A recoilless gun or recoilless rifle (RCL) is a lightweight form of weapon that allows the firing of a heavier projectile than would be practical with a recoiling weapon. A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons Technically, only devices that use a rifled barrel are recoilless rifles. Rifling refers to the Helix -shaped pattern in the barrel of a Firearm, which imparts a spin to a Projectile around its long axis Smoothbore variants (those devoid of rifling) are termed recoilless guns. Smoothbore refers to a Firearm or Cannon which does not have a rifled barrel. This distinction is often lost, and both are often called recoilless rifles.
Normally used for anti-tank roles, the first effective system of this kind was developed during World War II. Anti-tank refers to any method of combating military Armored fighting vehicles notably Tanks The most common anti-tank systems World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Recoilless rifles are capable of firing artillery-type shells at a range and velocity comparable to that of a normal light cannon, although they are typically used to fire larger shells at lower velocities and ranges. Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine In Physics, velocity is defined as the rate of change of Position. | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural The near complete lack of recoil allows some versions to be shoulder-fired, but the majority are mounted on light tripods and are intended to be easily carried by a soldier. This article is about backward Momentum produced in firearms when fired
Design
The typical recoilless gun functions very much like a conventional gun. The projectile and propellant are supplied as a single round and loaded into the breech. When fired, however, instead of all the propellant blast following the projectile out the barrel, a large portion is allowed to escape to the rear, providing an inertial force to counter the inertia of the projectile. The vis insita or innate force of matter is a power of resisting by which every body as much as in it lies endeavors to preserve in its present state whether it be of rest or of moving Since recoil has been mostly removed, the heavy and complex gun carriage and recoil damping mechanism can be dispensed with. Despite the name, it is rare for the forces to completely balance, and real world recoilless rifles do recoil noticeably.
Unlike a rocket launcher, which fires fin-stabilized rockets from a smooth bore, recoilless rifle rounds resemble conventional artillery shells. A shoulder-launched missile weapon is a Weapon that fires a Projectile at a target, yet is small enough to be carried by a single person and fired while They generally have a rifling band to engage the rifled launch tube, spin-stabilizing the projectile, hence the term "rifle". The driving band or rotating band is part of an Artillery shell a band of soft metal near the middle of the shell typically made of Gilding metal, The "case" area of the shell can be perforated to vent the propellant gases which are then directed to the rear, as the base of the shell disintegrates.
Since venting hot gases to the rear can be dangerous in confined spaces, some recoilless guns such as the Armbrust and MATADOR use a combination of a countershot, smoothbore barrel and pistons to avoid both recoil and back blast. Armbrust ( German: Crossbow) is a lightweight unguided Anti-tank weapon designed and developed by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm MATADOR (Man-portable Anti-Tank Anti-DOoR is a 90 mm man-portable disposable Anti-armor weapon system developed by Singapore. The fin stabilized Armbrust "cartridge" contains the propellant charge between two pistons with the warhead in front of one, facing forward, and an equal countermass of shredded plastic in front of the other piston. Upon firing, the propellant expands rapidly pushing the pistons outward. This pushes the projectile forwards towards the target and the countermass backwards providing the recoilless effect. The shredded plastic countermass is quickly slowed by air resistance and is harmless at a distance more than a few feet from the breech. In Fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called fluid resistance) is the force that resists the movement of a Solid object through a Fluid (a The pistons jam at the ends of the barrel trapping the hot propellant gases inside. All this allows safe firing in enclosed spaces.
The MOBAT 120mm recoilless rifle was a substantial piece of equipment that had to be towed behind a vehicle. The weapon was aimed via a spotting rifle, which fired much smaller projectiles whose trajectory matched that of the main weapon. Tracer rounds were fired first until hits were observed before firing off the main gun.
