as the German “Colossal” was achieved with a heavier projectile, and most importantly, based on a gun with a barrel length of only 52 calibers. There were still a number of problems with shooting accuracy that remained to be resolved. Work was also underway on “star” trays with ready-made ledges - combining the ideas of ready-made ledges and a detachable tray seemed promising. But all work was interrupted by the Great Patriotic War - the designers were faced with more pressing tasks.

Research and development work on shells, charges, and barrels for ultra-long-range artillery contributed to successes in other industries. For example, techniques for increasing the initial velocity of a projectile were useful in anti-tank artillery. Work on ultra-long-range shooting accelerated the development of topographic and meteorological services of artillery, stimulated work on astronomical determination of coordinates, aerology, new methods for calculating initial data for shooting, and mechanical calculating devices.

Ultra-long range or ultra-altitude?

Already in the mid-1930s, ultra-long-range guns had a serious competitor in the form of missiles. A number of experts admitted that talk about rockets being developed to transport mail or interplanetary communications is in fact just a cover for military work, the results of which could “fundamentally change the methods of combat operations.” French engineer L. Damblian, for example, proposed a design for a ballistic missile with an inclined launch from an artillery gun and a flight range of up to 140 km. In Germany, since 1936, work had already been carried out on a ballistic missile with a flight range of up to 275 km. Since 1937, at the Peenemünde test center, the A4 rocket, which became better known to the world under the name “V-2,” was perfected.

On the other hand, enthusiasts of interplanetary communications did not abandon the “artillery” ideas of Jules Verne. In the 1920s, German scientists M. Vallier and G. Oberth proposed firing a projectile towards the Moon, building for this purpose a giant cannon with a barrel length of 900 m on the top of a mountain near the equator. Another pioneer of astronautics proposed his own version of the “space gun” in 1928 G. von Pirke. In both cases, of course, things didn’t go beyond sketches and calculations.

There was another tempting direction for achieving super-ranges and super-heights - replacing the energy of powder gases with electromagnetic energy. But the implementation difficulties turned out to be much greater than the expected benefits. The “magnetic-fugal” gun of the Russian engineers Podolsky and Yampolsky with a theoretical flight range of up to 300 km (proposed back in 1915), the solenoid guns of the French Fachon and Viglione, and the “electric guns” of Maleval did not go beyond the drawings. The idea of ​​electromagnetic guns is still alive today, but even the most promising railgun designs still remain just experimental laboratory installations. The fate of research instruments was also reserved for “super-high-speed” light-gas guns (their initial projectile speed reaches 5 km/s instead of the usual 1.5 for “powder” guns).

Across the English Channel

It is known that after the failure of the air attack on England, the shelling of London and other British cities from the territory of occupied France became an obsession of the German leadership. While guided “weapons of retaliation” were being prepared in the form of projectile aircraft and ballistic missiles, long-range artillery was operating across English territory.

The Germans, who once hit Paris with the Colossal cannon, created two 21-cm K12(E) railway artillery mounts in 1937-1940. The installation, built by Krupp, rested on two platforms and was raised on jacks for firing. For horizontal aiming, a curved railway line was built - this technique was widely used in high-power and special-power railway artillery. The barrel was kept from bending by frames and cables. A fragmentation projectile with ready-made protrusions with a charge of 250 kg flew up to 115 km. The survivability of the barrel was already 90 shots. In 1940, installations as part of the 701st railway battery were pulled up to the coast of Pas-de-Calais, in November one of them was already shelling the areas of Dover, Folkestone and Hastings. A 310-mm smooth barrel and a finned projectile were also developed for this installation. It was expected that this combination would provide a firing range of 250 km, but the project did not leave the experimental stage. One 21-cm K12(E) installation was captured in 1945 by the British in Holland.

