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The Rheinmetall 120 mm gun is a smoothbore tank gun designed and produced by the West German Rheinmetall-DeTec AG company, developed in response to Soviet advances in armor technology and development of new armored threats. Production began in 1974, with the first version of the gun, known as the L/44 as it was 44 calibers long, used on the German Leopard 2 tank and soon produced under license for the American M1A1 Abrams and other tanks. The American version, the M256, uses a coil spring recoil system instead of a hydraulic system.〔http://id3486.securedata.net/fprado/armorsite/abrams.htm〕 The gun has a length of , and the gun system weighs approximately . By 1990 the L/44 was not considered powerful enough to deal with the future Soviet armour, which stimulated an effort by Rheinmetall to develop a better main armament. This first revolved around a tank gun named ''Neue Panzerkanone 140'' ("new tank gun 140"), but later turned into a compromise which led to the development of an advanced 120 mm gun, the L/55, based on the same internal geometry as the L/44 and installed in the same breech and mount. The L/55 is longer, giving an increased muzzle velocity to ammunition fired through it. As the L/55 retains the same barrel geometry, it can fire the same ammunition as the L/44. This gun was retrofitted into German and Dutch Leopard 2s, and chosen as the main gun of the Spanish Leopard 2E, and the Greek Leopard 2HEL. It was tested on the British Challenger 2 as a potential replacement for its current weapon, the rifled L30 120 mm cannon. A variety of ammunition has been developed for use by tanks with guns based on Rheinmetall's original L/44 design. This includes a series of kinetic energy penetrators, such as the American M829 series, and chemical energy anti-tank warheads. Recent ammunition includes a wide range of new anti-personnel rounds and demolition munitions, giving tanks armed with the L/44 and its derivatives greater versatility on the modern battlefield. The LAHAT, developed in Israel, is a gun-launched missile which has received interest from Germany and other Leopard 2 users, and is designed to defeat both land armour and combat helicopters. The Israelis also introduced a new anti-personnel munition which limits collateral damage by controlling the fragmentation of the projectile. ==Background== Due to concerns about the inability of the L7 tank gun then in use across NATO forces to penetrate new Soviet armor, as proved in German tests on four T-62 Soviet tanks captured by Israel following the June 1967 Six Day War, Rheinmetall was paid for the development of a new tank gun, a project started in 1965, as the Bundeswehr felt a more powerful gun was needed for its new tanks.〔Rheinmetall, (Leopard 2: the world's most advanced main battle tank ), accessed 2009〕〔Jane's Armour & Artillery (subscription), (Rheinmetall L44 smoothbore gun (Germany) ), accessed 2008, claims development began in 1964.〕 The first instance of a larger Soviet tank gun was witnessed on the chassis of a modified T-55 in 1961.〔Norman, p. 14〕 In 1965, the Soviet Union's T-62 made its first public appearance, armed with a smoothbore tank gun.〔Zaloga (1979), p. 20〕 The Soviet decision to increase the power of its tank's main armament had come when, in the early 1960s, an Iranian tank commander defected over the Soviet border in a brand-new M60 Patton tank, which was armed with the British Royal Ordnance L7.〔Zaloga (2004), p. 5〕 Despite the introduction of the T-62, in 1969 their T-64 tank was rearmed with a new tank gun,〔 while in 1972 Nizhny Tagil began production of the T-72 tank, also armed with the gun.〔Zaloga (2004), p. 7〕 For example, at the fighting at Sultan Yakoub, during the 1982 Lebanon War, the Israeli government claimed to have destroyed nine Syrian T-72s with the Merkava main battle tank, armed with an Israeli production version of the American M68 tank gun (which in turn was based on the British L7).〔Warford (2006), pp. 23–24〕 Whether or not true, the Soviets test-fired a number of Israeli M111 ''Hetz'' armor-piercing discarding sabot rounds at Kubinka, finding the round was able to perforate the T-72's sloped front section plate but not its turret armor.〔Warford (2006), p. 24〕 In response, the Soviets developed the T-72M1.〔Warford (2006), p. 25〕 This led Israel to opt for a 120 mm tank gun during the development process of the Merkava III main battle tank.〔Katz (1997), 38〕 This case is similar to the American decision to replace the M68 tank gun with Rheinmetall's 120 mm gun in 1976; the introduction of the T-64A had raised the question within the armor community whether the new ammunition for the existing gun caliber could effectively deal with the new Soviet tank.〔Green (2005), 32–33〕 In 1963 Germany and the United States had already embarked on a joint tank program, known as the MBT-70. The new tank carried a three-man crew, with the driver in the turret, an automatic loader for the main gun, a autocannon as secondary armament, an active hydropneumatic suspension and spaced armour on the glacis plate and the front turret.〔Hilmes (2001), p. 17〕 The new tank concept also had improved armament, a missile-launching main gun, designed to fire the MGM-51 Shillelagh anti-tank missile.〔Zaloga (1982), p. 19〕 However, the German Army was interested in a tank gun which could fire conventional ammunition. Although there were attempts to modify the tank gun to do so, the process proved extremely difficult, and the Germans began development of the future Rheinmetall 120 mm gun instead.〔McNaugher (1981), p. vi〕 In 1967 the German Ministry of Defense decided to re-open a Leopard 1 improvement program, known as the ''Vergoldeter Leopard'' ("Gilded Leopard"), later renamed the ''Keiler'' ("Wild Boar"). Krauss-Maffei was chosen as the contractor, and two prototypes were developed in 1969 and 1970.〔Jerchel (1998), p. 5〕 This program grew into the Leopard 2; the first prototype of the new tank was delivered in 1972, equipped with a smoothbore main gun. Between 1972 and 1975 a total of 17 prototypes were developed.〔Hilmes (2001), p. 18〕 The new 120 mm gun's ten-year development effort, which had begun in 1964, ended in 1974.〔 Ten of the 17 turrets built were equipped with the 105 mm smoothbore gun, and the other seven were equipped with the larger 120 mm gun.〔Jerchel (1998), p. 6〕 Another program aimed to mount the missile-gun was also developed in an attempt to save components from the MBT-70, but in 1971 the program was ended for economic reasons.〔Jerchel (1998), pp. 6–7〕 Instead, the Germans opted for Rheinmetall's 120 mm L/44 smoothbore tank gun.〔Jerchel (1998), p. 7〕 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「Rheinmetall 120 mm gun」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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