M18 recoilless rifle

Last updated

M18 recoilless rifle
M18 57mm Recoilless Rifle pic1.JPG
M18 on a M1917A1 Tripod
Type Recoilless anti-tank weapon
Place of originUnited States
Service history
In service1945–1960s
Used bySee users
Wars
Production history
DesignerKroger and Musser
Designed1942
ProducedOctober 1944
VariantsType 36
Specifications
Mass44.4 lb (20.1 kg) [2]
Length61.6 in (1,560 mm) [2]
Crew1 or 2
Shell
  • 57×303mmR
  • HEAT (5.3 lb (2.4 kg)) [3]
  • HE (5.3 lb (2.4 kg)) [3]
  • WP (5.3 lb (2.4 kg)) [3]
Caliber 57 mm (2.2 inches)
Action Interrupted lug rotating breechblock [2]
Recoil Recoilless
Carriage M1917A1 machine gun tripod mount
Elevation +65° to −27°
Traverse 360°
Muzzle velocity 1,200 ft/s (370 m/s) [2]
Effective firing range490 yd (450 m)
Maximum firing range4,340 yd (3.97 km) [2]
SightsTelescope M86C 2.8-power [4]
US Army Soldier firing a 57 mm M18A1 recoilless rifle from the shoulder. 9th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea, 5 September 1951 Soldier-firing-M18A1-recoilless-rifle-korea.jpg
US Army Soldier firing a 57 mm M18A1 recoilless rifle from the shoulder. 9th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division in Korea, 5 September 1951

The M18 recoilless rifle is a 57 mm shoulder-fired, anti-tank recoilless rifle that was used by the U.S. Army in World War II and the Korean War. Recoilless rifles are capable of firing artillery-type shells at reduced velocities comparable to those of standard cannon, but with greater accuracy than anti-tank weapons that used unguided rockets, and almost entirely without recoil. The M18 was a breech-loaded, single-shot, man-portable, crew-served weapon. It could be used in both anti-tank and anti-personnel roles. The weapon could be both shoulder fired or fired from a prone position. The T3 front grip doubled as an adjustable monopod and the two-piece padded T3 shoulder cradle could swing down and to the rear as a bipod for the gunner. The most stable firing position was from the tripod developed for the water-cooled Browning M1917 machine gun. [5]

Contents

Origins and development

During World War II, the U.S. Army's Artillery Section was working on a 105 mm recoilless cannon, based on captured models of the German 10.5 cm Leichtgeschütz 40 that used a plastic blow out plug in the cartridge case. At the same time, there was a freelance research by the U.S. Army's Infantry Section of a man-portable recoilless 57 mm cannon by two engineers, named Kroger and Musser. Instead of a blowout plug, the infantry section's recoilless cannon used a British development, Ordnance, RCL, 3.45 in developed by Dennistoun Burney, from in which the cartridge case had hundreds of small holes in the side walls with a lining of plastic on the inside of the cartridge case walls to keep water and other elements out until the round was fired. Another unique innovation was the use of pre-engraving bands on the 57 mm projectile that engaged the barrel's rifling. [note 1] The belief was this feature would reduce friction on firing, allowing more of the propellant gases to be used to force the shell towards the target and less being used to achieve the recoilless effect and therefore giving their design a much higher muzzle velocity than most recoilless cannon at that time period had achieved. [6] [note 2]

The "Kromuskit", as the new 57 mm weapon was called (a word play on the engineers' family names) was officially designated the T15 and first tested in November 1943. The tests proved that the Infantry Section's concept for a recoilless weapon was superior to the Artillery Section's concept and the development of the 105 mm weapon was canceled. [7] In late 1944, the T15 was redesignated the M18 57 mm recoilless. The cannon and 57 mm ammunition were placed in mass production. Four types of ammunition were initially produced: [note 3] an anti-tank HEAT round (T20E2 / M307), an HE round (T22 / M306), a Smoke (White Phosphorus) "bursting smoke" round (T23 / M308), and a Training Practice round. [8] By early 1945, over 2,000 M18 recoilless rifles and 800,000 rounds of ammunition were on order. [6] After World War II ended, a canister round (T25E5) with a range of 175 meters was also produced.

