How does artillery gun work

Mortars have usually smooth barrels, so the mortar projectiles have tail fins that stabilize the projectile in flight. A weapon is gun artillery piece , if it's BIG.

The minimum caliber of a gun is 20 mm, and it needs two men to operate it. The guns are divided into different groups by it's intended use field guns, coastal guns, antiaircraft guns, antitank guns, naval guns etc. The range of a gun is affected by its caliber and especially the length of the barrel. The longer the barrel is, the higher muzzle velocity is achieved.

The size of the barrel is the largest single reason for the weight of the gun. The caliber of the gun, and the length of the barrel is used to divide guns into different classes; cannons, howitzers and mortars.

In Finland, the guns are classed as follows;. The cannons fire usually with a flatter trajectory than howitzers. The mortars are relatively light weapons as they are intended to operate on lower firing pressures than conventional artillery pieces cannons and howitzers and thus don't need as strong heavy barrels. This makes them extremely useful in rugged terrain and as infantry support weapons, as light up to about 70 mm and medium mortars usually 81 or 82 mm are man portable.

The short barrel and lower firing pressure restricts the maximum ranges of mortars to much shorter than the ranges of other artillery pieces. It also makes them less accurate, but as the projectile is inserted by dropping down the barrel from the muzzle, the rate of fire is high. The simple construction of mortars makes them also relatively inexpensive compared to heavier cannons or howitzers.

Basic definitions and general data. The shell itself has different parts, which generally are: The cartridge case , which holds the propellant charge and the projectile. All artillery shells don't have cartridge cases, instead the projectile and the propellant charge are loaded "separately", inserting first the projectile and then the propellant charge. The separate loading, mentioned earlier, is used generally with large caliber guns as it gives the chance to reduce muzzle velocity of the projectile by increasing or decreasing the amount of the propellant charge, thus affecting the range.

The fuse , which detonates the explosive charge or filler inside the projectile. The primer , which detonates the propellant charge. The different possible damage or effect types are generally pressure, splinter, shock, concussion and psychological. The amount and type of the blast effect depend mostly on the shape, structure and the caliber of the projectile. The kinetic energy of the projectile to say it simple; the higher the velocity of the projectile is at the moment of impact, the higher the kinetic energy , the blast of the explosive filler causing a pressure wave , the splinters that fan out from the body of the projectile, and even the volume of sound of the blast, are all common ways in what the blast cause damage in the target.

Note that the "side cones" visible in this picture are in fact a part of the same cone, spraying a belt of splinters vertically from the axis of the shell. Projectile fragmentation. In general, when the explosive filler blow up, the detonating wave converts the explosive filler to gases which in turn exerts extremely high pressure on the inner surface of the projectile. The projectile expands until the critical stress for failure is reached. This is called fragmentation effect.

These fans or cones are the "forward cone", the "side cone" and the "base spray" backwards. The aperture of these cones, and the amount of the splinters in them, depend mostly on the shape of the projectile the body of the projectile , and the shape of the explosive filler inside the projectile.

The direction of the splinters are affected by the velocity and the speed of rotation at the moment when the projectile explodes. The shells fired by mortars, are usually drop-shaped, giving the side cone an aperture of over 50 degrees.

The forward cone has usually more fragments than the base spray. But, if you want to cut down hordes of infantry or shred tents and wooden buildings, you want to maximize lethal shrapnel dispersion.

The British studied the problem and recommended the rounds go off at 30 feet above the surface. This was traditionally accomplished with timed rounds; the fire direction center did all the math to figure out how long it would take the round to fly and then set the times for when the rounds was near 30 feet off the ground.

But the fuses were imperfect and the math was tricky, so the U. So, how do poor Joe and Josephine Snuffy try to survive the steel rain? Well, by minimizing their susceptibility to the three effects. Firing from trenches or fox holes can take your chances down to under 5 percent, and lying or crouching in those same trenches or foxholes can get you into the 2-percent range.

Walking or driving through the trees can drastically increase your chances of survival since most shrapnel can make it through one inch of wood or less — but watch out for falling limbs. The blast waves and shrapnel damage can knock massive branches off of trees and drop them onto troops. This maximizes the amount of destruction done before the targets can rush for cover or hop into trenches. Leaping off a height of over 10 floors is no easy feat, but overcoming your fear of heights will leave D-mnit Carl!

Everyone hates "Carl. Marines carry rounds for an M howitzer during an exercise in Australia on August 8, Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Daniel Wetzel Well, the actual story is much more complicated. Army photo by Spc.

Scott Linblom The least common cause of death and injury is the heat wave, where the sudden increase in temperature causes burns on flesh or starts fires. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Keeler When it hits flesh, the shrapnel shreds the tissue it passes through, just like a bullet. Marines Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Daniel Wetzel But shrapnel still carries a lot of momentum from its flight. Army photo by Sgt.

The following is a possible breakout of ammunition that would be available to an artillery unit. Ammunition 2S1. Haul capacity includes the weapons on-board storage and the carrying capacity of trucks organic to the unit. Generally, haul capacity is 2. Units could also receive additional transportation support from division and army-level assets if required by the situation. Other types of ammunition are allocated to meet specific mission requirements.

A unit of fire is a logistical calculation for resupply of ammunition and does not imply any specific types of ammunition. At battalion level, a unit of fire only applies to high volume ammunition such as HE-Frag, ICM, and the extended range version of these rounds. Other ammunition types, such as PGMs, scatterable mines, chemical, illumination, and smoke are handled on a special basis.

These munitions are issued only as needed to fulfill specific missions or resupply expended stocks. Thus, there are "standard" and "special" units of fire. A "special" unit of fire will have "killing" rounds but will also include specialized ammunition.

Ammunition distribution can be used to influence the battle. This not only means the amount but also the types of ammunition supplied. The main effort may not only receive more ammunition than the supporting effort, but it may also receive a higher percentage of improved munitions than the supporting effort.

Conversely, the supporting effort will likely have a higher percentage of HE-Frag ammunition. Modern conventional fire support means, especially precision weapons, approach the destructive effect of low-yield nuclear weapons. A precision weapon is one capable of delivering guided conventional munitions with a to percent probability of destroying enemy targets with a first-round hit within range of the weapon delivery system. This capability is possible only by employing precision munitions that have a guidance or homing element.

The presence of the precision munition transforms a weapon into a precision weapon. However, a precision weapon system must also incorporate a target acquisition and tracking subsystem and a missile or projectile guidance subsystem. The fielding of precision munitions provides distinct advantages for a tube artillery unit.

First, tube artillery units are capable of firing at individual targets to include pinpoint targets such as tanks, infantry fighting vehicles IFVs , or field fortifications with a high probability of a first-round kill.