The British, in turn, had been shelling occupied French territory from coastal stationary installations in St. Margaret's Bay, Kent, since August 1940. Two 356 mm naval guns, nicknamed "Winnie" and "Pooh", operated here. Both could throw projectiles weighing 721 kg to a distance of 43.2 km, that is, they were classified as long-range. To fire at German positions near Calais, the British pulled up three 343-mm railway installations with a firing range of up to 36.6 km to Dover. It is said that an experimental 203 mm gun, nicknamed "Bruce", was also used. Indeed, at the beginning of 1943, one of two experimental 203-mm “high-speed” Vickers-Armstrong guns with a barrel length of 90 calibers was installed in St. Margaret. Its fragmentation projectile weighing 116.3 kg with ready-made protrusions at an initial speed of 1,400 m/s flew at a range of up to 100.5 km in experimental firing (with a design range of 111 km). However, there is no evidence that the cannon fired at German positions across the English Channel.

Back in 1878, the French engineer Perrault proposed a “theoretical gun” design, in which several powder charges were placed in separate chambers along the barrel and ignited as the projectile passed. By achieving precise ignition time for the charges, it would be possible to significantly increase the initial velocity of the projectile without greatly increasing the maximum pressure. In 1879, the idea was tested experimentally by the Americans Lyman and Haskell, but with the advent of smokeless gunpowder, such complex schemes were consigned to the archives. The multi-chamber cannon was remembered in connection with super-heights and super-ranges. This scheme was intended to be used in the “space gun” by G. von Pirke. And the chief engineer of the German company Rechling, W. Kenders, proposed to the Ministry of Armaments a gun in the form of a long smooth pipe with additional charging chambers located along the barrel in a herringbone pattern. A highly elongated finned projectile was supposed to fly to a range of 165-170 km. Tests of the weapon, coded as a “high-pressure pump,” were carried out in the Baltic near Mizdrow. And in September 1943, for firing at London in the Calais area, they began to build two stationary batteries of 25 guns each, but they only managed to assemble one. The protracted “finishing” of the gun and projectile, as well as British air raids, forced the work to be stopped in July 1944. It was reported that the Germans also planned to shell Antwerp and Luxembourg with guns of this type.

Gun plus rocket

Even during the First World War, it was proposed to equip the projectile with a small jet engine that would operate during flight. Over time, this idea was embodied in “active-missile projectiles.”

Thus, during World War II, using an active-missile projectile with a detachable tray, the Germans decided to give extra-long range to their very successful 28-cm K5(E) railway installation, which had a standard firing range of up to 62.2 km. The new 245 kg projectile carried, of course, less explosives than the standard 255 kg, but the firing range of 87 km made it possible to shell cities on the southern coast of England from Calais or Boulogne. On the K5(E) installations, they also planned to install a smooth 31-cm barrel under a 12-cm caliber feathered projectile with a detachable washer developed by the Peenemünde research center. With an initial speed of 1,420 m/s, such a projectile weighing 136 kg should have had a flight range of 160 km. Two experimental 38-cm installations were captured as trophies by the Americans in 1945.

Projectiles were also offered that received the bulk of their impulse from a jet engine. In 1944, Krupp developed the Rwa100 rocket and artillery system with an estimated firing range of 140 km. The rocket used a relatively small expelling charge and a thin-walled barrel. The charge was supposed to give a 54-cm projectile weighing 1 ton an initial speed of 250-280 m/s, and in flight it was planned to increase it due to jet thrust to 1,300 m/s. The matter did not go beyond the layout. Projects were also developed for a 56-cm RAG installation with a barrel length of only 12 calibers, from which a rocket was launched at a range - in different versions - up to 60 or up to 94 km. True, the scheme did not promise good accuracy, since the disadvantages of uncontrolled jet propulsion inevitably appeared.

The most powerful

Let's take a break from the “ultra-long-range” ones and take a look at the “heavy-duty” guns. Moreover, the development of heavy artillery from the beginning of the First World War also implied an increase in the destructive effect of the projectile.