US service

The weapon was crewed by a two-man team, the gunner and the loader, who fired it from either a prone, kneeling, or standing position. It could also be awkwardly carried, fired from the shoulder and reloaded by one man in an emergency, fired prone from the extended T3 monopod and bipod, or fired from a fixed position on a cradle mounted on the M1917A1 machine gun tripod. The weapon was carried in a T27 Cover with two padded shoulder straps, designed to be simultaneously carried by two men in line with the straps slung over their shoulder on one side.[ citation needed ]

Ammunition was packed four shells to a wooden crate, each crate weighing about 40 lbs and had a volume of 0.86 cubic feet. Three 57 mm recoilless rifle shells could be carried per M6 rocket bag (designed for the 2.36-in bazooka rockets) and slung on one shoulder by the ammunition bearers assigned to the weapon.[ citation needed ]

World War II

The first fifty [9] production M18 57 mm cannons and ammunition were rushed from the factories to the European theater in March 1945. Further examples were subsequently sent to the Pacific Theater. The first combat the new cannon saw was with the U.S. Army's 17th Airborne Division near Essen, Germany as well as U.S. Forces in the Po Valley in Italy during the 1945 Spring Offensive. While the performance of the high explosive (HE) warhead was impressive, the M18's 57 mm HEAT round was slightly less so, only about 76.2 mm (3 in) of armor penetration at 90 degrees, [10] [11] compared with the M6A3 rocket for the bazooka which had a penetration of 100 mm.[ citation needed ] The only effective way to knock out German tanks was a clean shot to the rear of the tank or to cause malfunctions by hits on the seams or joint of the tanks such as the gun turret elevation joint of the main gun, junction points of the turret and hull which would cause burn over of working mechanism and produce jamming and finally a hit on the tracks to immobilize a tank. They could then be destroyed by infantry bazooka team, anti-tank guns or field artillery. [12] [13] [note 4]

In the Pacific Theater, the new lightweight 57 mm cannon was an absolute success as "pocket artillery" for the soldiers of U.S. Army infantry units that were issued the M18. It was first used in the Pacific Theater during the Battle of Okinawa on 9 June 1945, and proved with its HE and white phosphorus rounds it was the perfect weapon for the hard fighting that took place against the dug-in Japanese in the hills of that island. The only complaint the U.S. Army had was the lack of sufficient 57 mm ammunition for the M18. [14]

Korean War

Each U.S. Army rifle company in the Korean War was authorized three M18 recoilless rifles. [15] The Marine Corps did not use the 57mm. Veterans of the Korean War have mentioned the use of the M18 against enemy machine gun nests. [16] For anti-tank tasks, however, the M18 was too weak; the Soviet-built T-34 tank was extremely hard to penetrate even for the 2.36-inch (60 mm) Bazooka of World War II. The only way would have been flank or rear shots. U.S. infantry, initially with very few capabilities against these targets, solved the problem with new weapons like the 3.5-inch (89 mm) M20 Super Bazooka, which was powerful enough to destroy T-34s. [17]

Vietnam War

Although obsolete as an anti-tank weapon, the M18 was still used by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam [18] and its allied forces in an anti-personnel role. It was able to use the NATO-standard M74 tripod, and proved with its HE and white phosphorus rounds it was the perfect weapon for the hard fighting that took place against dug-in People's Army of Vietnam forces.

Ammunition

Ammunition for the 57 mm M18 consisted of fixed rounds; that is to say, the propelling charge is not adjustable and an integral part of the ammunition. It is easily identified by a pre-engraved rotating band, a perforated cartridge case, and a positioning band.

In 1948, four types of round were available for the 57 mm M18, with a canister round [19] (with a range of 160 meters) being added later:

General characteristics of 57 mm rifle ammunition [3]
Type of roundWeight of roundLength of roundWeight of projectile as firedType of fillerWeight of fillerWeight of propellantType of fuzeAction of fuzeWeight of 4 rounds in a box
lbkginchmmlbkglbglbglbkg
HE (M306)5.32.417.544462.751.25TNT.6270.93420M89PD, SQ4420
HEAT (M307)5.32.418.784772.751.2550/50 Pentolite .39180.93420M90PI, BD non-delay4520
Smoke WP (M308)5.32.416.834272.751.25WP.27120.93420M89PD, SQ4320
TP (M306)5.32.417.544462.751.25Inert and black powder.45 and .07204 and 32.93420M89PD, SQ4219
Canister (T25E5)5.432.4615.48393--154 or 176 steel slugs1.8820.93420N/AN/A

Production and use outside the US

French soldiers using M18 recoilless gun against Viet Minh during First Indochina War (1953) French indochina colonial artillery 1953 12.png
French soldiers using M18 recoilless gun against Việt Minh during First Indochina War (1953)
57mm impact marks on an american M113 APC during the Vietnam War. M113 damage.jpg
57mm impact marks on an american M113 APC during the Vietnam War.

