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G5 Howitzer
The G5 is a South African towed howitzer of 155 mm calibre developed in South Africa by Denel Land Systems. The G5 design was based on the Canadian GC-45 155mm gun which was highly modified to suit southern African conditions. Production history During the Angolan Bush War, the South African Defence Force found itself at a disadvantage when facing opponents equipped with long-range Soviet Katyusha rocket launchers, which outranged South Africa's World War II-era 5.5-inch (140 mm) howitzers by a considerable margin. This led to the issue of a staff requirement for a new artillery system as well as ammunition systems, gun tractor, fire control equipment and a fire control computer system. From 1963, South Africa had been placed under a United Nations sponsored anti-apartheid arms embargo that led to the creation of the indigenous Armscor military-industrial company to circumvent the arms embargo and to produce weapons systems uniquely tailored to South Africa's needs. Armscor ...
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Howitzer
A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like other artillery equipment, are usually organized in a group called a battery. Howitzers, together with long-barreled guns, mortars, and rocket artillery, are the four basic types of modern artillery. Mortars fire at angles of elevation greater than 45°, and are useful for mountain warfare because the projectile could go over obstacles. Cannons fire at low angles of elevation (<45°), and the projectile lands much faster at its target than it would in the case of a mortar. But the cannon is not useful if there is an obstacle like a hill/wall in front of its target.


Etymology

The English word ''howitzer'' comes from the Czech word , from , 'crowd', and is in turn a borrowing from the Middle High German word or (mode ...
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Soltam M-71
The M-71 is a 155 mm 39 caliber towed howitzer manufactured by Israeli company Soltam Systems. Design The weapon was based on the earlier Soltam M-68 and uses the same recoil system, breech and carriage but had a longer gun barrel (39 calibre versus 33 calibre of M-68). It is fitted with a compressed air-driven rammer to permit rapid and easy loading at all angles of elevation as well as having a rechargeable battery mounted on the right trail for auxiliary power. It can fire a high-explosive shell up to a maximum range of at a muzzle velocity of . Deployment In addition to Israel, this weapon is in service with Chile, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, South Africa, Slovenia and Myanmar. A version of this weapon was developed to mount on a modified Centurion chassis (M-72), but this vehicle never reached production. Operators * *: 8 *: 60 howitzers used by the Chilean Army, 36 Soltam M-68s acquired in the 1970s later upgraded to Soltam M-71 standard and 24 Soltam M-71 ...
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T-72
The T-72 is a family of Soviet/Russian main battle tanks that entered production in 1969. The T-72 was a development of the T-64, which was troubled by high costs and its reliance on immature developmental technology. About 25,000 T-72 tanks have been built, and refurbishment has enabled many to remain in service for decades. It has been widely exported and has seen service in 40 countries and in numerous conflicts. The T-90 introduced in 1992 is a development of the T-72B; production and development of various modernized T-72 models continues today. Development Development from the T-64 The T-72 was a product of a rivalry between design teams. Morozov KB was led by Alexander Morozov in Kharkiv. Uralvagon KB was led by Leonid Kartsev in Nizhny Tagil. To improve on the T-62, two designs based on the tank were tested in 1964: Nizhny Tagil's Object 167 (T-62B) and Kharkiv's Object 434. Ob. 434 was a technically ambitious prototype. Under the direction of Morozov in Kharkiv, a ...
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Oman
Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Oman shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, while sharing Maritime boundary, maritime borders with Iran and Pakistan. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast, and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The Madha and Musandam Governorate, Musandam exclaves are surrounded by the United Arab Emirates on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz (which it shares with Iran) and the Gulf of Oman forming Musandam's coastal boundaries. Muscat is the nation's capital and largest city. From the 17th century, the Omani Sultanate was Omani Empire, an empire, vying with the Portuguese Empire, Portuguese and British Empire, British empires for influence in the Persian Gulf and Indian ...
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United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula and shares borders with Oman and Saudi Arabia, while having maritime borders in the Persian Gulf with Qatar and Iran. Abu Dhabi is the nation's capital, while Dubai, the most populous city, is an international hub. The United Arab Emirates is an elective monarchy formed from a federation of seven emirates, consisting of Abu Dhabi (the capital), Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. Each emirate is governed by an emir and together the emirs form the Federal Supreme Council. The members of the Federal Supreme Council elect a president and vice president from among their members. In practice, the emir of Abu Dhabi serves as president while the ruler of Dubai is vice pre ...
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G6 Howitzer
The G6, sometimes denoted as the G6 ''Rhino'', is a South African mine-protected self-propelled howitzer. It was developed as a turreted, self-propelled variant of the G5 howitzer series, mating the gun to a six-wheeled armoured chassis. Design work on the G6 began in the late 1970s to replace the obsolescent Sexton being retired from service with the artillery regiments of the South African Army. Serial production commenced between 1988 and 1999. At the time of its introduction, the G6 was considered one of the most mobile self-propelled howitzers in service. Its chassis was engineered to be mine-resistant and blastproof, allowing it to survive multiple TM-46 detonations during trials. The G6 was conceived as a wheeled rather than a tracked vehicle for this purpose, as well as to allow it to deploy long distances by road without consuming excessive quantities of fuel or requiring a tank transporter. G6s entered service during the last two years of the South African Border W ...