History
The first recoilless gun was developed by Commander Cleland Davis of the US Navy, just prior to the First World War. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All His design connected two guns back to back, with the backwards-facing gun loaded with lead balls and grease of the same weight as the shell in the other gun. His idea was used experimentally by the British as an anti-Zeppelin and anti-submarine weapon mounted on an Handley Page O/100 bomber and intended to be installed on other aircraft. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A Zeppelin is a type of Rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century based on designs he had outlined A submarine is a Watercraft that can operate independently below water as distinct from a Submersible that has only limited underwater capability The Handley Page Type O was an early Bomber aircraft used by Britain during World War I. A bomber is a Military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets primarily by dropping Bombs on them During the Second World War the Swedish company Bofors Carl Gustaf developed a small 20 mm device, the 20 mm m/42; the British expressed their interest in it, but by that point anti-tank rifles were already out of date. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Bofors Carl Gustaf AB is a Swedish armaments firm now owned by Bofors. An anti-tank rifle is a Rifle designed to penetrate the armour of vehicles particularly Tanks The usefulness of rifles for this purpose ran from the introduction
In the Soviet Union development of recoilless weapons ("Dinamo-Reaktivnaya Pushka" (DRP), roughly "dynamic reaction cannon") began in 1923. In the 1930s many different types of weapons were built and tested with calibers ranging from 37 mm to 305 mm. Some of the smaller examples were tested in aircraft and through some limited production and service, but development was abandoned around 1938, possibly as a side effect of Great Purge. Great Purge (Большая чистка transliterated Bolshaya chistka) was a series of campaigns of Political repression and Persecution The best-known of these early recoilless rifles was the Model 1935 76 mm DRP designed by L. V. Kurchevski. A small number of these mounted on trucks saw combat in the Winter War. The Winter War (Talvisota Советско-финляндская война - official Зимняя война - unofficial Vinterkriget began when the Two were captured by the Finns and tested; one example was given to the Germans in 1940.
The first recoilless rifle to enter service in Germany was the 7,5 cm Leicht Geschütz 40 ("light gun" '40), a simple 75 mm smoothbore recoilless gun developed to give German airborne troops some useful artillery and anti-tank support that could be parachuted into battle. Development of recoilless weapons by Rheinmetall began in 1937 in an effort to provide airborne troops with heavy support weapons that could be dropped by parachute The 75 was found to be so useful during the invasion of Crete that a larger 105 mm version was developed on the same basic pattern. Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the Interestingly both of these weapons were loosely copied by the US Army, reversing the flow of technology that had occurred when the Germans copied the Bazooka. The United States Army is a military organization whose primary mission is to "provide necessary forces and capabilities. The bazooka is a man-portable Anti-armor rocket launcher made famous during World War II. The US did have a development program and it is not clear to what extent the design was copied, as there were in fact differences. The Japanese had also developed a portable recoilless anti-tank rifle which they had reserved for the defense of anticipated invasion of the mainland. As it was, however, these weapons remained fairly rare during the war though the US versions of the 75 started becoming increasingly common in 1945.
In 1947, the US 75mm was acquired as war surplus by the French military and mounted on a Vespa scooter. The AMCA Troupes Aeról Portées Mle 56 is a M20 75 mm recoilless rifle mounted on an Italian Vespa scooter used by the French Airborne Forces in Algeria and Indochina It was used by French paratroops as a mobile anti-tank and anti-fortification platform. Paratroopers are Soldiers trained in Parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force. It saw service in Algeria and Indochina.
By the time of the Korean War, recoilless rifles were found throughout the US forces. The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the The "original" US recoilless rifles were the 57 mm and 75 mm, followed by a 105 mm. The new models replacing these were the 90 mm and 106 mm. The Soviets likewise enthusiastically adopted recoilless rifle (actually recoilless "guns" as they were smoothbore) technology in the 1950s, most commonly in calibers 73 mm, 82 mm, and 107 mm.
