Artillery. Types of modern artillery Artillery guns

Artillery, from (fr. artiller- “to place”) or (lat. arcus- “bow” and lat. tellum- "arrow") or (lat. ars- “art” and lat. tollendi- “throwing”) or (Italian. arte- “art” and Italian. tirare- “shoot”) - a type of firearm with a caliber of more than 20 mm, unsuitable for hand-carrying by one person during battle, as well as a branch of the military whose weapons are artillery pieces and the science that studies artillery equipment and the tactics of its use.

Story

Arabic modfa

The first mention of firearms dates back to China, where in 1132 the use of a “fire spear” (Chinese 火槍) was recorded - a primitive hand-held arquela, which consisted of a bamboo barrel closed on one side, into which gunpowder was poured, and then small stones were added as shells. Later in the Arab armies appeared modfs(Arab. مدفع‏‎ ), which had a metal barrel attached to a wooden butt. In the 12th-13th centuries, these weapons came to Europe, where they were divided into handguns and artillery. The first artillery guns had barrels made of forged sheets rolled into tubes, so their manufacture was associated with significant difficulties, and the guns had a small caliber. However, with the development of technology, artillery pieces with one-pound shells appeared by the end of the 13th century. In Russian cities, they were used as serf weapons. mattresses(tour. tüfäk- tube), the first field siege guns were called reinforcements(lat. arma- weapons) and unicorns.

As metallurgy and metalworking improved, the tactical and technical characteristics of artillery grew, but its use for a long time was limited to the siege of fortifications. In the 14th century, “thunder tubes” (ital. cannuncole), which were used against the Anjou fleet, and began to be used on Hanseatic ships culverins(fr. couleuvre- snake-like) and bombards(fr. bombarde- buzz). Later, the culverins were transformed into light cannons, and the bombards into heavy howitzers. The main difference between culverins and bombards was the presence of trunnions, which made it possible to install these guns on carriages or pin stops. The bombards were placed in wooden blocks with a stop at the breech and did not have the ability to aim.

Unification and systematization of early artillery

Ship's culverin from the 16th century

As artillery developed with the introduction of fine-grained gunpowder and the improvement of metal casting methods, the need arose to standardize artillery guns and their charges. First of all, this concerned small tools of mass production. In the navy, the need for standardization was most acute, since the use of piece-made shells for each gun reduced the combat effectiveness of naval artillery and the carrying capacity of ships. The appearance of cast iron cannons in the 15th century, and mobile artillery in the 16th century also required the introduction of unification to reduce convoys and simplify repair and transportation. Cast iron cores had a significant advantage over stone ones, but their production had to have a limited range. For convenience, weight standards for cast iron cores were adopted, which also regulated the parameters of the propellant charge and the internal diameter of the barrel.

The first attempts to standardize artillery date back to the 16th century. In France, King Henry II tried to introduce the "six French calibers". On September 26, 1526, King Francis I issued a decree on the royal artillery, which began to be implemented in 1552. According to the standard, all guns were divided into 6 groups: cannon (French. cannon), large culverin (fr. grande couleuvrine), side culverin (fr. сouleuvrine bâtarde), half-coulevrine (fr. couleuvrine moyenne), falcon (fr. faucon) and falconette (fr. fauconneau). Similar standards existed in other countries, for example, in Spain there was a division into 12 types, and in England - into 16.

As artillery developed, changes also occurred in the design of guns, depending on their purpose. Spanish military engineer Luis Collado (Spanish) Luis Collado) in 1592, he distinguished three types of artillery, which had three main tasks: the destruction of enemy personnel, the destruction of fortress walls and the sinking of the enemy fleet. Thus, there was a division into relatively light cannons for firing grapeshot, heavy siege weapons for firing cannonballs and universal naval guns.

