A field gun is a

field artillery Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20 ...

piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (

), as opposed to guns installed in a fort ( garrison artillery or

coastal artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form o ...

), or to siege cannons and mortars which are too large to be moved quickly, and would be used only in a prolonged siege. Perhaps the most famous use of the field gun in terms of advanced tactics was

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

's use of very large wheels on the guns that allowed them to be moved quickly even during a battle. By moving the guns from point-to-point during a battle, enemy formations could be broken up to be handled by the

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...

or cavalry wherever they were massing, dramatically increasing the overall effectiveness of the attack.

World War I

As the evolution of artillery continued, almost all guns of any size became capable of being moved at some speed. With few exceptions, even the largest siege weapons had become mobile by road or rail by the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and evolution after that point tended to be towards smaller weapons with increased mobility. Even the German super-heavy guns in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

were rail or caterpillar-track mobile. In British use, a ''field gun'' was anything up to around 4.5 inches in calibre, larger guns were ''medium'' and the largest guns were ''heavy''.

World War II

Since about the start of

, the term has been applied to long-range artillery pieces that fire at a relatively low angle, as opposed to howitzers which can fire at higher angles. Field guns also lack a specialized purpose, such as anti-tank or coastal artillery. By the later stages of World War II the majority of artillery in use was either in the form of howitzers of 105 mm to 155 mm, or in form of hybrid anti-tank/field guns that had high enough muzzle velocity to be used in both roles. The most common field guns of the era were the British 5.5 inch, the American 155 mm Long Tom (a development of a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

World War I weapon) and the Soviet BS-3 - an artillery piece adapted from a naval gun and designed to double up as an anti-tank weapon. One of the most produced field guns during the war was the Soviet 76 mm ZiS-3 with over 103,000 produced. The ZiS-3 could be used in direct fire against armored vehicles, direct fire in infantry support, and indirect fire against distant targets.

1960s and 1970s

The U.S. Army tried the long-range gun again from the early 1960s to the late 1970s with the M107 175 mm gun. The M107 was used extensively in the Vietnam War and proved effective in artillery duels with the North Vietnamese forces. It was considered a high-maintenance item and was removed from service with U.S. forces after a rash of cracked barrels. Production of the M107 continued until 1980 and the gun is still in service with the Israeli military. Reserve stocks are held by other former users such as the People's Army of Vietnam.

Modern times

Since the 1980s and 1990s, the field gun has been rarely used in combat. The class of small and highly mobile artillery has been filled with increasing capacity by the man-portable mortar in 60 or 81 mm/82 mm calibre and has replaced every artillery piece smaller than 100 mm. Gun-howitzers fill the middle ground, with the world rapidly standardizing on either the 155 mm

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

or 152 mm Russian (former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

) standards. The need for a long-range weapon is filled by

rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entire ...

missile In military terminology, a missile is a missile guidance, guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously ...

s, and

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

. Modern gun-artillery such as the L118 105 mm light gun or the M119 105 mm howitzer are used to provide fire support for infantry and armour at ranges where mortars are impractical. Man-packed mortars lack the range or hitting power of gun-artillery. In between is the rifled towed mortar; this weapon (usually in 120 mm calibre) is light enough to be towed by a truck or SUV, has a range of over 7.5 km and fires a projectile comparable in destructive power to a 152 mm/155 mm artillery shell.

References

External links

Field Gun Image Gallery - Royal Naval Museum's Sea Your History website

Pictures of Vickers field guns
* The Royal Navy's field gun competition
Portsmouth Action Field Gun - civilians in Portsmouth still running the ex-Royal Navy Command Field Gun run

COMMAND100 - Centenary of Inter Command Field Gun
{{DEFAULTSORT:Field Gun Cannon Field artillery