The M18 was copied by the People's Republic of China as the Type 36. The U.S. had provided Nationalist China the blueprints for the weapon. When the communist Chinese seized the factory, they took advantage of the facilities and blueprints to make their own copy of the weapon. [20] China provided the communist Vietnamese the Type 36 in 1963 for use in the Vietnam War. [21] Tanzania was also a user of the Type 36. In a strange twist, the Chinese version of the M18 can fire both U.S. and Chinese manufactured ammunition, but the U.S. made M18s cannot fire Chinese ammunition. [5] This was done deliberately by increasing the bore of their weapons and ammunition by 1 mm, making their munitions too large for use by NATO weapons in the event of capture, but not vice versa. The French army also used M18 guns during the First Indochina War, [22] Algerian War [23] [24] and French intervention in Сhad in 1970. [25]

As late as 1984, the M18 57 mm recoilless rifle was still being produced under license in Brazil by Hydroar in São Paulo. [20]

Users

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ While many sources claim the pre-engraving on the M18 projectiles drive band in 1943 was a first, the Germans in World War I had this feature on projectiles for their famous Paris Gun. Later it was discovered that pre-engraving the band gave no advantage and future rounds were produced without this feature.
  2. ↑ With most recoilless cannon, there is a 1-to-9 ratio—meaning that when the weapon is fired, one part of the propellant gases is used to force the shell forward and the other 9 parts of the propellant gases are expelled to the back to counter act that forward force, achieving a recoilless effect.
  3. ↑ The "T" designation was for experimental or early production shells and is similar to the modern "XM" designation. The "M" designation is used for standardized items.
  4. ↑ The M18's M307 HEAT round used a hemispherical (rounded) liner rather than the normal conical liner to counteract the effect of rotation. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocket-propelled grenade</span> Shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon

A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired rocket weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor which propels the RPG towards the target and they are stabilized in flight with fins. Some types of RPG are reloadable with new rocket-propelled grenades, while others are single-use. RPGs are generally loaded from the front.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recoilless rifle</span> Type of light artillery gun

A recoilless rifle (rifled), recoilless launcher (smoothbore), or simply recoilless gun, sometimes abbreviated to "RR" or "RCL" is a type of lightweight artillery system or man-portable launcher that is designed to eject some form of countermass such as propellant gas from the rear of the weapon at the moment of firing, creating forward thrust that counteracts most of the weapon's recoil. This allows for the elimination of much of the heavy and bulky recoil-counteracting equipment of a conventional cannon as well as a thinner-walled barrel, and thus the launch of a relatively large projectile from a platform that would not be capable of handling the weight or recoil of a conventional gun of the same size. Technically, only devices that use spin-stabilized projectiles fired from a rifled barrel are recoilless rifles, while smoothbore variants are recoilless guns. This distinction is often lost, and both are often called recoilless rifles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bazooka</span> Man-portable recoilless rocket antitank weapon

The Bazooka is a man-portable recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the "stovepipe", the innovative Bazooka was among the first generation of rocket-propelled anti-tank weapons used in infantry combat. Featuring a solid-propellant rocket for propulsion, it allowed for high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shaped charge warheads to be delivered against armored vehicles, machine gun nests, and fortified bunkers at ranges beyond that of a standard thrown grenade or mine. The universally applied nickname arose from the weapon's M1 variant's vague resemblance to the musical instrument called a bazooka invented and popularized by 1930s American comedian Bob Burns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-explosive anti-tank</span> Type of shaped charge explosive

High-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) is the effect of a shaped charge explosive that uses the Munroe effect to penetrate heavy armor. The warhead functions by having an explosive charge collapse a metal liner inside the warhead into a high-velocity shaped charge jet; this is capable of penetrating armor steel to a depth of seven or more times the diameter of the charge. The shaped charge jet armor penetration effect is purely kinetic in nature; the round has no explosive or incendiary effect on the armor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-tank warfare</span> Science and Technology tactics based around countering and immobilizing tanks

