What can be cooked from squid: fast and tasty

During the Second World War, Fried.Krupp AG, in cooperation with many dozens, if not hundreds, of other German firms manufactured two 800-mm railway artillery mounts, known as Dora and Schwerer Gus-tav 2. They are the largest artillery pieces throughout the history of mankind and are unlikely to ever lose this title.

The creation of these monsters was largely provoked by pre-war French propaganda, which colorfully described the power and impregnability of the defenses of the Maginot line, built on the border between France and Germany. Since German Chancellor A. Hitler planned to cross this border sooner or later, he needed appropriate artillery systems to crush the border fortifications.
In 1936, during one of his visits to Fried.Krupp AG, he asked what should be a weapon capable of destroying the control bunker on the Maginot line, the existence of which he had learned shortly before from reports in the French press.
The calculations presented to him soon showed that in order to break through a seven-meter-thick reinforced concrete ceiling and a meter-long steel slab, an armor-piercing projectile weighing about seven tons was needed, which suggested the presence of a barrel with a caliber of about 800 mm.
Since the shooting had to be carried out from a distance of 35000-45000 m, in order not to fall under the blows of enemy artillery, the projectile had to have a very high initial velocity, which is impossible without a long barrel. A gun with a caliber of 800 mm with a long barrel, according to the calculations of German engineers, could not weigh less than 1000 tons.
Knowing A. Hitler’s craving for gigantic projects, the Fried.Krupp AG firms were not surprised when, “at the urgent request of the Fuhrer,” the Wehrmacht Arms Department asked them to develop and manufacture two guns with the characteristics presented in the calculations, and to ensure the necessary mobility, it was proposed place it on the rail transporter.

	800 mm gun 80 cm K. (E) on a railway transporter

Work on the realization of the Fuhrer's wishes was started in 1937 and carried out very intensively. But due to the difficulties that arose when creating, first of all, the gun barrel, the first shots from it were fired at an artillery range only in September 1941, when the German troops dealt with both France and its “impregnable” Maginot line.
Nevertheless, work on the creation of a heavy-duty artillery mount continued, and in November 1941, the gun was no longer fired from a temporary carriage mounted at the training ground, but from a regular railway transporter. In January 1942, the creation of an 800-mm railway artillery mount was completed - it entered service with the specially formed 672nd artillery battalion.
The name Dora was assigned to the gunners of this division. It is believed that it came from an abbreviation of the expression douner und doria - "damn it!", which everyone who saw this monster for the first time involuntarily exclaimed.
Like all railway artillery installations, Dora consisted of the gun itself and the railway transporter. The length of the gun barrel was 40.6 calibers (32.48 m!), The length of the rifled part of the barrel was about 36.2 calibers. The barrel bore was locked by a wedge gate equipped with a hydraulic drive with a crank.
The survivability of the barrel was estimated at 100 shots, but in practice, after the first 15 shots, signs of wear began to be detected. The mass of the gun was 400,000 kg.
In accordance with the purpose of the gun, an armor-piercing projectile weighing 7100 kg was developed.
It contained "only" 250.0 kg of explosives, but the thickness of its walls was 18 cm, and the massive head was hardened.

This projectile was guaranteed to pierce an eight-meter ceiling and a meter-long steel plate, after which the bottom fuse detonated the explosive charge, thus completing the destruction of the enemy bunker.
The initial speed of the projectile was 720 m / s, due to the presence of a ballistic tip made of aluminum alloy on it, the firing range was 38,000 m.
High-explosive shells weighing 4800 kg were also fired to the cannon. Each such projectile contained 700 kg of explosives and was equipped with both a head and a bottom fuse, which made it possible to use it as an armor-piercing high-explosive projectile. When fired with a full charge, the projectile developed an initial velocity of 820 m/s and could hit a target at a distance of 48,000 m.
The propellant charge consisted of a charge in a cartridge case weighing 920 kg and two cartridge charges weighing 465 kg each. The rate of fire of the gun was 3 rounds per hour.
Due to the large size and weight of the gun, the designers had to design a unique railway transporter that occupied two parallel railway tracks at once.
On each track there was one of the parts of the conveyor, which in design resembled the conveyor of a conventional railway artillery installation: a welded box-shaped main beam on two balancers and four five-axle railway carts.