In 1936, Krupp began developing a super-powerful gun to combat the fortifications of the French Maginot Line. Accordingly, the projectile had to penetrate armor up to 1 m thick and concrete up to 7 m thick and explode in their thickness. The development was led by E. Muller (nicknamed Muller the gun). The first gun was named "Dora", supposedly in honor of the wife of the chief designer. The work dragged on for 5 years, and by the time the first 80 cm caliber gun was assembled in 1941, the Maginot Line, as well as the fortifications of Belgium and Czechoslovakia, had long been in German hands. They wanted to use the gun against the British fortifications of Gibraltar, but it was necessary to transport the installation through Spain. And this did not correspond either to the carrying capacity of the Spanish bridges or to the intentions of the Spanish dictator Franco.

As a result, in February 1942, the Dora was sent to the Crimea at the disposal of the 11th Army, where its main task was to fire at the famous Soviet 305-mm coastal batteries No. 30 and No. 35 and the fortifications of besieged Sevastopol, which had already repelled two assaults by that time.

The high-explosive "Dora" shell weighing 4.8 tons carried 700 kg of explosives, the concrete-piercing shell weighing 7.1 tons - 250 kg, large charges for them weighed 2 and 1.85 tons, respectively. The cradle under the barrel was mounted between two supports, each of which occupied one railway track and rested on four five-axle platforms. Two lifts were used to supply shells and charges. The weapon was transported, of course, disassembled. To install it, the railway track was branched, laying four curved - for horizontal guidance - parallel branches. The gun supports were driven onto two internal branches. Two 110-ton overhead cranes, necessary for assembling the gun, moved along the outer tracks. The position occupied an area 4,120-4,370 m long. Preparing the position and assembling the gun lasted from one and a half to six and a half weeks.

The crew of the gun itself was about 500 people, but with a guard battalion, a transport battalion, two trains for transporting ammunition, an energy train, a field bakery and a commandant’s office, the number of personnel per installation increased to 1,420 people. The crew of such a gun was commanded by a colonel. In Crimea, Dora was also given a group of military police, a chemical unit for setting up smoke screens, and a reinforced anti-aircraft division - vulnerability from aviation was one of the main problems of railway artillery. Krupp sent a group of engineers to carry out the installation. The position was equipped by June 1942, 20 km from Sevastopol. The assembled Dora was moved by two diesel locomotives with a capacity of 1,050 hp. With. every. By the way, the Germans also used two 60-cm self-propelled mortars of the Karl type against the fortifications of Sevastopol.

From June 5 to June 17, Dora fired 48 shots. Together with ground tests, this exhausted the barrel's service life, and the gun was taken away. Historians still argue about the effectiveness of the shooting, but they agree that it in no way corresponded to the colossal size and cost of the installation. Although it must be admitted that in purely technical terms, the 80-cm railway installation was a good design job and a convincing demonstration of industrial power. Actually, such monsters were created as a visible embodiment of power. Suffice it to remember that the main success of the heroes of the Soviet comedy “Heavenly Slug” was the destruction of a certain German supercannon (albeit a stationary one).

The Germans wanted to transfer the Dora to Leningrad, but did not have time. They tried to make the Dora ultra-long-range for use in the West. For this purpose, they resorted to a scheme similar to Damblyan’s project - they intended to launch a three-stage rocket from the cannon barrel. But things didn’t go further than the project. As well as the combination of a 52-cm smooth barrel for the same installation and an active-missile projectile with a flight range of 100 km.

The second 80 cm installation built is known as the “Heavy Gustav” - in honor of Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach. General Guderian recalled how, while showing the gun to Hitler on March 19, 1943, Dr. Müller said that it “can also be used to shoot at tanks.” Hitler hastened to convey these words to Guderian, but he retorted: “Shoot, yes, but don’t hit!” Krupp was able to manufacture components for the third installation, but they did not have time to assemble it. Parts of the 80-cm gun captured by Soviet troops were sent to the Union for study and around 1960 they were scrapped. In those years, on Khrushchev’s initiative, many rarities of not only captured, but also domestic equipment disappeared from open-hearth furnaces.