Gradually, each type of artillery developed its own classification system. In the navy, depending on their purpose, a division was used into the following main types of guns: half-gun, culverin, half-culverin, carronade and bomb gun. Additionally, a classification was introduced based on the weight of the cannonball used in pounds, which most often was 68, 42, 36, 32, 24, 18, 12, 9, 8 and 6 pounds. In some cases, non-standard projectiles, increased or decreased in weight, were used, as well as classification according to the weight of the gun itself, which was important for organizing their movement. Since the weight of the cast iron core determined the internal diameter of the barrel, it became possible to install universal calibers (fr. caliber), that is, the diameters of the gun barrel. In Europe, the term “caliber” in relation to artillery appeared in 1546 thanks to the mathematician Georg Hartmann (German). Georg Hartmann), who developed a prismatic tetrahedral ruler, on one face of which units of measurement were applied, on the other three - dimensions depending on the weight in pounds of iron, lead and stone cores. Thanks to the Hartmann scale, it became possible to easily assemble and manufacture both various types of projectiles and gun barrels. By converting the standard weights of cast iron cannonballs into their diameter, a standard for designating guns, expressed in length measures, emerged.

Since many parameters of guns depend not only on the caliber of the shells, but also on the length of the barrel, an additional characteristic has appeared that characterizes the ratio of the length of the barrel to its caliber. Thus, a standard designation for the caliber of a gun arose, expressed in mm or inches and indicated through a slash to the ratio of barrel length to caliber, for example the designation 16"/50 Mark 7 stands for 16 inch (406 mm) gun with a barrel length of 20320/406 = 50.0, seventh model.

Development of artillery in the 17th-19th centuries

Basilisk

With the advent of regular armies and the growing combat role of artillery, the formation of this type of troops began at an accelerated pace. In the 17th century, separate artillery regiments were formed, and garrison artillery units were formed in the fortresses. Corresponding changes are also taking place in the navy, where artillery is becoming a determining factor in the design of warships. In the 18th century, the Prussian king Frederick the Great began the formation of horse artillery, which was highly mobile and served as a prototype for the creation of field artillery. In his army, Napoleon completely abandoned the artillery assigned to infantry regiments, completely separating it into separate batteries. Thanks to this, it was possible to achieve effective control on the battlefield and simplify supply and movement.

In the 19th century, artillery was divided into foot, horse, siege, fortress and sea. Each type began to receive special types of guns, ammunition and ammunition. In addition, depending on the specialization, the structure of units and methods of their formation, as well as the features of officer training, changed. With the advent of rifled and muzzle-loading guns, existing caliber restrictions virtually disappeared, and the firing range reached such values ​​that visual observation and adjustment became difficult. The last two factors necessitated the development of technical means that would allow both to expand the boundaries of the review, and to obtain accurate data on the necessary correction and make calculations for shooting in a short time.

The first artillery guns had extremely low accuracy, and the rate of fire for heavy guns was several shots per day. In addition, the durability of the barrel did not allow more than a few dozen shots to be fired without the threat of its destruction. Loading was done from the muzzle side, which took quite a lot of time. Experiments with breech loading, which made it possible to increase the rate of fire, began in the 16th century. This loading option made it possible to use internal threading in the barrel, which gave the projectile rotation when fired, which increased its stability in flight and increased the accuracy and firing range due to the gyroscopic effect. However, due to a number of problems that could not be eliminated at that time, such weapons did not become widespread.

Field hose in Golub-Dobrzyn

The transition to rifled and muzzle-loading guns occurred in the 19th century. To a certain extent, this was a necessary measure, since the advent of rifled hand weapons, which had an aimed firing range of more than 500 m, allowed shooters to destroy gun crews during reloading. The main problem in creating rifled guns was the reduced durability of the rifling. If handguns used soft lead bullets that crushed against the rifling when fired and did not damage the barrel, then cannonballs were cast from cast iron or steel, so the rifling was destroyed in a few shots. In 1845, Italian army major Cavalli designed and built a breech-loading cannon that had two grooves along the entire length of the barrel. The Cavalli cannon shell was equipped with two copper lugs that fit into the rifling. This design made it possible to achieve the required obturation and twist the projectile as it moved along the barrel. Already the first tests showed results unattainable for smoothbore artillery: at a distance of 5 km, the deflection of the projectile was only 5 meters. Later, more advanced barrel rifling systems were developed, which used different shapes and numbers of rifling. The transition to rifled barrels was the reason for the abandonment of round cores in favor of elongated projectiles, which could be equipped with guide protrusions.