Thus, each of these parts of the conveyor could move independently along the railway tracks, and their connection with transverse box beams was carried out only at the firing position.
After assembling the conveyor, which was essentially the lower machine tool, an upper machine was installed on it with a cradle with an anti-recoil system, which included two hydraulic recoil brakes and two knurlers.
Following this, the gun barrel was mounted and the loading platform was assembled. In the tail section of the platform, two electrically driven lifts were installed to supply shells and charges from the railway track to the platform.
The lifting mechanism placed on the machine had an electric drive. It provided guidance of the gun in the vertical plane in the range of angles from 0° to +65°.
There were no mechanisms for horizontal aiming: railway tracks were built in the direction of firing, onto which the entire installation was then rolled. At the same time, shooting could only be carried out strictly parallel to these paths - any deviation threatened to turn the installation over under the influence of a huge recoil force.
Taking into account the unit for generating electricity for all electric drives of the installation, its mass was 135,000 kg.
For the transportation and maintenance of the Dora installation, a set of technical means was developed, which included a power train, a maintenance train, an ammunition train, handling equipment and several technical flights - up to 100 locomotives and wagons with a staff of several hundred people. The total mass of the complex was 4925100 kg.
Formed for the combat use of the installation, the 672nd artillery battalion of 500 people consisted of several units, the main of which were headquarters and firing batteries. The headquarters battery included computing groups that made all the calculations necessary for aiming at the target, as well as a platoon of artillery observers, in which, in addition to conventional means (theodolites, stereotubes), infrared technology, new for that time, was also used.

In February 1942, the Dora railway artillery was placed at the disposal of the commander of the 11th Army, who was tasked with capturing Sevastopol.
A group of staff officers flew to the Crimea in advance and chose a firing position for a gun in the area of ​​​​the village of Duvankoy. For the engineering preparation of the position, 1,000 sappers and 1,500 workers were forcibly mobilized from among the local residents.

	Projectile and charge in the sleeve of the 800-mm gun K. (E)

The protection of the position was entrusted to a guard company of 300 fighters, as well as a large group of military police and a special team with guard dogs.
In addition, there was a reinforced military chemical unit of 500 people, designed to lay a smoke screen for camouflage from the air, and a reinforced air defense artillery battalion of 400 people. The total number of personnel involved in servicing the installation was more than 4,000 people.
The preparation of the firing position, located at a distance of about 20 km from the defensive structures of Sevastopol, ended in the first half of 1942. At the same time, a special access road 16 km long had to be laid from the main railway line. After the completion of the preparatory work, the main parts of the installation were submitted to the position and its assembly began, which lasted a week. When assembling, two cranes with diesel engines with a capacity of 1000 hp were used.
The combat use of the installation did not give the results that the Wehrmacht command had hoped for: only one successful hit was recorded, which caused an explosion of an ammunition depot located at a depth of 27 m. In other cases, a cannon shell, penetrating into the ground, pierced a round barrel with a diameter of about 1 m up to 12 m deep. At the base of the barrel, as a result of the explosion of a warhead, the soil was compacted and a drop-shaped cavity with a diameter of about 3 m was formed. several guns of smaller caliber.
After the capture of Sevastopol by German troops, the Dora installation was transported near Leningrad to the Taitsy station area. The same type of installation Schwerer Gustav 2 was also delivered here, the production of which was completed in early 1943.

After the beginning of the operation by the Soviet troops to break the blockade of Leningrad, both installations were evacuated to Bavaria, where in April 1945 they were blown up when American troops approached.
Thus ended the most ambitious project in the history of German and world artillery. However, if we consider that only 48 shots were fired at the enemy out of both 800-mm railway artillery mounts, this project can also be considered the most grandiose mistake in planning the development of artillery.

10

The Archer self-propelled guns use the chassis of a Volvo A30D with a 6x6 wheel arrangement. The chassis is equipped with a diesel engine with a capacity of 340 horsepower, which allows you to reach speeds on the highway 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 were damaged, then the ACS can still move for some time.

A distinctive feature of the howitzer is the absence of the need for additional calculation numbers for loading 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, command posts, as well as to destroy field fortifications and impede the maneuvers of enemy reserves in the depth of his defenses. 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 are talking with the help of intercom equipment 1V116 for seven subscribers. External communication is carried out using the R-173 VHF radio station (range up to 20 km).

The additional equipment of self-propelled guns includes: automatic 3-fold action PPO with control equipment 3ETs11-2; two filtering units; self-digging system mounted on the lower frontal sheet; TDA powered by the main engine; system 902V "Cloud" for firing 81-mm smoke grenades; two tank degassing devices (TDP).

8 AS-90

Self-propelled artillery mount 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 by them in combat during the Iraq War.

7 Krabs (based on AS-90)

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

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

6 M109A7 "Paladin"

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

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

5PLZ05

The ACS turret is welded from rolled armor plates. Two four-barreled blocks of smoke grenade launchers were installed on the frontal part of the tower to create smoke screens. A hatch for the crew is provided in the aft part of the hull, which can be used to replenish ammunition while supplying ammunition from the ground to 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 guns. 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 ammunition is located in the turret. It consists of 30 rounds of 155 mm caliber and 500 rounds 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 Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. It replaced the obsolete self-propelled guns Type 75.

