Arena is an active protection system (APS) developed at Russia's Kolomna-based Engineering Design Bureau for the purpose of protecting armoured fighting vehicles from destruction by light anti-tank weapons, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM), and flyover top attack missiles. It uses a Doppler radar to detect incoming warheads. Upon detection, a defensive rocket is fired that detonates near the inbound threat, destroying it before it hits the vehicle.
The M163 Vulcan Air Defense System (VADS), officially Gun, Air Defense Artillery, Self-Propelled 20-mm, M163, is a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) that was primarily used by the United States Army. The M163 provides mobile, short-range air defense protection for ground units against low-flying fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. It replaced the M42 Duster as the standard American armored light air-defense gun.
A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a human gunner firing a weapon, but attempts to do so faster and more accurately.
The 2-pounder gun, officially the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 40 mm (1.6 in) British autocannon, used as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing. This QF 2-pounder was not the same gun as the Ordnance QF 2-pounder, used by the British Army as an anti-tank gun and a tank gun, although they both fired 2 lb (0.91 kg), 40 mm (1.6 in) projectiles.
The M3 half-track was an American armored personnel carrier half-track widely used by the Allies during World War II and in the Cold War. Derived from the M2 half-track car, the M3 was extensively produced, with about 15,000 standard M3s and more than 38,000 variant units manufactured.
The QF 3.7-inch AA was Britain's primary heavy anti-aircraft gun during World War II. It was roughly the equivalent of the German Flak 8.8 cm and American 90 mm, but with a slightly larger calibre of 3.7 inches, approximately 94 mm. Production began in 1937 and it was used throughout World War II in all theatres except the Eastern Front. It remained in use after the war until AA guns were replaced by guided missiles beginning in 1957.
The KS-30 is a Soviet 130mm anti-aircraft gun that appeared in the early 1950s, closely resembling the German wartime 12.8 cm FlaK 40 anti-aircraft gun. The KS-30 was used for the home defense forces of the USSR and some other Warsaw Pact countries. Recognition features are the heavy dual-tire carriage, a firing platform which folds up to a 45 degree angle when the piece is in travel, and the long clean tube without a muzzle brake. The breechblock is of the semi-automatic horizontal sliding-wedge type, and the piece is fitted with a power rammer and an automatic fuze setter. Fire control is provided by the PUAZO-30 director and the SON-30 radar. The ammunition is of the fixed-charge, separated type. It is not interchangeable with that of the 130 mm field guns or the WWII-era naval and coastal guns, but the cartridge case is the same as in 130 mm/58 (5.1") SM-2-1 (Soviet) and Type 76 (Chinese) naval guns as well as in SM-4-1 coastal gun. The KS-30 is now held in war reserve since it was replaced by surface-to-air guided missiles.
The S-75 is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system. It is built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance. Following its first deployment in 1957 it became one of the most widely deployed air defence systems in history. It scored the first destruction of an enemy aircraft by a surface-to-air missile, with the shooting down of a Taiwanese Martin RB-57D Canberra over China on 7 October 1959 that was hit by a salvo of three V-750 (1D) missiles at an altitude of 20 km (65,600 ft). This success was credited to Chinese fighter aircraft at the time to keep the S-75 program secret.
The Rheinmetall Mk 20 Rh-202 is a 20 mm caliber autocannon designed and produced by Rheinmetall. It fires the 20×139mm ammunition originally developed for the Hispano-Suiza HS.820.
The 100 mm field gun M1944 (BS-3) is a Soviet 100 mm anti-tank and field gun.
SON-30 is a type of Russian/Soviet fire director radar for 130 mm anti-aircraft guns. It was a Soviet derivative of the US SCR-584 system.
The OTO-Melara Mod 56 is an Italian-made 105 mm pack howitzer built and developed by OTO Melara. It fires the standard US type M1 ammunition.
AZP S-60 is a Soviet towed, road-transportable, short- to medium-range, single-barrel anti-aircraft gun from the 1950s. The gun was extensively used in Warsaw Pact, Middle Eastern and South-East Asian countries.
The KS-19 100mm anti-aircraft gun is a Soviet anti-aircraft gun that also features good capabilities against ground targets.
The 155mm L33 Argentine Model gun is an Argentine artillery field gun in service with the Argentine Army.
The 85-mm divisional gun D-44 was a Soviet divisional 85-mm calibre field artillery gun used in the last action of World War II. It was designed as the replacement for the 76 mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3). The gun was no longer in front-line service with the Russian Ground Forces, until being pressed back into service in the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2023. Some 200 of the Chinese Type 56 variant are still in service with the Pakistan Army. Wartime service included use by communist forces during the Vietnam War and by Arab forces during their conflicts with Israel.
The Cyprus Naval Command is the armed sea wing of the Cyprus National Guard. The Cypriot Navy has the primary mission of defending the maritime borders of the Republic of Cyprus, but is currently unable to access the waters around Northern Cyprus, which have been controlled by the Turkish Navy since the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This force does not possess any capital ships or other major warships, but is equipped with patrol boats, landing craft, surface-to-surface missile systems and integrated radar systems, as well as SEALs-type naval underwater demolitions units.
The Bofors 57 mm m/54 was a wheeled automatic anti-aircraft gun for land based use produced by Bofors and developed from the similar Bofors 57 mm m/50 naval artillery gun. The gun was developed in the 1950s and fielded by the Belgian and Swedish forces.
Christopher Frank Foss is a British military author. Since 1970, he has worked for the military publisher Jane's Information Group. He is editor of Janes Armour and Artillery and co-editor of other Jane's editions.
The 105×617mm, also known as 105×617mmR, is a common, NATO-standard, tank gun cartridge used in 105mm guns such as those derived from the Royal Ordnance L7.