Gun 178 mm/14 RBL 7 inch 110 pounder Armstrong

The main disadvantage of breech-loading guns was the lack of a simple and reliable bolt that allowed for quick reloading and provided sufficient sealing when fired. Because of this, muzzle-loading rifled guns became widespread for some time. Their use as naval artillery was complicated by the need to roll the guns away from the embrasures for reloading, which took a lot of time, required significant effort and forced re-aiming after each reload. The use of special carriages and mechanized platforms slightly improved the situation, but radical improvements could only be achieved with the transition to breech loading.

The simplest screw bolt, which was a screw that was turned from the breech of the barrel, first appeared in the 17th century, but did not become widespread. Later, the design of the screw bolt was improved and it began to be widely used on medium and large caliber guns. An alternative to the screw bolt was the wedge bolt, which allowed for a higher rate of fire. The use of breech loading and coating of projectiles with lead solder to preserve barrel rifling served as the starting point for another revolution in artillery. Its next stage was the appearance of unitary shots, recoil devices and smokeless powder.

Once upon a time there lived a woman and she had a son - stupid and with a speech impediment. Down, in short. Every morning she walked him to the bus stop to send him to school.
But one day she got tired of it and she told him:
- Son, it’s time for you to go to school yourself. You are already 18 years old after all.
- Hmmm, mmm. Hodofsho.
- So you will go to the bus stop alone. When you see the bus, you wave your hand for it to stop, get on it and go to school.
- Hodofo, mmam.
And then a bus comes and Daun waves his hand and shouts “Aftobush, Aftobush!”, but... the bus passes by. Do not stop.
Down in tears goes home to complain. Mother:
- It’s okay, I’ll write a note to the teacher, and tomorrow you will go to school. Just get out close to the road so the bus can see you. Otherwise he probably didn’t notice you and drove past.
Well, the next morning, Down does just that: he goes out to the road, waves his hand, shouts “Aftobush! Aftobuf!” but the "aftobush" flies past him at full speed, without even thinking about stopping. Down is in a trance. He goes home to complain.
Mother to him:
- Don’t be upset, son, I’ll write the teacher a note and she will understand. But tomorrow you definitely have to go to school! And so that he sees you, as soon as you notice him, go out onto the road so that he will definitely stop.
Well, that’s what Down does: he sees a bus coming. He jumps out onto the road, waves both hands and shouts “Aftobush! Aftobush!” But the “aftobush” is not going to slow down, but rather increases the gas and hits the guy at full speed....
...Police, ambulance. A woman standing at a bus stop yells to the bus driver:
- What have you done?!! You absolutely killed the boy!!!
Then the bus doors open and the driver says:
- Is he a tease?

In modern combat, artillery has to solve a wide variety of problems. You have to shoot at targets, living and inanimate, open and closed, moving and stationary, ground and air, and at the same time in different combat situations, at different ranges. Such a variety of tasks that artillery must solve makes it necessary to have different types of artillery in the army.

Based on fire power and purpose, modern artillery is divided into light, heavy, high-power and special. The latter, in turn, is divided into anti-tank, self-propelled and anti-aircraft.

The main purpose of light artillery is to continuously support troops in battle and fight against those targets that prevent troops from carrying out their combat missions. This artillery moves along with the troops, not lagging behind them a single step. It is clear that light artillery guns must be small, light, and mobile - after all, they must continuously support the advance of troops, and therefore they have to be rolled onto the battlefield by human forces and, moreover, placed hidden behind small folds of terrain even close to the enemy.