The British, whose efforts were led by Denis Burney, inventor of the Wallbuster HESH round, also developed recoilless designs. Sir Charles Dennistoun Burney 2nd Baronet ( 28 December 1888 &mdash 11 November 1968, Bermuda) was an English aeronautical Burney demonstrated the technique with a recoilless 4 gauge shotgun. A shotgun (also known as a scattergun) is a Firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number His "Burney Gun" was developed to fire the Wallbuster shell against the Atlantic Wall defences, but was not required in the D-Day landings of 1944. The Atlantikwall ( English: Atlantic wall) was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by the German Third Reich He went on to produce many designs including a man-portable 3. 45" (88 mm) recoilless rifle, the Ordnance, RCL, 3.45 in pushed into experimental service in late 1945. The 345 inch RCL was a British recoilless weapon designed by Sir Dennis Burney during the Second World War Post-war work developed and deployed the BAT series of recoilless rifles culminating in the 120 mm L6 Wombat ("Weapon of Magnesium, Battalion Anti-tank"). The L6 Wombat, (Weapon Of Magnesium Battalion Anti-Tank was a 120 mm Calibre recoilless anti-tank rifle used by the British Army. Magnesium (mægˈniːziəm is a Chemical element with the symbol Mg, Atomic number 12 Atomic weight 24 A battalion is a Military unit of around 500-1500 men usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel
Lightweight SPG-9 73 mm and B10 82 mm heavy recoilless rifles are still in service in the Russian army in airborne units, and are found quite commonly around the world in the inventories of former Soviet client states, where they are usually used as an antitank guns. The SPG-9 Kopye (Spear is a Russian tripod-mounted man-portable 73 millimetre calibre Recoilless gun developed by the Soviet Union. The B-10 recoilless rifle ( Bezotkatnojie orudie-10, known as the RG82 in East Germany) is a Soviet 82 mm Smoothbore Recoilless rifle
As the wire-guided missile became more and more popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the recoilless rifle started to disappear from the military except in areas like the Arctic where battery-powered Dragons and wire-guided TOWs would fail due to extreme temperatures. A wire-guided missile is a Missile that is guided by signals sent to it via thin wires connected to both the missile and its guidance mechanism which is located somewhere near The 6th Light Infantry Division in Alaska still uses the M67 in its special weapons platoons. The last major use was the Ontos tank, which mounted six of the US 106 mm on a light (9 ton) tracked chassis first developed for use by the US Army airborne troops in 1950. The Ontos, officially the Rifle Multiple 106 mm Self-propelled M50, was a light Anti-tank vehicle developed in the US in the 1950s However the Army considered them useless, and the Marines picked them up instead, albeit only 176 of them. They used them to great effect as a fire support vehicle during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia The crews continued to report the Ontos was a very effective fighting vehicle in this role, but the military brass continued to argue for heavier designs, and in 1970 the Ontos was removed from service and most were broken up. However the recoilless rifle found other roles, most notably in the Indo-Pak confrontation in Kashmir, where it was used with great effect against bunkers and as artillery in otherwise inhospitable terrain.
Today one of several remaining front-line recoilless rifles in the armies of industrialized Western nations is the famous Carl Gustav recoilless rifle, an 84 mm man-portable anti-tank weapon. The Carl Gustav (also Carl-Gustaf) is the common name for the 84 mm man-portable multi-role Recoilless rifle produced by Saab Bofors Dynamics (formerly First introduced in 1946, it is still in widespread use throughout the world today, and has even been re-introduced into the US Marine Corps as an anti-bunker weapon. The US-made, M40 106 mm recoilless rifles, usually mounted on jeeps or similar small vehicles, are very common in the armies of many poorer countries, where they serve in the role of tank destroyers. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The M40 Recoilless rifle was a lightweight portable crew-served 105 mm weapon intended primarily as an Anti-tank Weapon made in the United States A self-propelled anti-tank gun or tank destroyer, is a type of Armoured fighting vehicle designed specifically to engage enemy armor forces and not produced for an infantry
The 84 (Carl Gustav recoilless rifle) can be used, along with 66 (aka M72 LAW) and LAW 80 for Mouse-holing whilst fighting in built-up areas (FIBUA). The M72 LAW ( Light Anti-Tank Weapon, also referred to as the Light Anti-Armor Weapon or LAW) is a portable one-shot 66 mm unguided Anti-tank The LAW 80 (Light Anti-armour Weapon 80 sometimes erroneously referred to as LAW 94, is a man-portable one-shot disposable Anti-tank weapon used by the Mouse-holing is a tactic used in Urban warfare, in which a unit creates small passages between adjoining rooms or buildings by manually tunneling through a wall Urban warfare is modern warfare conducted in Urban areas such as Towns and cities. This is where impromptu "doors" are added to a building to gain entry, hopefully avoiding the prepared defences of the occupiers.
The M-388 Davy Crockett used a recoilless rifle to launch a tactical nuclear warhead, deployed by the United States in the 1960s. The M-388 Davy Crockett was a tactical nuclear Recoilless rifle projectile that was deployed by the United States during the Cold War.
Older discarded 75 mm weapons are still used by the U. S. National Park Service as a system for avalanche control, a case of Swords to ploughshares. The National Park Service ( NPS) is the United States federal agency that manages all National Parks, many National Monuments, and other conservation This article refers to the natural event For other uses see Avalanche (disambiguation An avalanche is an abrupt and rapid flow of snow often Swords to ploughshares is a concept in which military Weapons or technologies are converted for peaceful civilian applications
See also
Newton's laws of motion are three Physical laws which provide relationships between the Forces acting on a body and the motion of the A list of artillery catalogues types of Weapons found in batteries of national Armed forces ' Artillery Units.Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic