Saturday 14 April 2018

The Light Infantry Division:The Field Gun




Photo:U.S. Army photo by PFC Joshua Grenier/Released

The Five and a Half Inch Gun Howitzer shall be the only ballistic artillery system in the British Army's Heavy Cavalry,Medium Infantry and Light Infantry Divisions and the Royal Navy's Royal Marine Division.




Photo:Sgt Si Longworth RLC (Phot) Crown Copyright


Within the Heavy Cavalry Division,the Five and a Half Inch Gun Howitzer shall be mounted on the self propelled Chaplain gun carriage,a variant of the Charger family of Cavalry Heavy ARmoured vehicles.




Photo:U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Richard W. Jones Jr./Released


Within the Medium Infantry,Light Infantry and Royal Marine Divisions,the Five and a Half Inch Gun Howitzer shall be mounted on the towed Field Gun carriage.



Photo:Sgt. Si Longworth R.L.


The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer shall use a manually loaded variable charge system.






The Five and a Half Inch Gun Howitzer shall fire the same family of projectiles as the Five and a Half inch Naval Gun,a heavier barrelled weapon with a charge system designed for use with a mechanical loader.




Photo:P.O. Owen Cooban Crown Copyright


The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer shall fire the same family of projectiles as the Five and a Half Inch Tank Gun,a shorter barrelled weapon with a dual charge system.




Photo:Sgt. Si Longworth R.L.


The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer's High Explosive Extended Range Full Bore projectiles shall weigh one hundred pounds.





The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer's High Explosive Extended Range Full Bore projectiles shall be longer and narrower than equivalent 155mm projectiles and have a significantly higher ballistic coefficient.




Photo:Cpl. Ross Fernie R.L.C. Crown Copyright


The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer's barrel shall have tighter rifling than that of a 155mm weapon to stabilise the longer projectiles.




Photo:United States Army


The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer shall have a larger chamber and longer barrel than a fifty two calibre 155mm weapon,to compensate for the propellant gasses having a smaller bore area to work on.



Photo:GrandLogistics


The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer shall have a range of at least twenty five miles with unassisted Extended Range Full Bore projectiles,further with Base Bleed or more exotic projectiles,this is beyond the performance of 105mm,4.5 Inch,120mm,125mm,5 Inch,130mm,152mm or 155mm weapons.




Photo:L.A.(Phot) Dan Rosenbaum Crown Copyright


Due to their higher ballistic coefficient,a
t any given range,the Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer's high explosive projectiles shall have a shorter time of flight than 100mm,105mm,4.5 Inch,120mm,125mm,5 Inch,130mm,152mm or 155mm high explosive projectiles and hence less windage and target movement resulting in fewer rounds being fired to achieve a given kill probability or a higher kill probability per round fired. 




Photo:Graeme Main Crown Copyright


The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer shall be less vulnerable to location by counter battery radars than 105mm,4.5 Inch,120mm,125mm,5 Inch,130mm,152mm or 155mm weapons due to it's ability to engage at greater distances from enemy radars,the performance of which is range dependent,and it's ability to fire on a flatter trajectory with a shorter radar horizon at any given range.


The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer shall be able to achieve counter battery fire superiority over 100mm,105mm,4.5 Inch,120mm,125mm,5 Inch,130mm,152mm or 155mm weapons as it can engage them from beyond their maximum ranges.


The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer shall be able to achieve counter battery fire superiority over 100mm,105mm,4.5 Inch,120mm,125mm,5 Inch,130mm,152mm or 155mm weapons,even when within their maximum ranges,as it's projectiles have a shorter time of flight at any given range allowing the enemy less time to exit their firing position.



The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer mounted on the towed Field Gun carriage shall be able to emplace or displace in two minutes thereby reducing the range at which enemy counter battery fire may be effective.





Photo:U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Nathan Knapke 

The Five And A Half Inch Gun Howitzer mounted on the towed Field Gun carriage shall normally be towed by the Light Protected Truck or Medium Infantry Vehicle but may also be towed by the Field Car.   



Photo:P.O.(Phot) Si Ethell Crown Copyright

A Super Merlin or Ultra Merlin helicopter shall be able to carry ten gunners internally and a Five and a Half Inch Field Gun,with an eighteen round ammunition Unit Load Container (a total weight of eight long tons),as a sling load to a radius of fifty miles.




A Centaurus aircraft shall be able to air drop eight Field Guns,rigged in pairs,with eighteen rounds of ammunition per gun and up to one hundred and sixty gunners (eighty to a radius of at least four thousand nine hundred and fifty miles). 




Photo:New Zealand Defence Force


The towed Five and a Half Inch Field Gun shall replace the L118 and L119 Light Guns.


Monday 2 April 2018

The Light Infantry Division: The Quarter Inch Rifle

 
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall be the standard personal weapon of the Light Infantry Division,the rest of the British Army,the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines.
 
 
 
The Three Eighths Inch Carbine and Pistol shall be issued in lieu of the Quarter Inch Rifle only where there is a specific need for a weapon which is shorter or lighter or which fires special ammunition types.  
 
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall be:a semi automatic,gas driven weapon;three feet long,of "bullpup" configuration;with a heavy,twenty four inch long,free floating,fluted barrel,with one in seven rifling;ambidextrous controls and ejection;lightweight receiver,reciprocating parts and furniture and an integrated moderator.
 
 
 
The complete Quarter Inch Rifle system shall weigh twenty five pounds and shall include:a Quarter Inch Rifle;sling;cover;moderator;one to eight magnification day scope;clip on thermal imager;non magnetic multitool (bayonet,knife,mine probe,wire cutter etc.) and scabbard;pouches for six magazines;operator's kit (lubricant,cleaning rod,brushes,batteries,dope cards,ballistics tables etc.);seven thirty round polymer magazines and two hundred and ten rounds of quarter inch by two inch ammunition.
 

 
 Photo: Original photo by Pvt. Bob Bailey United States Marine Corps modifications by Grand Logistics 
 
The day scope shall have a red dot reticle in the second focal plane which shall subtend an angle of two minutes of arc (or alternatively one half a milliradian) which is roughly equivalent to the height of a man's head at a quarter mile range or the width of a man's torso at a half mile range and can therefore be used as a crude range finder.
 
 
The day scope shall have variable,between one and eight times,magnification and a grid type reticle in the first focal plane,which is inherently more flexible than a bullet drop compensation reticle. 
 
 
 
The day scope shall be used with the Quarter Inch Rifle,the Three Eighths Inch Carbine,the Three Inch Mortar and the Six Inch Rocket.
 
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall be chambered in the quarter inch by two inch cartridge,five of which shall weigh as much as four 7.62x51mm cartridges or eight 5.56x45mm cartridges.
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall fire a one hundred and fifteen grain* copper and steel bullet with a G7 ballistic coefficient of 0.3 at three thousand feet per second from a twenty four inch barrel with a one in seven twist rate.
 
 
Within a range of a quarter mile,the bullet shall not be more than eight inches above or below the line of sight allowing rapid,point and shoot,engagements at the most common combat ranges.
 
 
 
At a range of half a mile hold over shall be no more than twice a man's height,which is small enough to allow rapid,intuitive adjustment. 
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall exceed the armour penetrating abilities of both 5.56x45mm and 7.62x51mm weapons due to it's higher impact energy,a consequence of superior external ballistic qualities.
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall be able to fire at least one thirty round magazine per minute for at least seven minutes without overheating,at an ambient temperature of at least sixty degrees Celsius.
 
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall replace the L85A2/3 Individual Weapons.
 
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall replace the L86A2/3 Light Support Weapons.
 
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall replace the L98A2 and L103A2 cadet rifles.
 
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall replace the L108A1 and L110A2/A3 Light Machine Guns.
 
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall replace the L96A1 and L118A1 sniper rifles.
 
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall replace the L119A1/A2 carbines.
 
 
 
The Quarter Inch Rifle shall replace the L129A1 Sharpshooter rifles.
 
*This cartridge was originally intended to fire one hundred and twenty grain all copper Ball and copper,titanium and tungsten Armoured Piercing Incediary (A.P.I.) bullets but the one hundred and fifteen grain bullet weight is more suited to cheaper but lower density steel and copper bullets.