Rice. 357. 76-mm gun model 1942

A sample of a light artillery piece is shown in Fig. 357, and a light mortar - in Fig. 358.

Light artillery guns can quickly provide assistance to advancing rifle units and support them with their fire. If, for example, our advancing infantry suddenly comes under fire from a camouflaged enemy machine gun, it will be possible to immediately point out this machine gun to the commander of the gun, which is moving along with the advanced infantry units. By firing direct fire, the gun will very quickly silence the enemy's machine gun.

And if the infantry did not have such a weapon, they would have to call fire from a battery standing in a closed position, explain where the target is, and then wait for the battery to find the target, aim and hit it. In these cases, a light weapon in the advanced infantry units is more useful than an entire battery standing in a closed position.

If infantry operates in the mountains, then to support its actions it is necessary to have even lighter and more mobile artillery. In Fig. 359 you see a 76mm mountain gun.

This weapon can not only be moved on wheels, but also disassembled into parts and transported on packs.

Rice. 358. 82mm mortar

To operate together with cavalry, light 76-mm cannons are used, the gun crew of which moves on horseback.

In modern combat there is often a need to destroy targets that cannot be destroyed by light artillery shells. In addition, artillery has to fire at targets located at such a great distance that light artillery guns cannot reach them with their shells.

Rice. 359. 76mm mountain gun

It is clear that to destroy such targets, heavy, long-range guns with more powerful projectiles are needed.

Such weapons include, for example, a 152-mm howitzer-gun (Fig. 360).

Rice. 360, 152 mm howitzer gun

But in battle there are also such strong defensive structures that even the power of heavy artillery shells is insufficient to destroy them. In order to strengthen heavy artillery and help it accomplish its assigned tasks, especially when breaking through a fortified enemy defense line, high-power guns are assigned.

One of the samples of such tools is shown in Fig. 361.

It is known that from the very first days of the Second World War, the warring armies threw a huge number of tanks into battle. A wide variety of means were used to fight tanks: anti-tank

guns, anti-tank and hand grenades, incendiaries, anti-tank mines and various anti-tank obstacles. Aviation also fought successfully against tanks.

Rice. 361. 203 mm high power howitzer

But the most reliable means of destroying tanks is anti-tank artillery, specifically designed to quickly and reliably destroy tanks.

Anti-tank guns have a high rate of fire, and their shells have great penetration. There are anti-tank guns of different calibers; in Fig. 362 shows one of them - a 57 mm anti-tank gun.

Rice. 362. 57 mm anti-tank gun

In battles with the Nazi invaders during the Great Patriotic War, Soviet anti-tank guns successfully fought against enemy tanks and self-propelled guns; in particular, in the battle of Kursk alone, over three days of fighting in the Belgorod direction, over one and a half thousand different tanks were destroyed and knocked out, including more than a hundred heavy tanks of the "Tiger" type with a frontal armor thickness of more than 100 millimeters and self-propelled guns of the "Ferdinand" type with a frontal armor thickness of about 200 millimeters. Most of the tanks and self-propelled guns were destroyed by anti-tank gun fire.

Self-propelled artillery is of great importance in battle.

Thanks to its great mobility, good cross-country ability and fire power, self-propelled artillery successfully fights against enemy fire weapons, its tanks and armored vehicles, paving the way for its advancing troops.

Rice. 363. 76mm self-propelled gun

Self-propelled guns (Fig. 363 and 364) have reliable armor protection, so they can get close to targets and destroy them from a short distance.

Soviet self-propelled artillery fully demonstrated its excellent combat qualities in battles with Nazi tanks and self-propelled guns.

Anti-aircraft artillery is intended to combat airborne enemies. Aircraft flying at low altitudes are fired upon by small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery - 37-mm automatic cannons (Fig. 365), which have a high rate of fire.

To combat aircraft at high altitudes, medium-caliber artillery is used - 76 and 85 mm anti-aircraft guns (Fig. 366).

Rice. 364. 152 mm self-propelled howitzer-gun

During the Great Patriotic War, our anti-aircraft artillery destroyed tens of thousands of enemy aircraft that tried to attack our ground troops and bomb our military installations and populated areas.

Currently, not only infantry and cavalry, but also other types of troops cannot do without artillery.

Rice. 365. 37mm automatic anti-aircraft gun

While armored forces operate side by side with infantry or cavalry, they can still receive artillery support from them, but when operating independently, for example in the event of a front breakthrough or a deep raid, they require their own artillery. They need artillery to fight the enemy's anti-tank guns, his artillery, powerful enemy tanks and, finally, enemy aircraft.

The air fleet, when it is on the ground - at airfields - also needs artillery protection. Anti-aircraft artillery must protect it from enemy air raids, anti-tank artillery - from enemy mechanized units that have broken through.

Even the artillery itself often needs not only the help of other branches of the military, but also the help of artillery. Powerful heavy artillery, areas where a large number of batteries are concentrated, marching artillery columns - all this must be protected from enemy attack by anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery fire.

Rice. 366. 85 mm anti-aircraft gun

But artillery penetrates into all branches of the military, not only in the form of special artillery units.

Now tanks, armored cars, armored trains, and airplanes are armed with artillery guns, not to mention the Navy, where artillery guns have long been the most important part of the armament of large ships.

So, we can rightfully say that in our time artillery is needed by all branches of the military without exception.

In this section you can get acquainted with various types of artillery, both domestic and created in other countries. We have prepared materials about the history of creation and characteristics of various weapons, their combat use. You will be able to get acquainted with the main trends in the development of modern world artillery.

Artillery is a branch of the military that uses relatively large-caliber firearms to destroy enemy manpower, its technical means and material objects. Artillery troops appeared in Europe in the 13th century. The first artillery pieces were distinguished by their large weight and size and were used to storm enemy cities. Only several centuries later did military artillery begin to be used during land battles.

Around the same period, artillery began to be used in naval battles, and soon guns became the main weapon of warships. Only in the last century did the role of cannons in naval battles begin to decrease; they were replaced by torpedo and missile weapons. However, even today artillery pieces are in service with almost any warship.

Russian artillery appeared somewhat later; the first memories of it go back to the 14th century. The first information about the manufacture of artillery pieces in Russia dates back to the 15th century. Regular Russian artillery units appeared already in the era of Peter the Great.

In the middle of the 19th century, a real revolution took place in artillery - rifled and breech-loading guns appeared, which increased the efficiency of the use of artillery and turned this type of military into one of the main ones on the battlefield. A little later, unitary ammunition for artillery guns was developed, which significantly increased their rate of fire.

The “finest hour” of artillery was the First World War. Most of the losses in this conflict were caused by artillery fire. Artillery was used especially widely by opponents in major conflicts. During this war, new types of guns were widely used: mortars, bomb throwers, and the first examples of anti-aircraft artillery appeared.

The importance of artillery increased further during World War II. The role of mortars and anti-tank artillery has increased significantly, and new types of artillery weapons have appeared: rocket artillery and self-propelled artillery units (SPG). On our website you will find information about the most famous examples of Soviet and German artillery of that time.

We have collected information about the best self-propelled guns of that period, including Soviet and German self-propelled guns.

During the same period, missile weapons began to develop rapidly, including anti-aircraft systems. Development of such weapons continued after the end of the conflict. Today, air defense systems are the basis of the air defense of any country in the world. Russia has enormous achievements in this area, which it inherited from the Soviet period.

Our country can develop and produce anti-aircraft missile systems of any modifications, designed to destroy air targets at different distances. Russian air defense systems are the most famous brand on the global arms market. Modern anti-aircraft missile systems are capable of destroying air targets at distances of hundreds of kilometers, and can even shoot down ballistic warheads and satellites. In this section you can learn about the latest air defense systems, both domestic and those created by designers from other countries, as well as the latest trends in the development of this type of weapon.

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 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 the 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.