Having mentioned Leningrad, one cannot help but say that during the siege there was a fierce confrontation with artillery, including railway, coastal and stationary installations. In particular, the most powerful of the Soviet guns, the 406-mm B-37 naval gun, operated here. It was developed by the design bureaus of the Barrikady and Bolshevik factories together with NII-13 and the Leningrad Mechanical Plant for the never-built battleship Sovetsky Soyuz. Famous designers M.Ya. took part in the development. Krupchatnikov, E.G. Rudnyak, D.E. Bril. On the eve of the war, the 406-mm cannon was mounted on the MP-10 test site at the Scientific Test Naval Artillery Range (Rzhevka). The stationary installation, which threw a projectile weighing 1.1 tons at a distance of about 45 km, provided considerable assistance to Soviet troops in the Nevsky, Kolpinsky, Uritsk-Pushkinsky, Krasnoselsky and Karelian directions. In total, from August 29, 1941 to June 10, 1944, 81 shots were fired from the cannon. For example, during the breakthrough of the blockade in January 1944, its shell destroyed the concrete structure of the 8th State District Power Plant, which was used by the Nazis as a fortification. The cannon shots also had a strong psychological effect on the enemy.

The appearance of nuclear charges in the post-war period forced us to somewhat reconsider our attitude towards “heavy-duty” artillery. When the nuclear charge was able to be “packed” compactly enough, conventional caliber artillery became super-powerful.

Building "Babylons"

Projects for ultra-long-range guns continued to appear after World War II. In 1946, the USSR discussed the project of a 562-mm gun on a self-propelled and railway installation. An active-missile projectile weighing 1,158 kg with a flight range of up to 94 km was fired from a relatively short barrel. The direct connection with German developments at the end of the war is obvious - the project was presented by a group of captured German designers. The idea of ​​ultra-long-range shells for naval guns was still alive. A projectile weighing 203.5 kg, developed in 1954 for the 305-mm SM-33 cannon, with an initial speed of 1,300 m/s would reach a range of 127.3 km. However, Khrushchev decided to stop work on naval and land heavy artillery. The rapid development of missiles, as it seemed then, put an end to ultra-long-range guns. But decades later, the idea, having adapted to new conditions and technologies, began to make its way again.

On March 22, 1990, Professor J. W. Bull, a prominent specialist in rocket and artillery technology, was killed in Brussels. His name became widely known in connection with the American-Canadian project HARP ("High Altitude Research Program"), which used the ideas of Verne, Oberth and von Pirke. In 1961, during the era of general “rocket mania,” guns converted from naval guns were installed in different areas of America and the Caribbean for experimental shooting at high altitudes. In 1966, with the help of a converted 406-mm cannon installed on the island of Barbados, it was possible to throw a sub-caliber projectile - a prototype satellite - to an altitude of 180 km. The experimenters were also convinced of the possibility of shooting at a range of 400 km. But in 1967, HARP was closed down - near-Earth orbits were already successfully mastered with the help of rockets.

Bull moved on to more mundane projects. In particular, his small company, Space Research Corporation, worked to improve the ballistic characteristics of field artillery guns in NATO countries. Bull worked for South Africa, Israel, and China. Perhaps the “diversity” of customers ruined the scientist. Both the Mossad and the Iraqi intelligence services are accused of his murder. But in any case, he is associated with work on a project known as “Big Babylon.” The story of Professor Bull and “Big Babylon” even became the basis for the feature film “The Cannon of the Last Judgment.”

It is believed that Saddam Hussein ordered the development of an Iraqi ultra-long-range cannon shortly before the end of the Iran-Iraq War to fight Iran, with the possibility of shelling Israel in mind. However, the gun was officially “presented” as part of the space theme - as a cheap means of launching satellites into orbit.

