The Canon de 105 mm modèle F1 (or CN-105-F1) is a French 105 mm

tank gun A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. Modern tank guns are high-velocity, large-caliber artilleries capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high-explosive anti-tank, and cannon-launched guided projectiles. Anti-aircraft guns can ...

used with the AMX-30.

History

The CN 105 F1 was designed at the end of the 1950s by the arsenal of

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, ...

(EFAB) under the project name D1512, its development was completed in 1962 and the gun was registered as 105 Mle 62 (an abbreviated version of ''105 mm 1962 Model'') which in turn took the designation of CN 105 F1 after being fitted with its armored gun mantlet. As the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed Force ...

was relying on the OCC 105 F1 (''obus G'') as main as its only armor-piercing ammunition at that time, the rifling of CN 105 F1 gun barrel was given a relatively slow twist of one turn in 25 calibers to minimise the spin imparted to the

HEAT In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

projectile, but this made it unsuitable for firing APDS, although compatible with all other types of

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 ...

105×617mm 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length ...

ammunition such as

APFSDS Armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS), long dart penetrator, or simply dart ammunition, is a type of kinetic energy penetrator ammunition used to attack modern vehicle armour. As an armament for main battle tanks, it succeeds ...

, the OFL 105 F1 being the first French-made APFSDS and was fielded in November 1981.

Design

The CN 105 F1 is a monoblock steel cannon protected from bending with a magnesium alloy thermal sleeve.Ogorkiewicz, p. 8 The F1 is fitted with a semi-automatic vertical sliding wedge breechblock, though fitted without a muzzle brake. Unlike the similar L7 tank gun, the F1 uses a compressed air scavenging system instead of a bore evacuator. The recoil mechanism uses two symmetrically opposed hydraulic brake cylinders with a single hydropneumatic recuperator cylinder.Source: www.army-guide.com/eng/product519.html — although the site is blacklisted for unknown reasons. An electrical firing system is fitted.

Additional specifications

*Factory designation: D1512 *Total length: 5.9 m *Rifling length: 5.263 m *Rifling twist: 7°,10' right hand *Number of grooves: 32 *Recoil mechanism: two symmetrically opposed hydraulic brake cylinders *Recuperator: single hydropneumatic recuperator cylinder *Recoil length: 385 mm *Maximum recoil length: 400 mm *Recoil force: 23 t *Weight, overall: 2470 kg *Recoiling gun mass: 1980 kg Source:

Variant

A shorter barrel version designated D1504 was fitted to Israeli M51 Shermans and locally known as the CN 105 D1, some of which have been sold to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

. The gun saw extensive combat use in the 1967 Six Days War and the 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Eg ...

, scoring many victories in engagements with Syrian and Egyptian forces. In order to fit in the T23 turret of the M51, a larger muzzle brake was added to reduce the recoil length. Argentina also produced a version of this gun, similar to the Israeli version, for use on their Repotenciado upgrade of ex-British Sherman Firefly tanks, known locally as the L44/57 FTR 105 mm. Although these tanks still had the original smaller Sherman turret, the extended Firefly bustle gave enough space for the recoil within a limited elevation arc, but left a very cramped turret. Ammunition was sourced from Fabricaciones Militares.

Gallery

File:AMX-30 gun img 2352.jpg, Breech File:AMX-30 gun img 2354.jpg, Cut-away of the gun tube, showing the rifling File:Proiettile AMX-30 105mm.jpg, French OFL 105 F1 105 mm APFSDS

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:105 Mm Modele F1 Cold War weapons of France Tank guns of France 105 mm artillery Military equipment introduced in the 1960s