Anti-tank warfare originated during World War I from the desire to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks. After the Allies deployed the first tanks in 1916, the German Empire introduced the first anti-tank weapons. The first developed anti-tank weapon was a scaled-up bolt-action rifle, the Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr, that fired a 13.2 mm cartridge with a solid bullet that could penetrate the thin armor used by tanks at that time and destroy the engine or ricochet inside, killing occupants. Because tanks represent an enemy's strong force projection on land, military strategists have incorporated anti-tank warfare into the doctrine of nearly every combat service since. The most predominant anti-tank weapons at the start of World War II in 1939 included the tank-mounted gun, anti-tank guns and anti-tank grenades used by the infantry, and ground-attack aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M50 Ontos</span> American tank destroyer

Ontos, officially the Rifle, Multiple 106 mm, Self-propelled, M50, was an American light armored tracked anti-tank vehicle developed in the 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoulder-fired missile</span> Shoulder mounted recoilless launcher system for shells, unguided or guided rockets (missiles), etc

Shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-launched missile or man-portable missile, among other variants, are common slang terms to describe high-caliber shoulder-mounted weapons systems; that is, weapons firing large, heavy projectiles ("missiles"), typically using the backblast principle, which are small enough to be carried by a single person and fired while held on one's shoulder. The word "missile" in this context is used in its original broad sense of a heavy projectile, and encompasses all shells and rockets, guided or unguided. A more formal variant is simply shoulder-fired weapons system and the like.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-tank rifle</span> Anti-materiel rifle designed to penetrate the armor of armored fighting vehicles

An anti-tank rifle is an anti-materiel rifle designed to penetrate the armor of armored fighting vehicles, most commonly tanks, armored personnel carriers, and infantry fighting vehicles. The term is usually used for weapons that can be carried and used by one person, but is sometimes used for larger weapons. The usefulness of rifles for this purpose ran from the introduction of tanks in World War I until the Korean War. While medium and heavy tank armor became too thick to be penetrated by rigid projectiles from rifles that could be carried by a single soldier, anti-tank rifles continued to be used against other "soft" targets, though recoilless rifles and rocket-propelled grenades such as the bazooka were also introduced for infantry close-layer defense against tanks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle</span> Man-portable multi-role weapon system

The Carl Gustaf 8.4 cm recoilless rifle is a Swedish-developed 84 mm (3.3 in) caliber shoulder-fired recoilless rifle, initially developed by the Royal Swedish Army Materiel Administration during the second half of the 1940s as a crew-served man-portable infantry support gun for close-range multi-role anti-armour, anti-personnel, battlefield illumination, smoke screening and marking fire, which has seen great export success around the globe and continues to be a popular multi-purpose support weapon in use by many nations. The Carl Gustaf 84 mm recoilless rifle is a lightweight, low-cost weapon that uses a wide range of ammunition, which makes it extremely flexible and suitable for a wide variety of roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weapons of the Vietnam War</span> Weapons used in the Vietnam war

The Vietnam War involved the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) or North Vietnamese Army (NVA), National Liberation Front for South Vietnam (NLF) or Viet Cong (VC), and the armed forces of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), United States Armed Forces, Republic of Korea Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Royal Thai Armed Forces, Australian Defence Force, and New Zealand Defence Force, with a variety of irregular troops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-tank gun</span> Form of artillery

An anti-tank gun is a form of artillery designed to destroy tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, normally from a static defensive position. The development of specialized anti-tank munitions and anti-tank guns was prompted by the appearance of tanks during World War I. To destroy hostile tanks, artillerymen often used field guns depressed to fire directly at their targets, but this practice expended too much valuable ammunition and was of increasingly limited effectiveness as tank armor became thicker. The first dedicated anti-tank artillery began appearing in the 1920s, and by World War II was a common appearance in many European armies. To penetrate armor, they fired specialized ammunition from longer barrels to achieve a higher muzzle velocity than field guns. Most anti-tank guns were developed in the 1930s as improvements in tanks were noted, and nearly every major arms manufacturer produced one type or another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M67 recoilless rifle</span> American type of recoilless rifle

The M67 recoilless rifle is a 90 mm anti-tank recoilless rifle made in the United States and later in South Korea. It could also be employed in an anti-personnel role with the use of the M590 antipersonnel round. It was designed to be fired primarily from the ground using the bipod and monopod, but could also be fired from the shoulder using the folded bipod as a shoulder rest and the monopod as a front grip. The weapon was air-cooled and breech-loaded, and fired fixed ammunition. It is a direct fire weapon employing stadia lines to allow simple range finding, based on a typical tank target bridging the lines once in range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ordnance QF 6-pounder</span> British anti-tank gun