The caliber of the supergun was supposed to reach 1,000 mm, length - 160 m, firing range - up to 1,000 km with a conventional projectile and up to 2,000 km with an active-reactive one. The various versions of the Big Babylon device included a multi-chamber cannon and a two- or three-stage rocket fired from the cannon barrel. The gun parts were ordered under the guise of equipment for oil pipelines. The concept was allegedly tested on a 350 mm caliber, 45 m long "Little Babylon" prototype built in Jabal Hanrayam (145 km from Baghdad). Shortly after Bull's murder, British customs detained a shipment of precision pipes - they were considered parts for the construction of a gun.

After the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqis showed UN inspectors the remains of a structure considered "Little Babylon" and then destroyed it. Actually, that's where the story ends. Perhaps in 2002, when the aggression against Iraq was being prepared, the press resumed talk about “Saddam’s supergun,” capable of firing shells with “chemical, bacteriological and even nuclear” filling. But during the occupation of Iraq, apparently no traces of “Babylon” were found, nor were weapons of mass destruction. Meanwhile, the effective and cheap “ultra-long-range artillery” of the “Third World” turned out to be not superguns, but crowds of emigrants, among whom the perpetrators of terrorist attacks or participants in pogroms can be easily recruited.

In 1995, the Chinese press published a photograph of a cannon 21 m long with an estimated firing range of 320 km. The 85 mm caliber indicated that this was most likely a prototype of a future gun. The purpose of the Chinese cannon is predictable - to keep Taiwan or South Korea under threat of fire.

Missile defense systems and a number of treaties limiting the use of missile weapons do not apply to artillery. Compared to a missile warhead, the adjustable projectile of an ultra-long-range cannon is both a cheaper product and a target that is difficult to hit. So it may be too early to put an end to the history of superguns.

Semyon Fedoseev | Illustrations by Yuri Yurov

10

The Archer self-propelled gun uses a Volvo A30D chassis with a 6x6 wheel arrangement. The chassis is equipped with a 340 horsepower diesel engine, which allows it to reach highway speeds of up to 65 km/h. It is worth noting that the wheeled chassis can move through snow up to one meter deep. If the wheels of the installation are damaged, the self-propelled gun can still move for some time.

A distinctive feature of the howitzer is that there is no need for additional crew numbers to load it. The cockpit is armored to protect the crew from small arms fire and ammunition fragments.

9

"Msta-S" is designed to destroy tactical nuclear weapons, artillery and mortar batteries, tanks and other armored vehicles, anti-tank weapons, manpower, air defense and missile defense systems, control posts, as well as to destroy field fortifications and impede the maneuvers of enemy reserves in the depth of his defense. It can fire at observed and unobserved targets from closed positions and direct fire, including work in mountainous conditions. When firing, both shots from the ammunition rack and those fired from the ground are used, without loss in rate of fire.

Crew members communicate using 1B116 internal telephone equipment for seven subscribers. External communication is carried out using the R-173 VHF radio station (range up to 20 km).

Additional equipment of the self-propelled gun includes: automatic 3-fold action PPO with control equipment 3ETs11-2; two filter ventilation units; self-entrenchment system mounted on the lower frontal sheet; TDA, powered by the main engine; system 902V “Tucha” for firing 81-mm smoke grenades; two tank degassing devices (TDP).

8 AS-90

Self-propelled artillery unit on a tracked chassis with a rotating turret. The hull and turret are made of 17 mm steel armor.

The AS-90 replaced all other types of artillery in the British Army, both self-propelled and towed, with the exception of the L118 light towed howitzers and MLRS and were used in combat during the Iraq War.

7 Krab (based on AS-90)

The SPH Krab is a 155 mm NATO compatible self-propelled howitzer manufactured in Poland by the Produkcji Wojskowej Huta Stalowa Wola center. The self-propelled gun is a complex symbiosis of the Polish RT-90 tank chassis (with an S-12U engine), an artillery unit from the AS-90M Braveheart with a 52-caliber barrel, and its own (Polish) Topaz fire control system. The 2011 version of the SPH Krab uses a new gun barrel from Rheinmetall.

The SPH Krab was immediately created with the ability to fire in modern modes, that is, for the MRSI mode (multiple projectiles of simultaneous impact), including. As a result, within 1 minute in MRSI mode, the SPH Krab fires 5 shells at the enemy (that is, at the target) within 30 seconds, after which it leaves the firing position. Thus, the enemy gets the complete impression that 5 self-propelled guns are firing at him, and not just one.

6 M109A7 "Paladin"

Self-propelled artillery unit on a tracked chassis with a rotating turret. The hull and turret are made of rolled aluminum armor, which provides protection from small arms fire and field artillery shell fragments.

In addition to the United States, it became the standard self-propelled gun of NATO countries, was also supplied in significant quantities to a number of other countries and was used in many regional conflicts.

5PLZ05

The self-propelled gun turret is welded from rolled armor plates. Two four-barreled smoke grenade launcher units are installed on the front of the turret to create smoke screens. In the rear part of the hull there is a hatch for the crew, which can be used to replenish ammunition while feeding ammunition from the ground into the loading system.

The PLZ-05 is equipped with an automatic gun loading system, developed on the basis of the Russian Msta-S self-propelled gun. The rate of fire is 8 rounds per minute. The howitzer gun has a caliber of 155 mm and a barrel length of 54 calibers. The gun's ammunition is located in the turret. It consists of 30 rounds of 155 mm caliber and 500 rounds of ammunition for a 12.7 mm machine gun.

4

The Type 99 155mm self-propelled howitzer is a Japanese self-propelled howitzer in service with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force. It replaced the obsolete Type 75 self-propelled gun.

Despite the interests of the armies of several countries in the self-propelled gun, the sale of copies of this howitzer abroad was prohibited by Japanese law.

3

The K9 Thunder self-propelled gun was developed in the mid-90s of the last century by the Samsung Techwin corporation by order of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea, in addition to the K55\K55A1 self-propelled guns in service with their subsequent replacement.

In 1998, the Korean government entered into a contract with the Samsung Techwin corporation for the supply of self-propelled guns, and in 1999 the first batch of K9 Thunder was delivered to the customer. In 2004, Türkiye bought a production license and also received a batch of K9 Thunder. A total of 350 units have been ordered. The first 8 self-propelled guns were built in Korea. From 2004 to 2009, 150 self-propelled guns were delivered to the Turkish army.

2

Developed at the Nizhny Novgorod Central Research Institute "Burevestnik". The 2S35 self-propelled gun is designed to destroy tactical nuclear weapons, artillery and mortar batteries, tanks and other armored vehicles, anti-tank weapons, manpower, air defense and missile defense systems, command posts, as well as to destroy field fortifications and impede the maneuvers of enemy reserves in the depths of their defense . On May 9, 2015, the new self-propelled howitzer 2S35 “Coalition-SV” was officially presented for the first time at the Parade in honor of the 70th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

According to estimates by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the 2S35 self-propelled gun is 1.5-2 times superior to similar systems in terms of its range of characteristics. Compared to the M777 towed howitzers and M109 self-propelled howitzers in service with the US Army, the Coalition-SV self-propelled howitzer has a higher degree of automation, increased rate of fire and firing range, meeting modern requirements for combined arms combat.

1

Self-propelled artillery unit on a tracked chassis with a rotating turret. The hull and turret are made of steel armor, providing protection against bullets of up to 14.5 mm caliber and fragments of 152 mm shells. It is possible to use dynamic protection.

The PzH 2000 is capable of firing three rounds in nine seconds or ten in 56 seconds at a range of up to 30 km. The howitzer holds a world record - at a training ground in South Africa, it fired a V-LAP projectile (active-propelled projectile with improved aerodynamics) at a range of 56 km.

Based on all the indicators, the PzH 2000 is considered the most advanced serial self-propelled gun in the world. The self-propelled guns have earned extremely high ratings from independent experts; Thus, Russian specialist O. Zheltonozhko defined it as a reference system for the present time, which all manufacturers of self-propelled artillery systems are guided by.