FH70

Last updated
FH70
FH 70 155mm gun (6065127314).jpg
FH70 howitzer in North Cornwall Tank Museum Collection.
Type Howitzer
Place of origin United Kingdom, West Germany & Italy
Service history
In service1978–present
Used by see "Operators"
Wars Lebanese Civil War
Russo-Ukrainian War
Production history
Designed1968–1973
Manufacturer VSEL, Rheinmetall, OTO Melara, Japan Steel Works (licensed production)
Produced1976
Specifications
Mass9.3 t (9.2 long tons; 10.3 short tons)
Length
  • 12.43 m (40 ft 9 in) firing
  • 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in) travelling
Barrel  length6.022 m (19 ft 9.1 in) L/39
Width
  • 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in) firing
  • 2.58 m (8 ft 6 in) travelling
Height
  • 2.192 m (7 ft 2.3 in) firing (no elevation)
  • 2.45 m (8.0 ft) travelling
Crew8

Shell L15A1 HE (standard)
Shell weight43.4 kg (96 lb)
Calibre 155 mm (6.1 in)
Breech Semi-automatic vertically sliding block and automatic loader
Recoil Buffer with high-angle cut-off gear and a recuperator
CarriageSplit trails with APU
Elevation +70° (1244mils)/-4.5° (-80mils)
Traverse 56° (996mils)
Rate of fire
  • 2 rounds/min sustained
  • 6 rounds/min rapid
Muzzle velocity 213–827 m/s (700–2,710 ft/s)
Maximum firing range
  • 24.7 km (15.3 mi) L15A1
  • 31.5 km (19.6 mi) base bleed
SightsQuadrant elevation scale and levelling bubbles, a periscopic dial sight, and a direct fire telescope
References Janes [1]

The FH70 (field howitzer for the 1970s) is a towed howitzer used by several nations.

Contents

History

In 1963, NATO agreed a NATO Basic Military Requirement 39 for close support artillery, either towed or tracked. Subsequently, Germany and UK started discussions and design studies and in 1968 established agreed operational characteristics for a towed 155 mm close support gun. Italy became a party to the agreement in 1970.

Key requirements were:

The two national authorities had overall responsibility for R&D, and Vickers Ltd was the co-ordinating design authority. They were also the design authority for the carriage and Rheinmetall GmbH was the authority for the elevating mass, including the sights, and for the APU. There was a further breakdown at a more detailed level and production worksharing. The UK Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE) was responsible for designing the HE projectile and the charge system. Germany was responsible for Smoke, Illuminating, Minelet and extended range HE, although the development of the last two was not completed in the programme.

The intention was for FH70 to replace the M114 155 mm howitzer and equip general support battalions in German divisional artillery regiments and to equip three British general support medium regiments replacing the 5.5-inch gun. In the event, it actually equipped UK regular regiments in direct support of infantry brigades until after the end of the Cold War, and only replaced the L118 light gun in two TA regiments, 100th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery and 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery from 1992 to 1999.

Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, a number of European countries made donations of FH70 units to Ukraine. Italy donated an unspecified number from their total inventory of approximately 190 units. These were in service in Ukraine by May 2022. [2] In January 2023 Estonia announced that it would donate its entire stock of FH70 artillery to Ukraine. [3]

Design

FH70 features included:

The barrel was 39 calibres long, giving 827 m/s standard maximum muzzle velocity. It had a muzzle brake giving 32% efficiency.

Other conventional features included a split trail and turntable sole plate. Initially, it had assisted loading but became an early user of flick-ramming. In accordance with long-standing UK practice, it used one-man laying. All this meant that the gun could be operated by a minimum detachment of only four men (commander, layer and two loaders). The burst fire rate was three rounds in 15 seconds. It was also fitted with a direct fire telescope.

There were a number of design flaws that became apparent in service. The equipment entered full operational service in the UK in 1980. It became clear that there were significant difficulties with the tube feed system in anything but ideal conditions. 1st Regiment RHA, a unit that had conducted the Troop trials, developed their own procedures to solve these problems, related to dust contamination, and this process became established in official manuals in due course. More significantly, the trails of the gun proved to be weak at the point where maximum stress was incurred when the equipment was towed; this resulted in modification work on the UK guns in 1987. There were continual problems with the drive train on the flat-4 VW APU, and the hydraulic system was always vulnerable to the obvious problems posed by external, non-armoured, housing in combat conditions. In addition, the complex dial sight carrier was vulnerable to damage.

Ammunition

Italian Army 1st Field Artillery Regiment (Mountain) troops loading an FH70 howitzer, 2019 Italian Army - 1st Mountain Artillery Regiment loading a FH70 howitzer.jpg
Italian Army 1st Field Artillery Regiment (Mountain) troops loading an FH70 howitzer, 2019
Ukrainian FH70 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2022 FH70 in Ukraine 2022.jpg
Ukrainian FH70 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 2022

The new projectiles conformed to the Quadrilateral Ballistics Agreement between the US, UK, Germany and Italy. In essence, this meant a shell with the same shape and dimensions as the US M549 rocket-assisted projectile. The standard HE shell (UK designation L15) is a thin wall design weighing 43.5 kilograms (96 lb) and containing 11.3 kilograms (25 lb) of HE. This remains the largest HE load for a standard 155mm shell.

The propellant system comprises three different bagged cartridges with triple-base propellant. Cartridge 1 gives charges 1 & 2, Cartridge 2 give charges 3–7 and Cartridge 3 is charge 8, which gives a maximum range under standard conditions of 24.7 kilometres (15.3 mi).

Each nation developed its own fuzes and ammunition packaging. In the UK's case, this led to the Unit Load Container carrying 17 complete rounds, including shells with fuzes fitted - a novelty for 155 mm.

Standard US pattern 155 mm ammunition can also be fired, although US primers proved problematic for the primer magazine and feed due to their variation in size.

Operators

Operators of the FH70
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Current
Former FH-70 Operators.png
Operators of the FH70
  Current
  Former

Current operators

Former operators

See also

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References

  1. Janes (26 May 2022), "FH-70" , Janes Land Warfare Platforms: Artillery & Air Defence, Coulsdon, Surrey: Jane's Group UK Limited., retrieved 28 February 2023
  2. "Army Recognition".
  3. "Defence Post".
  4. "Trade Registers".
  5. "Trade Registers".

Sources