The Ordnance quick-firing 6-pounder 7 cwt, or just 6-pounder, was a British 57 mm gun, serving during the Second World War as a primary anti-tank gun of both the British and United States Army. It was also used as the main armament for a number of armoured fighting vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M40 recoilless rifle</span> Recoilless rifle

The M40 recoilless rifle is a portable, crew-served 105 mm recoilless rifle made in the United States. Intended primarily as an anti-tank weapon, it could also be employed in an antipersonnel role with the use of an antipersonnel-tracer flechette round. The bore was commonly described as being 106 mm caliber but is in fact 105 mm; the 106 mm designation was intended to prevent confusion with incompatible 105 mm ammunition from the failed M27. The air-cooled, breech-loaded, single-shot rifle fired fixed ammunition and was used primarily from a wheeled ground mount or M92 ground mount. It was designed for direct firing only, and sighting equipment for this purpose was furnished with each weapon, including an affixed M8C .50 cal spotting rifle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M20 recoilless rifle</span> Recoilless anti-tank weapon

The M20 recoilless rifle is a U.S. 75 mm caliber recoilless rifle T21E12 that was used during the last months of the Second World War and extensively during the Korean War. It could be fired from an M1917A1 .30 caliber machine gun tripod, or from a vehicle mount, typically a Jeep. Its shaped charge warhead, also known as HEAT, was capable of penetrating 100 mm of armor. Although the weapon proved ineffective against the T-34 tank and most other tanks during the Korean War, it was used primarily as a close infantry support weapon to engage all types of targets including infantry and lightly armored vehicles. The M20 proved useful against pillboxes and other types of field fortifications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spotting rifle</span>

A spotting rifle or ranging gun is a small-calibre rifle used as a sighting device for artillery. The ballistics of the spotting rifle are matched to those of the artillery piece, so that if a shot from the spotting rifle lands on the target, it may be assumed that the main weapon will also do so.

The high–low system is a design of cannon and anti-tank warfare launcher using a smaller high-pressure chamber to store propellant. It allows a much larger projectile to be launched without the heavy equipment usually needed for large caliber weapons. When the propellant is ignited, the higher pressure gases are bled out through vents at reduced pressure to a much larger low pressure chamber to push a projectile forward. The high-low system allows the weight of the weapon and its ammunition to be reduced significantly. Production cost and time are drastically lower than for standard cannon or other small-arm weapon systems firing a projectile of the same size and weight. It has a far more efficient use of the propellant, unlike earlier recoilless weapons, where most of the propellant is expended to the rear of the weapon to counter the recoil of the projectile being fired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Man-portable anti-tank systems</span> Weapon system designed for infantry use against tanks

Man-portable anti-tank systems are traditionally portable shoulder-launched projectile systems firing heavy shell-type projectiles, typically designed to combat protected targets, such as armoured vehicles, field fortifications and at times even low-flying aircraft.