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

3

The K9 Thunder self-propelled guns were 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 signed a contract with 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, Turkey 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 in the Nizhny Novgorod Central Research Institute "Burevestnik". SAU 2S35 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 prevent maneuvers of enemy reserves in the depths of his defense . On May 9, 2015, the new 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled howitzer was officially presented for the first time at the Parade in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

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

1

Self-propelled artillery mount on a tracked chassis with a rotating turret. The hull and turret are made of steel armor, which provides protection against bullets of up to 14.5 mm caliber and fragments of 152 mm shells. The possibility of using dynamic protection is provided.

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

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

Do you know what kind of troops are respectfully called the "god of war"? Of course, artillery! Despite the development over the past fifty years, the role of high-precision modern receiver systems is still extremely large.

The history of development

The "father" of guns is considered to be the German Schwartz, but many historians agree that his merits in this matter are rather doubtful. So, 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 have not been used before. By the way, most references to such weapons can be found in old English manuscripts, and not at all in German primary sources. So, especially noteworthy in this regard is the rather well-known treatise On the Duties of Kings, which was written to the glory of Edward III.

The author was a teacher to the king, 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 focus only on the subtext. So, one of the illustrations depicts, without a doubt, a real cannon, reminiscent of a large vase. It is shown how a large arrow flies out of the neck of this “jug”, shrouded in clouds of smoke, and a knight stands at a distance, having just set fire to gunpowder with a red-hot rod.

First appearance

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

In the era, these tools were already massively used against the walls of which by that time they were no longer such an effective means of protection for the besieged.

chronic stagnation

So why did the ancient peoples not conquer the whole world with the help of the "god of war"? It's simple - cannons of the early 14th century. and 18th c. little different from each other. They were clumsy, unnecessarily heavy, and provided very poor accuracy. No wonder the first guns were used to destroy walls (it's hard to miss!), As well as to shoot at large concentrations of the enemy. In an era when enemy armies marched at each other in colorful columns, this also did not require high accuracy of cannons.

Do 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 sample rate so that the cannonballs inflicted at least some damage on enemy fortresses. Of course, this fact reflected frankly badly on the reliability of the guns. There were many cases when nothing was left of the artillery crew as a result of a cannon explosion.

Other reasons

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

Do not forget about the calibers of artillery pieces: in those years they were calculated both based on the diameter of the used cores 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 hindered the development of the industry.

The main varieties of ancient artillery systems

Now let's look at the main types of artillery pieces, which in many cases really helped to 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 guns:

• Guns caliber from 7 to 12 inches.
• Periers.
• Falconets and minions ("falcons").
• Portable guns with breech loading.
• Robinets.
• Mortars and bombards.

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

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

Rarely found an ancient artillery piece with a caliber of more than 12 inches. The most commonly used 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 carefully looked through this table and saw a musket there, do not be surprised. so called not only those clumsy and heavy guns that we remember from films about musketeers, but also a full-fledged artillery gun with a long barrel of small caliber. After all, it is very problematic to imagine a “bullet” weighing 400 grams!

In addition, you should not be surprised at the presence of a stone thrower on the list. The fact is that, for example, the Turks, even in the time of Peter, used cannon artillery with might and main, firing cannonballs carved from stone. They were much less likely to pierce through enemy ships, but more often they caused serious damage to the latter from the very first salvo.

Finally, all the data that is given in our table is approximate. Many types of artillery pieces will remain forever forgotten, and ancient historians often did not understand 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, as it seemed, was forever frozen in its development. However, things quickly changed. As with many innovations in military affairs, the idea belonged to the officers of the fleet.

The main problem of cannon artillery on ships was the severe limited space, the difficulty of performing any maneuvers. Seeing all this, Mr. Melville and Mr. Gascoigne, who was in charge of his production, managed to create an amazing cannon, which historians today know as the "caronade". There were no trunnions (mounts for the gun carriage) on its trunk at all. But on it there was a small eye, into which a steel rod could be inserted easily and quickly. He firmly clung to the compact machine gun.

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

Modern artillery systems

As we already noted at the very beginning of our article, in the modern world, artillery 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 the barrel and jet systems on the battlefield. By no means! The invention of high-precision GPS/GLONASS-guided projectiles makes it possible to state with certainty that the "natives" of the distant 12-13th century will continue to keep the enemy at bay.

Barrel and rocket artillery: who is better?

Unlike traditional barrel systems, rocket launchers practically do not give tangible returns. This is what distinguishes them from any self-propelled or towed gun, which, in the process of being brought into a combat position, must be fixed and dug in as firmly as possible on the ground, since otherwise it may even tip over. 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, they can change their combat position in a few minutes. In principle, such vehicles can fire even when moving, but this affects the accuracy of the shot badly. The disadvantage of such installations is their low accuracy. The same "Hurricane" can literally plow 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 volley of one howitzer with a "smart" projectile is capable of destroying anyone in one attempt, while a battery of rocket launchers may require more than one volley. In addition, a “Smerch”, “Hurricane”, “Grad” or “Tornado” at the time of launch cannot be detected except by a blind soldier, since a noble cloud of smoke forms in that place. But in such installations, one projectile can contain up to several hundred kilograms of explosive.

Cannon artillery, due to its accuracy, can be used to fire at the enemy at the moment he is close to his own positions. In addition, a barreled self-propelled artillery gun is capable of counter-battery fire, doing this for many hours. The barrels of volley fire systems wear out rather quickly, which does not contribute to their long-term use.

By the way, in the first Chechen campaign, Grads were used, which managed to fight in Afghanistan. The wear of their barrels was such that the shells sometimes scattered in unpredictable directions. This often led to the "covering" of their own soldiers.

The best multiple rocket launchers

Artillery guns of Russia "Tornado" inevitably take the lead. They fire shells of 122 mm caliber at a distance of up to 100 kilometers. In one volley, up to 40 charges can be fired, which cover an area of ​​up to 84,000 square meters. The power reserve is no less than 650 kilometers. Together with the high reliability of the chassis and the speed of movement 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 MLRS 9K51 "Grad", infamous after the events in the South-East of Ukraine. Caliber - 122 mm, 40 barrels. It shoots at a distance of up to 21 kilometers, in one run it can “process” an area of ​​​​up to 40 square kilometers. 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 caliber of 227 mm, but only six rails spoil the impression of the installation somewhat. The range of the shot is up to 85 kilometers, at one time it is possible to cover an area of ​​67 square kilometers. The speed of movement is up to 85 km / h, the cruising range is 600 kilometers. Well-established in the land campaign in Afghanistan.

The fourth position is occupied by the Chinese installation WS-1B. The Chinese did not waste time on trifles: the caliber of this awesome 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 MLRS Pinaka. 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 in the course of numerous Indian-Pakistani conflicts.

guns

This weapon has gone far from its ancient predecessors, who dominated the fields of the Middle Ages. The caliber of guns that are used in modern conditions ranges from 100 (anti-tank artillery gun "Rapier") to 155 mm (TR, NATO).

The range of projectiles used by them 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 guns are much cheaper.

mortars

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

In most of the armed forces of the world, the combat doctrine for mortars considers them as artillery pieces for mounted firing at a distance of about a kilometer. The effectiveness of the use of this weapon in urban conditions and in the suppression of 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 tool both for and for countering it.

Modern mortars, like other barreled artillery, are now developing in the direction of increasing the accuracy of each shot. So, last summer, the well-known weapons corporation BAE Systems for the first time demonstrated to the world community high-precision mortar rounds of 81 mm caliber, which were tested at one of the British training grounds. It is reported that such ammunition can be used with all possible efficiency in the temperature range from -46 to +71 ° C. In addition, there is information about the planned production of the widest range of such shells.

The military pins special hopes on the development of high-precision mines of 120 mm caliber 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 the crews of Stryker armored vehicles in Iraq and Afghanistan, where the new ammunition showed its best side.

But the most promising today are the development of guided missiles with active homing. So, 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. Given the cheapness of the gun itself, such developments are expected to be of interest to the military around the world.

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

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

"Colossal" masters the stratosphere

On the morning of March 23, 1917, Paris came under a sudden artillery attack. The front was far from the city, and no one could expect this. Three German guns installed in the Lana region fired 21 shells that day, 18 of them fell in the French capital. The French soon put one of the guns out of action, 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, neglected many issues of artillery. It was not only the lack of heavy large-caliber guns among the belligerents. 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 nearest and deepest rear - command and control and supply points, communication lines, warehouses, and reserves. To defeat all this, long-range artillery was required. And since the firing range of ground guns did not exceed 16-20 km, naval guns transferred to the land fronts went into action. To sailors, the importance of range was obvious. The existing dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts 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, by giving the projectile a high initial speed, make it fly most of the way in the stratosphere, where air resistance is much less than at the Earth's surface. F. Rauzenberger took up the development of the gun at the Krupp company.

A composite 21-cm pipe with a threaded channel and a smooth muzzle was mounted in the bored barrel of a 38-cm naval gun (in Germany, then, the calibers were indicated 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, which weighed one and a half times more than the projectile itself (196.5 kg of gunpowder per 120 kg of projectile). The guns of those years rarely had a barrel length of more than 40 calibers, but here it reached 150 calibers. True, in order to exclude the curvature of the barrel under the influence of its own weight, it was necessary to hold it with cables, and after the shot, wait two or three minutes until the vibrations stop. The installation was transported by rail, and at the position it was placed on a concrete base with an annular rail that provided horizontal guidance. In order for the projectile to enter the stratosphere at an angle of greatest range - 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 ballistic calculations even had to take into account the rotation of the Earth.

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

The created cannon became known under the name "Colossal" - such a definition was liked to be used in Germany. However, in the literature it was called both “Kaiser Wilhelm’s gun”, and “Paris cannon”, and - erroneously - “Big Bertha” (this nickname was actually worn by a 420-mm mortar). Since only naval guns had experience in servicing long-range guns at that time, the Colossal crew was made up of coastal defense commanders.

For 44 days, the Colossal guns fired 303 shells at Paris, of which 183 fell within the city. 256 people were killed and 620 wounded, several hundred or thousands of Parisians fled the city. The material losses from the shelling in no way corresponded to the costs of its implementation. 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.

Fix idea

However, the idea of ​​an ultra-long-range cannon fell into fertile soil. Already in 1918, the French built the so-called "reciprocal gun" of the same caliber - 210 mm with a barrel length of 110 calibers. Her projectile weighing 108 kg at an initial speed of 1,450 m / s was supposed to fly 115 km. The installation was mounted on a 24-axle railway transporter with the ability to fire directly from the track. It was the heyday of railway artillery, the only one capable of quickly maneuvering guns of great and special power (then motor vehicles and the roads on which they moved could not compete closely with railway communication) ... The French, however, did not take into account the fact that the "reciprocal gun" no bridge will survive.

Meanwhile, the Italian firm Ansaldo at the end of 1918 designed a 200-mm cannon with an initial projectile velocity 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 a 109-kg projectile of 1,500 m / s and a range of up to 110-120 km, but they did not begin to implement the project.

Already in the early 1920s, French and German experts justified 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 shoot at strategically important and desirable (due to the dispersion of hits) area targets. These could be enemy concentration areas, administrative and industrial centers, ports, railway junctions. Opponents of superguns reasonably noted that bomber aircraft could well solve the same tasks. To which supporters of ultra-long-range artillery replied 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 also born, and neither fighters nor anti-aircraft guns could interfere with the ultra-long-range gun. The emergence of long-range high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft and the development of ballistic calculation methods gave hope for an increase in the accuracy of ultra-long-range shooting, due to more accurate information about the target's coordinates and the possibility of adjusting the shooting. Since the number and rate of fire of such guns were small, there was no talk of "massive" shelling. The most important in this case was considered the psychological factor, the ability to keep the enemy on their toes with the threat of sudden shelling.

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 the speed, the propellant powder charge is increased: with ultra-long firing, it should have been 1.5-2 times the mass of the projectile. In order for the powder gases to be able to do more work, the barrel is lengthened. And to increase the average pressure in the bore, which determines the speed of the projectile, progressively burning gunpowder was used (in them, as the grain burns out, the surface covered by the flame increases, which increases the rate of formation of powder gases). Changing the shape of the projectile - lengthening the head, 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, the loss of speed due to air resistance can be reduced by increasing the lateral load, that is, the ratio of the mass of the projectile to its largest cross-sectional area. In other words, the projectile in this case must be lengthened. At the same time, it was necessary to guarantee its stability in flight, providing a high rotation speed. There were other specific problems as well. In particular, in long-range guns, conventional copper projectile guide belts often could not withstand very high pressure and could not correctly "lead" the projectile along the rifling of the barrel. They remembered the polygonal (in the form of an oblong prism twisted by a screw) shells that Whitworth experimented with in the 1860s. After the First World War, the prominent French artilleryman Charbonnier transformed this idea into projectiles with ready-made projections (“rifled”), the shape of which repeated the rifling of the bore. Experiments with polygonal and "rifled" shells began in a number of countries. It was possible to lengthen the projectile up to 6-10 calibers, and since the energy costs for forcing and friction were less than with the leading belts, it was possible to obtain long ranges even with heavier projectiles. In the second half of the 1930s, it was considered quite probable "that in the near future there will be guns with a caliber of 500-600 mm, firing at a distance of 120-150 km." 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 issues of ultra-long-range firing was one of the main tasks of the Commission for Special Artillery Experiments, created in 1918 in the RSFSR. Chairman of the Commission, the famous artilleryman V.M. Trofimov proposed a project for an ultra-long-range gun back in 1911. Now he had the theoretical foundations of firing at ranges up to 140 km ready.