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Four Wheel Drive
Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case providing an additional output drive shaft and, in many instances, additional gear ranges. A four-wheel drive vehicle with torque supplied to both axles is described as "all-wheel drive" (AWD). However, "four-wheel drive" typically refers to a set of specific components and functions, and intended off-road application, which generally complies with modern use of the terminology. Definitions Four-wheel-drive systems were developed in many different markets and used in many different vehicle platforms. There is no universally accepted set of terminology that describes the various architectures and functions. The terms used by various manufacturers often reflect marketing rather than engineering considerations or significant technical diff ...
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Land Systems OMC
Land Systems OMC is a South African company that produces a range of armoured vehicles which have been successfully exported and are in service with, amongst others, the U.S., Canadian and South African militaries. It is a division of Denel SOC LTD, located in Benoni, Gauteng. The OMC segment of the name is the initialism under which the Olifant Manufacturing Co. of South Africa was most commonly known during its existence. The original company was established specifically for the task of creating the Olifant tank for the South African Army. Ownership Reunert OMC's existence as an independent company was short-lived however, and early into its life it was taken over by Reunert, which subsequently turned it into a division called Reumech OMC. It was under this name that OMC saw its most prolific level of vehicle development, as combat operations during the Angolan Bush War necessitated a greater need for vehicle systems capable of being integrated with the very swift, flexible, o ...
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Base Bleed
Base bleed is a system used on some artillery shells to increase range, typically by about 20–35%. It expels gas into the low pressure area behind the shell to reduce base drag (it does not produce thrust). Since base bleed extends the range by a percentage, it is more useful on longer range artillery where an increase of approximately can be achieved. Until the late 1980s the small gains in range were not considered worthwhile for field artillery. Base bleed shells are becoming more common in units equipped with modern artillery with far greater range than older guns, but are usually only used when the longer range is required, due to their higher cost. Function Most (50–60%) of the drag on an artillery shell comes from the nose of the shell, as it pushes the air out of its way at supersonic speeds. Shaping the shell properly can reduce this drag. However, another powerful source of drag is the low-pressure area left behind the shell due to its blunt base. Base blee ...
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Rifling
In firearms, rifling is machining helical grooves into the internal (bore) surface of a gun's barrel for the purpose of exerting torque and thus imparting a spin to a projectile around its longitudinal axis during shooting to stabilize the projectile longitudinally by conservation of angular momentum, improving its aerodynamic stability and accuracy over smoothbore designs. Rifling is characterized by its twist rate, which indicates the distance the rifling takes to complete one full revolution, such as "1 turn in 10 inches" (1:10 inches), "1 turn in 254  mm" ("1:254 mm" or "1:25.4 cm)", or the like. Normally, an experienced shooter can infer the units of measurement from the numbers alone. A shorter distance indicates a faster twist, meaning that for a given velocity the projectile will rotate at a higher spin rate. The combination of length, weight, and shape of a projectile determines the twist rate needed to gyroscopically stabilize it – barrel ...
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Auxiliary Power Unit
An auxiliary power unit (APU) is a device on a vehicle that provides energy for functions other than propulsion. They are commonly found on large aircraft and naval ships as well as some large land vehicles. Aircraft APUs generally produce 115  V AC voltage at 400  Hz (rather than 50/60 Hz in mains supply), to run the electrical systems of the aircraft; others can produce 28 V DC voltage. APUs can provide power through single or three-phase systems. Transport aircraft History During World War I, the British Coastal class blimps, one of several types of airship operated by the Royal Navy, carried a ABC auxiliary engine. These powered a generator for the craft's radio transmitter and, in an emergency, could power an auxiliary air blower. One of the first military fixed-wing aircraft to use an APU was the British, World War 1, Supermarine Nighthawk, an anti-Zeppelin night fighter.Andrews and Morgan 1987, p. 21. During World War II, a number of large Ameri ...
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Poudreries Réunies De Belgique
Poudreries Réunies de Belgique SA (or PRB) was one of Belgium's oldest and largest manufacturers of munitions, once the second-largest Belgium armaments manufacturer. The company indirectly started in 1778 in Wetteren as a gunpowder factory. By its 200th anniversary in 1979 it had 73 factories throughout the world, with the headquarters in Brussels. PRB finally became bankrupt in 1993 after being demilitarised in 1990 with parts sold to the Luchaire Defense SA, part of Giat Industries (now known as AFAIR Société Nouvelle PRB SA) History The history of PRB revolves around its production sites in Belgium. Production was located in 6 sites, Matagne, Clermont, Vivegnis (Wallonia), Mechelen, Kaulille and Balen, with mine related production at Matagne (components), Kaulille (explosives) and Balen (filling). * 1778, Jan-Frans Cooppal established a gunpowder factory at Wetteren. * 1796, Wetteren factory closed by French. * 1815, Wetteren factory restarted after Battle of Waterlo ...
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