References

  1. ↑ "Arms for freedom". 29 December 2017. Archived from the original on 7 April 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 FM 23-80: 57-mm Rifle M18. Department of the Army. June 1948. p. 3.
  3. 1 2 3 4 FM 23-80: 57-mm Rifle M18, June 1948, p.43.
  4. ↑ FM 23-80: 57-mm Rifle M18, June 1948, p.69.
  5. 1 2 Archer, Denis H.R., ed. (1976). Jane's Infantry Weapons (2nd ed.). London: Jane's Yearbooks. p. 571. ISBN   978-0-35400-531-9.
  6. 1 2 Hogg, Ian (1970). The Guns 1939-45. Ballantine Books. p. 151.
  7. ↑ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. (1978). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century: Weapons and Warfare. Vol. 8. London, UK: Phoebus Publishing Co. p. 879.
  8. ↑ TM 9-1300-204, Ammunition for Recoilless Rifles, p. 9, Washington: Department of the Army, 1959
  9. ↑ Engineering Design Handbook: Recoilless Rifle Weapon Systems. Alexandria, Virginia: United States Army Materiel Command. 15 January 1976. p. 1-7.
  10. 1 2 OP 1720: Shaped Charge Ammunition and Applications of Shaped Charges to Explosive Filled Ordnance (PDF). Bureau of Ordnance. 9 June 1947.
  11. ↑ Recoilless Weapons. Washington, D.C.: Office of the Chief of Ordnance. February 1945 – via Lone Sentry.
  12. ↑ Final Conventional Explosives Safety Submission: Ordnance and Explosives (OE) Removal Action Eastern Bypass Amendment 1 (PDF). Huntsville, Alabama: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering and Support Center. October 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2019.
  13. ↑ FM 6-40: Field Artillery Gunnery (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. War Department. 1 June 1945 – via 90th Infantry Division Preservation Group.
  14. ↑ Fitzsimons, Bernard, ed. (1978). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century: Weapons and Warfare. Vol. 8. London, UK: Phoebus Publishing Co. p. 890.
  15. ↑ Boose, Donald W. (2005). US Army Forces in the Korean War 1950-1953. Battle Orders. Vol. 11. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 27. ISBN   978-1-84176-621-8.
  16. ↑ Kortegaard, Bert. "M18 57mm Recoilless Rifle, in action in Korea". The Korean War. Archived from the original on 17 January 2010.
  17. ↑ Kortegaard, Bert. "TM 9-297: 3.5-In Rocket Launcher, M20 and M20B1 8/50". The Korean War. Archived from the original on 23 May 2011.
  18. 1 2 Rottman, Gordon L. (2010). Army of the Republic of Vietnam 1955–75. Men-at-Arms. Vol. 458. Osprey Publishing. p. 7. ISBN   978-1-84908-181-8.
  19. ↑ TM 43-0001-28: Army Ammunition Data Sheets, Artillery, Ammunition, Guns, Howitzers, Mortars, Recoilless Rifles, Grenade Launchers, and Artillery Fuzes (PDF). U.S. Department of the Army. April 1994 – via militarynewbie.com.
  20. 1 2 Hogg, Ian, ed. (1984). Jane's Infantry Weapons 1984-85. London: Jane's Publishing Company Ltd. pp. 693 & 695.
  21. ↑ Dunstan, Simon (2004). Vietnam Tracks: Armor in Battle, 1945-1975. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. p. 56. ISBN   978-1-84176-833-5.
  22. ↑ Windrow, Martin (20 September 2018). French Foreign Légionnaire vs Viet Minh Insurgent: North Vietnam 1948–52. Combat. Vol. 36. Osprey Publishing. p. 22. ISBN   978-1-47282-891-0.
  23. ↑ "Un soldat du 18e RCP (Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes), armé d'un canon sans recul de 57 mm, après une opération menée près de la frontière, dans le secteur de El Ma El Abiod" [A soldier from the 18th RCP (Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes), armed with a 57 mm recoilless gun, after an operation near the border, in the El Ma El Abiod sector]. ECPAD (in French). Archived from the original on 22 April 2018.
  24. ↑ Huon, Jean (March 1992). "L'armement français en A.F.N." Gazette des Armes (in French). No. 220. pp. 12–16.
  25. 1 2 Koszela, Bernard; Lourdais, Michel. "Le combat de Bedo au Tchad (BET) le 11 octobre 1970". Association Hélicoptères Air (in French). Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Gander, Terry J.; Cutshaw, Charles Q., eds. (2001). Jane's Infantry Weapons 2001/2002 (27th ed.). Coulsdon: Jane's Information Group. ISBN   978-0-71062-317-1.
  27. ↑ Park, Il-Song; Yang, Yong-Jo; Son, Kyu-Suk. "The Korean War and the Forces of the Kingdom of Netherlands". A History of Netherland Forces' Participation in the Korean War (PDF). Translated by Lee, Jang-Song. Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (South Korea). pp. 67–68.
  28. ↑ Bak, Dongchan (March 2021). Korean War : Weapons of the United Nations (PDF) (in Korean). Republic of Korea: Ministry of Defense Institute for Military History. pp. 71–75. ISBN   979-11-5598-079-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2022. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  29. ↑ 대한뉴스 제 551호-월남소식 , retrieved 7 September 2023
  30. ↑ 대한뉴스 제 556호-월남소식 , retrieved 7 September 2023
  31. ↑ "Turkish Army Land Forces military equipment and vehicles". Army Recognition. 8 August 2018. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  32. ↑ Ezell, Edward Clinton (1988). Personal Firepower . The Illustrated History of the Vietnam War. Vol. 15. Bantam Books. pp.  18, 30, 141. ISBN   9780553345490. OCLC   1036801376.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.