It was expensive to create giant guns of Soviet Russia, and not really necessary. More interesting seemed "ultra-long" shells for existing naval guns, which could be placed 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. For a long time they experimented with sub-caliber shells. A long-range sub-caliber projectile was offered 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 projectile of the Berkalov system “flew” 90 km to the naval gun. In 1937, due to the combination of a barrel drilled up to 368 mm, a 220 mm projectile weighing 140 kg, a “belt” pallet and a gunpowder charge of 223 kg, it was possible to obtain an initial velocity of 1,390 m/s, which ensured a range of 120 km. That is, the same range as that of the German "Colossal" was achieved with a heavier projectile, and most importantly - on the basis of a gun with a barrel length of only 52 calibers. It remained to solve a number of problems with the accuracy of shooting. Work was also underway on "star" pallets with prefabricated ledges - the combination of the ideas of prefabricated ledges and a detachable pallet seemed promising. But all work was interrupted by the Great Patriotic War - the designers faced more pressing tasks.

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

Ultra-range or super-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 of missiles being developed to carry mail or interplanetary messages was in fact just a cover for military work, the results of which could "radically change the methods of warfare." The French engineer L. Damblian, for example, proposed a project 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 has already been carried out on a ballistic missile with a range of up to 275 km. Since 1937, the A4 rocket, which became better known to the world under the name V-2, was brought to mind at the Peenemünde test center.

On the other hand, the enthusiasts of interplanetary communications did not leave the "artillery" ideas of Jules Verne. In the 1920s, the German scientists M. Valle and G. Oberth proposed to shoot a projectile towards the Moon, having built 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 did not go beyond sketches and calculations.

There was another tempting direction to achieve super-ranges and super-heights - the replacement of the energy of powder gases with electromagnetic energy. But the complexity of implementation turned out to be much greater than the expected benefits. The “magnet-fugal” gun of the Russian engineers Podolsky and Yampolsky with a theoretical flight range of up to 300 km (proposed as early as 1915), the solenoid guns of the French Fachon and Villone, 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 schemes are still only experimental laboratory facilities. The fate of research instruments turned out to be destined for "super-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 the guided "weapon of retaliation" in the form of projectiles and ballistic missiles was being prepared, long-range artillery was working on British territory.

The Germans, who once hit Paris with the Colossal cannon, in 1937-1940 created two 21-cm K12 (E) railway artillery installations. Built by Krupp, the installation 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 railway artillery of large and special power. The barrel was kept from deflection 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 the Pas de Calais, in November one of them was already shelling the areas of Dover, Folkestone and Hastings. For this installation, a 310-mm smooth barrel and a feathered projectile were also developed. It was expected that this combination would provide a range of 250 km, but the project did not leave the experimental stage. One 21 cm K12(E) mount was captured in 1945 by the British in Holland.

The British, in turn, had been shelling the occupied French territory since August 1940 from fixed coastal installations in St. Margaret Bay, Kent. Two 356-mm naval guns, nicknamed "Winnie" and "Pooh", worked here. Both could throw shells weighing 721 kg at a distance of 43.2 km, that is, they were long-range. To fire on German positions near Calais, the British pulled up three 343-mm railway installations to Dover with a firing range of up to 36.6 km. It is said that an experienced 203 mm cannon was also used, nicknamed "Bruce". Indeed, at the beginning of 1943, one of the two experimental 203-mm "high-speed" Vickers-Armstrong guns with a barrel length of 90 calibers was mounted 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 distance 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.

As early as 1878, the French engineer Perrault proposed a "theoretical cannon" scheme in which several powder charges were placed in separate chambers along the barrel and ignited as the projectile passed. Having achieved the exact ignition time of the charges, it would be possible to significantly increase the initial velocity of the projectile without raising the maximum pressure much. In 1879, the Americans Lyman and Haskel tested the idea, but with the advent of smokeless powders, such complex schemes were sent to the archives. The multi-chamber gun 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 weapon in the form of a long smooth pipe with additional charging chambers located along the barrel in a herringbone pattern. A feathered projectile of high elongation was supposed to fly at a distance of 165-170 km. Tests of the gun, encrypted as a "high pressure pump", were carried out in the Baltic near Mizdrow. And in September 1943, for firing at London in the Calais region, they began to build two stationary batteries of 25 guns, but only managed to assemble one. The protracted "finishing" of the gun and projectile, as well as British air raids, forced the work to stop in July 1944. It was reported that the Germans also planned to bombard Antwerp and Luxembourg with guns of this type.

Gun plus rocket

Even during the First World War, it was proposed to supply the projectile with a small jet engine that works during the flight. Over time, this idea was embodied in "active-rocket projectiles."

