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The G5 is a South African towed howitzer of 155 mm calibre designed and 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 howitzers by a considerable margin.〔The Encyclopedia of World Military Weapons 1988. ISBN 0-517-65341-9〕 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 an 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 responded to the staff requirement and commenced development in 1976. A number of existing designs were evaluated and examples procured in contravention of the arms embargo. As an interim weapon system to act as a stop-gap during the indigenous production process, a number of Soltam 155mm M-71 gun-howitzers were procured from Israel and entered service as the G4 howitzer.〔 The Canadian GC-45 was selected as the baseline howitzer from which to commence indigenous development.〔 Armscor procured barrels, 30,000 rounds and design specifications for the GC-45 from Gerald Bull. One of the GC-45 test pieces was mounted on a U.S. 155mm M59 carriage - and a further six GC-45s had changes made to internal ballistics, barrel construction and carriage and cradle fixtures, to become the prototype models eventually leading to the G5. These GC-45s had been developed by SRC International of Belgium, a joint venture between Gerald Bull's Space Research Corporation of Canada and PRB of Belgium.〔Janes (1996), pg. 645〕 Further changes included the addition of a small APU to allow the gun to dig itself in and move short distances at up to , as well as the addition of an advanced muzzle brake. The G5 became operational in 1983.〔 Using the normal Extended Range, Full Bore (ERFB) ammunition the normal range is , which can be extended to about using base bleed shells, or using rocket assisted V-LAP rounds. In 2002 Denel produced the G5-2000 version, with much greater range and accuracy than the earlier 45-calibre version. The G5 gun has been placed on an OMC 6×6 chassis to produce the fully self-propelled G6 howitzer, and won major export sales in this form from the United Arab Emirates and Oman. In response to a request from India it has also been tested on the back of a TATRA 8×8 wheeled truck, a combination known as the T5-2000. It has also been fitted into a turret, named the T6, that can be placed on any suitable vehicle; it has been fitted on the T-72 tank. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「G5 howitzer」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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