G5 (howitzer)
| G5 (howitzer) | |
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| General Information | |
| Military designation: | G5 |
| Manufacturer country: |
 South Africa
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| Developer / Manufacturer: | LIW, later Denel Land Systems |
| Development year: | 1977 |
| Start of production: | 1983 |
| Number of pieces: | 521 (as of 2014) |
| Model variants: | G5 Mk.1 / 2/3, G5-52, G5-2000 |
| Weapon Category: | Field howitzer |
| Team: | 6-8 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Overall length: | 9.50 m (in marching configuration) |
| Pipe length: | 6.98 m |
| Caliber : |
155 mm |
| Caliber length : | L / 45 |
| Weight ready for use: | 13,750 kg |
| Cadence : | 3 rounds / min |
| Elevation range: | -3 ° -75 degrees |
| Side straightening area: | ± 32.5 ° |
| Furnishing | |
| Closure Type : | semi-automatic screw closure |
| Charging principle: | manually |
| Ammunition supply: | manually |
| Drive: | Diesel auxiliary engine with 59 kW |
| Power supply: | Diesel auxiliary engine |
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The G5 is a drawn field howitzer of caliber 155 mm from South African production. The G5 is considered to be one of the best artillery systems of its time.
development
In the 1970s, some of the neighboring countries surrounding South Africa were equipped with Soviet artillery, which exceeded their own artillery in terms of range and rate of fire. Therefore, the South African military considered the procurement of a modern gun to be essential. Since South Africa was subject to a UN arms embargo (UN resolution 282 (1970) of July 23, 1970) due to its apartheid policy , no corresponding gun could be obtained on the international market. Bypassing the arms embargo, the South African state-owned enterprises tied Armaments Corporation of South Africa (Armscor) contacts with the Canadian company Space Research Corporation of Gerald Bull . The GC-45 gun developed by this company was to serve as the design basis for a new South African gun. In cooperation with Lyttelton Engineering Works (today in Denel Land Systems Group ) Gerald Bull began developing the GC-45 in 1977. For this purpose, the gun barrel of the GC-45 was mounted on the M59 mount of the 155 mm Gun M1 .
The resulting first draft was further improved and received, among other things, a modified gun barrel with an increased wall thickness . The barrel brakes , the barrel fetcher , the barrel cradle and the muzzle brake also had to be modified and adjusted. In addition, the carriage was adapted and equipped with an auxiliary engine. The result was a gun that hardly resembled the original design. In addition, in cooperation with the Belgian manufacturer Poudreries réunies de Belgique (PRB), extended-range full-bore bullets for the new gun were developed. After two prototypes had been created, they were tested in Canada and Antigua in 1979 . The two guns were then brought to South Africa and served there as models for series production at Lyttelton Engineering Works (LIW) .
In the production facilities near Pretoria, four pre-series guns were then produced by 1982, which were designated as the G5 Mk.1 . At an international arms fair in Athens in October 1982, South Africa showed modern weapon systems, including the G5 howitzer, at the invitation of the Greek government at the time. The presentation at the Defendory Expo '82 attracted a lot of attention, also because of the sensitive situation with regard to the international arms embargo against South Africa.
The guns of the main series, which went into production from 1983, underwent further adjustments and were designated as the G5 Mk.2 . The first three guns were delivered to the SADF in May 1983 . There they have been called G5 Luiperd ever since . The G5 gun was later used in the G6 and T5 self-propelled guns . In 2015, a G5 gun was priced at $ 576,700.
variants
- G5 Mk.1 : prototypes and pre-production guns.
- G5 Mk.2 : Modified guns of the pilot series .
- G5 Mk.3 : Main series with fire control system and v 0 measuring system for measuring the muzzle velocity .
- G5-52 : Version from 1992 with L / 52 gun barrel . Firing range with V-LAP bullets up to 54 km.
- G5-52 ER (G5-2000) : Prototype from 2002 with L / 52 gun barrel and increased 25 liters - combustion chamber . Firing range with V-LAP projectiles up to 75 km.
technology
The G5 is a conventional cannon howitzer with a power train system. It shows the usual pattern of a four-wheeled spreader carriage with an auxiliary motor for short-term self-propulsion. The G5 weighs 13,750 kg when ready to fire. The length of the G5 varies between 9.50 m in the drawn position and 12.20 m in the ready-to-fire position. The height (due to the gun barrel) is 2.50 m in the drawn position, the ground clearance is 300 mm and the width on the road is 2.50 m.
gun
The gun barrel with 45 caliber lengths is housed on a two-axis carriage with two spreader bars . A diesel auxiliary engine with an output of 59 kW is attached to the front of the carriage . Next to it is a seat with a steering wheel and other controls. The auxiliary motor is used to lift the ends of the bars when uncoupling, to lift the main wheels after lowering the base plate, to steer the support wheels and to lift them when using the tractor, as well as to spread and close the bars. The gun can also be driven into the firing position with the auxiliary motor over short distances at up to 16 km / h . In the barrel cradle , two hydropneumatic barrel brakes and return devices are mounted on the gun barrel. The sighting device is located next to it . Sighting devices are used for direct and indirect shooting . Next to the pipe cradle there is a seat for the gunner . The lateral straightening range in the lower angle group is ± 32.5 °. In the upper group of angles, ± 41 ° is possible. The elevation range is −3 ° to + 75 °. Compared to the international standard, the combustion chamber volume has increased from 21 liters to 23 liters. The combustion chamber has a semi-automatic screw lock . The gun can optionally be equipped with a semi-automatic loading system. The automatic loading system feeds the bullets and places them in the barrel. Then the propellant charges and propellant charge igniters are charged and supplied.
During transport, the bars are folded back and rest on two lowerable and steerable support wheels. In the driving position, the pipe rests against the direction of travel. The two support wheels enable control when using the auxiliary engine. The South African armed forces use to road transport Samil-100 - trucks . The maximum permissible train speed on the road is 90 km / h.
To get the gun ready to fire, the crew of six to eight people needs around two to three minutes (in a prepared firing position). When shooting, the main wheels are raised and the front of the G5 is supported on a shooting platform lowered from the lower mount. At the end of the spars there are two ground spurs that divert the recoil force into the ground. In addition, the recoil is reduced by a single-chamber muzzle brake.
With the G5 comes EMVA Mark-10B -Messanlage for measuring the muzzle velocity , the S700 - Weather Station and the AS-80 - A fire used. More modern G5 versions use the AS-2000 fire control system . A riflescope enables targets to be attacked directly from a distance of up to 5 km.
If the gun is loaded manually, the fastest possible rate of fire is two to three rounds per minute. With the optional automatic loading system, three shots can be fired within 18 seconds . Then six rounds per minute can be fired for three minutes. This means that four guns can bring around 1.4 tons of ammunition to the target within a minute . After that, the rate of fire must be reduced to two shots per minute due to the thermal stress on the gun barrel. While the first guns only had a short barrel life, the current guns have 6,000 rounds (with standard propellant charges).
ammunition
Separately charged ammunition with variable propellant charge bags (zone charges) is used for the G5 . This means that the projectile and the propellant charge are loaded one after the other. In addition to the NATO standard propellant charges, the modular M90 propellant charge system developed by Denel is also used. This consists of the combinable cargo bags M91 (1.8 kg) and M92 (2.6 kg).
The G5 can fire almost all 155mm NATO ammunition . The M107 standard bullet reaches 18 to 24.7 km. The search fuze ammunition SMArt 155 , as well as precision-guided artillery shells such as the Krasnopol-M and the M982 Excalibur can also be used, with which a firing distance of 38 km can be achieved. The M9 family of extended-range full-bore bullets was introduced together with the G5 . With these bullets, shooting distances of 30 km (with ERFB-BT) and 39 km (with ERFB-BB) can be achieved. Under the hot climatic conditions in southern Africa, these ERFB-BB projectiles sometimes exceed the 40 km limit. The ammunition family includes the following projectiles:
- Explosive projectile with 8.6 kg of explosives
- Cargo floor with 42 M85 bombs
- Fog shells with white phosphorus or red phosphorus
- Luminous bullet
- Bullets to target marker that produce colored smoke
- Agitation bullet with leaflets
- Drill and practice bullets.
Since the beginning of the 2000s, Denel and Rheinmetall Denel Munition have introduced the Assegai 155 mm ammunition range with extended-range full-bore bullets from the 2xxx series. This ammunition range also includes the M2005-V-LAP bullet (Velocity-enhanced Long-range Artillery Projectile). This is an ERFB-BB projectile with an additional rocket drive . The aforementioned manufacturer consortium has been offering the improved 9xxx series bullets from the Assegai ammunition range since 2014 . This series includes an improved V-LAP bullet called the M9703 . With the G5 standard version (L / 45) the following shooting distances are achieved:
| Bullet type | description | V 0 | Shooting distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| ERFB-BT | Extended Range Full Bore-Boat Tail With hollow floor at the end of the floor. |
911 m / s | 31.6 km |
| ERFB-BB | Extended Range Full Bore Base Bleed With base bleed glow unit at the end of the projectile. |
908 m / s | 40.5 km |
| V-LAP | Velocity-enhanced Long-range Artillery Projectile ERFB-BB projectile with additional rocket drive . |
912 m / s | 54 km |
Technical data
With the G5-2000 (L / 52) version, the following shooting distances are achieved:
| Bullet type | description | V 0 | Shooting distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| ERFB-BT | Extended Range Full Bore-Boat Tail With hollow floor at the end of the floor. |
995 m / s | 38.4 km |
| ERFB-BB | Extended Range Full Bore-Base Bleed With base-bleed glow unit at the end of the bullet. |
1,015 m / s | 50.1 km |
| V-LAP | Velocity-enhanced Long-range Artillery Projectile ERFB-BB projectile with additional rocket drive. |
1,013 m / s | 76.3 km |
Technical data
War missions
The former South African armed forces used the G5 in the war against Angola and the SWAPO in military operations in Angola . In addition, the gun was used in the First Gulf War and Second Gulf War .
User states
literature
- Denel brochure: Assegai Series 155 mm ERFB & V-LAP Shells. 2014, Denel SOC Ltd.
- International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS): The Military Balance 2016. Routledge Revivals, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2016, ISBN 1-85743-835-3 .
- TJ O'Malley: Modern Artillery Systems. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart, Germany, 1996, ISBN 3-613-01758-X .
- Terry J. Gander, Charles Q. Cutshaw: Jane's Ammunition Handbook, 2001-2002, 10th edition. Jane's Information Group , 2001, ISBN 0-7106-2308-9 .
Web links
- Denel Land Systems website (English)
- The Man Behind Iraq's Supergun - Documentary about the guns of Gerald Bull
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e T. J. O'Malley: Modern Artillery Systems. 1996, pp. 54-55.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Fact file: G5 L45 towed gun-howitzer. In: defenseweb.co.za. Defense Web, accessed January 25, 2017 .
- ↑ United Nations: UN Resolution 282 (1970) of July 23, 1970. at www.documents-dds-ny.un.org (English)
- ↑ a b c d e f G5 155 mm Howitzer. In: forecastinternational.com. Forecast International Inc., accessed January 25, 2017 .
- ^ A b c d e I. B. Greeff: South Africa's Modern Long Tom. In: samilitaryhistory.org. The South African Military History Society, accessed January 25, 2017 .
- ^ AC Lillie: South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 14, No. 2, 1984: South African Artillery in the Eighties. In: scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za. Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, accessed January 25, 2017 .
- ↑ Cactus and Olifant . Reporting in SPIEGEL on October 25, 1982 on www.spiegel.de
- ^ SAIRR: Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1982 . Johannesburg 1983, p. 200
- ↑ a b c Denel brochure: 155 mm Towed / SP Gun-Howitzer. In: web.archive.org. Denel SOC Ltd, archived from the original on February 4, 2007 ; accessed on January 25, 2017 (English).
- ↑ a b c d e Thys Krüger: Leap Ahead - 52 cal Artillery System - Presentation at the International Armaments Technology Symposium - June 16, 2004. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: dtic.mil/. Defense Technical Information Center, archived from the original on December 26, 2016 ; accessed on January 25, 2017 (English).
- ↑ a b Christopher F. Foss : AAD 2016: G5 Howitzer 155 mm artillery system. In: IHS Jane's. youtube.com, September 26, 2016, accessed January 31, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c G5-52. In: army-guide.com. Army Guide, accessed May 22, 2017 .
- ↑ a b G5. In: army-guide.com. Army Guide, accessed January 25, 2017 .
- ^ GC-45. In: military-today.com. Military Today, accessed March 9, 2017 .
- ↑ Raytheon fires Excalibur from G6 self-propelled howitzer. In: raytheon.com. Raytheon Company, December 8, 2012, accessed January 25, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c d Denel Prospectus Assegai Series 155 mm ERFB & V-LAP Shells. 2014
- ↑ Terry J. Gander & Charles Q. Cutshaw: Jane's Ammunition Handbook, 2001-2002. Pp. 297-305
- ^ Rheinmetall sets three new distance records for indirect fire in South Africa. In: edrmagazine.eu. European Defense Review, November 27, 2019, accessed December 4, 2019 .
- ↑ G5. In: army-guide.com. Army Guide, accessed January 25, 2017 .
- ↑ a b c Trade Register at sipri.org , accessed January 25, 2017
- ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies: The Military Balance 2016. 2016, p. 328.
- ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies: The Military Balance 2016. 2016, p. 468.
- ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies: The Military Balance 2016. 2016, p. 475.