So, during the Second World War, due to the active-rocket projectile with a detachable pallet, the Germans decided to give ultra-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 projectile of 245 kg, of course, carried less explosives than the regular one of 255 kg, but the firing range of 87 km made it possible to shell cities on the south coast of England from Calais or Boulogne. It was also planned to install a smooth 31 cm barrel on the K5 (E) installations under the 12 cm caliber feathered projectile developed by the research center in Peenemünde with a detachable pallet washer. With an initial speed of 1,420 m/s, such a projectile weighing 136 kg was supposed to have a flight range of 160 km. Two experimental 38-cm installations were captured by the Americans in 1945.

Projectiles were also offered, receiving the main part of the 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 projectile used a relatively small expelling charge and a thin-walled barrel. The charge was supposed to tell 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 projectile was launched at a distance - in different versions - up to 60 or up to 94 km. True, the scheme did not promise good accuracy, since the shortcomings of uncontrolled jet propulsion inevitably manifested themselves.

The most powerful

Let's digress from the "ultra-long-range" and take a look at the "heavy duty" guns. Moreover, the development of heavy artillery since the beginning of the First World War also assumed an increase in the destructive effect of the projectile.

In 1936, Krupp began developing a heavy-duty cannon 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 and explode in their thickness. The development was led by E. Muller (who had the nickname Muller-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 gun was assembled in 1941, the Maginot Line, like 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 smuggle the installation through Spain. And this did not meet either the carrying capacity of the Spanish bridges or 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 shell the famous Soviet 305-mm coastal batteries No. 30 and No. 35 and the fortifications of the besieged Sevastopol, which by that time had already repelled two assaults.

The Dora high-explosive 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 hoists served to supply shells and charges. The gun 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 needed to assemble the gun moved along the outer tracks. The position occupied a section with a length of 4,120-4,370 m. The preparation of the position and the assembly of the gun lasted from one and a half to six and a half weeks.

The actual calculation of the gun was about 500 people, but with a security battalion, a transport battalion, two ammunition trains, an energy train, a field bakery and a commandant's office, the number of personnel per installation increased to 1,420 people. The colonel commanded the calculation of such a weapon. In Crimea, "Dora" was also given a military police group, 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. A group of engineers was sent from Krupp with 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. each. By the way, the Germans also used two 60-cm self-propelled mortars of the Karl type against the fortifications of Sevastopol.

From 5 to 17 June "Dora" fired 48 shots. Together with field tests, this exhausted the resource of the barrel, and the gun was taken away. Historians still argue about the effectiveness of shooting, but they agree that it did not correspond to the colossal size and cost of the installation. Although it must be admitted that in a purely technical sense, the 80-cm railway installation was a good design work and a convincing demonstration of industrial power. Actually, such monsters were created as a visible embodiment of power. Suffice it to recall that the main success of the heroes of the Soviet comedy "Heavenly slug" was the destruction of a certain German supergun (albeit a stationary one).

The Germans wanted to transfer the Dora to Leningrad, but did not have time. They tried to make the Dora also ultra-long-range - for use already in the West. To this end, they resorted to a scheme similar to Damblyan's project - they intended to launch a three-stage rocket projectile from the gun barrel. But things did not go beyond the project. As well as the combination of a 52-cm smooth barrel for the same installation and an active-rocket projectile with a flight range of 100 km.

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

Mentioning Leningrad, one cannot fail to say that during the blockade there was a fierce confrontation between artillery, including railway, coastal and stationary installations. In particular, the most powerful of the Soviet guns, the 406-mm B-37 naval gun, worked 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. Well-known designers M.Ya. took part in the development. Krupchatnikov, E.G. Rudnyak, D.E. Brill. On the eve of the war, the 406-mm cannon was mounted on the MP-10 test site at the Scientific and Testing 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 the Soviet troops in the Nevsky, Kolpinsky, Uritsko-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 station, which was used by the Nazis as a fortification. Cannon shots also had a strong psychological effect on the enemy.

The appearance of nuclear charges in the post-war period made it necessary to reconsider the attitude towards "heavy duty" artillery. When the nuclear charge was able to be “packed” quite compactly, artillery of conventional calibers became super-powerful.

Building "Babylon"

Projects for ultra-long-range guns continued to appear after the Second World War. In 1946, a project of a 562-mm gun on a self-propelled and railway installation was discussed in the USSR. An active-rocket projectile weighing 1,158 kg was fired from a relatively short barrel with a flight range of up to 94 km. A direct connection with the 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, would reach a range of 127.3 km at an initial velocity of 1,300 m/s. 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 Exploration Program"), which used the ideas of Vern, Oberth and von Pirke. In 1961, in the era of general "rocket mania", in different parts of America and the Caribbean, guns converted from naval guns were installed - for experimental firing 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 satellite prototype - to an altitude of 180 km. The experimenters were also convinced of the ability to shoot at a distance of 400 km. But in 1967, HARP was covered - low-earth orbits were already successfully mastered with the help of rockets.

Bull took up more "mundane" projects. In particular, his small firm Space Research Corporation worked to improve the ballistic performance of field artillery guns in NATO countries. Bull worked for South Africa, and for Israel, and for China. Perhaps the "diversity" of the customers ruined the scientist. Both the Mossad and the Iraqi special 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 of the feature film "The Doomsday Cannon".

It is believed that Saddam Hussein ordered Bulle to develop the Iraqi ultra-long-range gun shortly before the end of the Iran-Iraq war to fight Iran, bearing in mind the possibility of shelling Israel. However, officially the cannon was "served" as part of the space theme - as a cheap means for launching satellites into orbit.

The caliber of the supergun was 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. Among the various versions of the Big Babylon device, there were also a multi-chamber cannon, and a two- or three-stage rocket projectile fired from the cannon barrel. Gun parts were ordered under the guise of equipment for oil pipelines. The proof of concept was allegedly carried out on a 350 mm caliber, 45 m long prototype "Little Babylon" built in Jabal Hanrayam (145 km from Baghdad). Shortly after Bulle's assassination, British Customs seized a shipment of precision-made tubes - they were considered parts for the construction of a gun.

After the 1991 Gulf War, the Iraqis showed UN inspectors the remains of what is believed to be the "Little Babylon", then destroyed it. Actually, this is where the story ends. Except perhaps in 2002, when the aggression against Iraq was being prepared, the press resumed talking about "Saddam's supergun" capable of firing projectiles with "chemical, bacteriological and even nuclear" fillings. But during the occupation of Iraq, traces of "Babylon", apparently, were not found, as well as 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 one can easily recruit perpetrators of terrorist attacks or participants in pogroms.

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

ABM systems and a number of treaties that limit the use of missile weapons do not apply to artillery. The corrected projectile of an ultra-long-range gun, compared to a missile warhead, is both a cheaper product and a hard-to-hit target. So in the history of superguns, it may be too early to put an end to it.

Semyon Fedoseev | Illustrations by Yuri Yurov

Everyone knows how great is the importance of artillery in modern combat. The guns are capable of hitting the enemy's manpower, tanks and aircraft, and destroying the enemy, located in open space and in shelters.
At the same time, a number of ordinary people mistakenly attribute all these merits to the cannon, having little idea of ​​what a howitzer is and how they differ. What is the difference between a cannon and a howitzer.

A gun- one of the types of artillery guns with a long barrel and a high muzzle velocity, good range.
Howitzer is a type of artillery gun for mounted firing outside the line of sight of the target from covered positions.

Comparison of guns and howitzers

What is the difference between a cannon and a howitzer? The gun has a long barrel and a high muzzle velocity, which makes it convenient to hit moving objects from it. In addition, the gun is the most long-range of all types of guns. The elevation angle of the barrel of the gun is small, and therefore the projectile flies along a flat trajectory. Such features make the gun very effective in direct fire. When firing fragmentation projectiles, the cannon is good for incapacitating enemy manpower (being at an acute angle to the surface, bursting, the projectile covers a large area with fragments).
The howitzer is mainly used for mounted shooting, while the servants often do not see the enemy. The length of the howitzer barrel is less than that of the cannon, as is the charge of gunpowder, as well as the muzzle velocity of the projectile. But the howitzer has a significant angle of elevation of the barrel, thanks to which it is possible to shoot from it at targets located behind shelters. The howitzer is also financially more profitable: the walls of its barrel are thinner, it requires less metal for production and gunpowder for firing than a cannon. The weight of a howitzer is much less than the weight of a cannon with the same caliber.
The gun is more suitable for defensive actions. The howitzer, on the contrary, is for the offensive - it is capable of sowing panic behind enemy lines, disrupting communications and control, and also creating a barrage of fire in front of its own attacking troops.

What is the difference between a cannon and a howitzer

A cannon is an artillery weapon for flat firing with a high muzzle velocity.
Howitzer - a type of gun for mounted shooting from closed positions.
The barrel of a cannon is longer than that of a howitzer.
The muzzle velocity of a cannon is higher than that of a howitzer.
It is most convenient to hit moving and open targets from a cannon.
The howitzer is designed for mounted firing at covered targets.
The cannon is the most long-range weapon type.
A howitzer is lighter than a cannon with the same calibers, and the charge of gunpowder of its shells is less.
The gun is good on the defensive, the howitzer is good on the offensive.