Capable of very high precision in their direct fire role, tanks have nonetheless been involved extensively in attacks within populated areas. The majority of modern tanks are fitted with smoothbore guns, which do not utilise rifled barrels in order to impart spin to projectiles as they are fired see Annex B. A notable exception is the British Challenger 2 tank, which uses the mm L30 rifled gun. HESH ammunition is used both as a general-purpose high explosive projectile, and also against other tanks and armoured vehicles.
When HESH ammunition is fired from a rifled barrel, spin imparted to the projectile helps ensure a predictable distribution of the plasticised explosive filler, and thus maximises its efficiency in the anti-tank role. The smoothbore design of most modern tank barrels makes it easier for tanks to fire missiles through the same barrel used to fire projectiles.
The gun itself is not the sole factor influencing the range of a tank during combat operations. The definition of the latter varies by user, but is generally considered to be the maximum distance at which a weapon may be expected to be accurate and achieve the desired effect DoD, The effective range should only be considered indicative.
It varies with ammunition, training, sights used, whether the weapon platform is stable or mobile, weather conditions and other factors. At night, firing with the TPN-1 night sight, it is m for all projectile types — a limitation of the sight, not the ammunition. It can also be found on tanks produced by Japan, South Korea, and Turkey. Owing to the widespread adoption of both the Leopard 2 and the Abrams, the Rheinmetall mm gun is the most widely used weapon system in its class.
This gun comes in two versions — the shorter L44, and the longer L Both versions can fire the same types of ammunition, the difference being that the longer L55 allows ammunition to generate a higher velocity, which can lead to better performance against other tanks for certain ammunition types Rheinmetall Defence, The Russian-designed mm 2A20 Molot gun is fitted to the T tank, introduced into service in This was the first smoothbore gun to be fitted to a tank Tucker, This tank has been operated by numerous countries IISS, , and despite its relative age, it is still used by many armed forces.
The Russian mm 2A46 D smoothbore gun has been widely adopted on Russian-designed tanks and their foreign copies and derivatives. Versions of this gun have been in use since , and even some of the T tanks, which were first introduced into service in , have been retrofitted with this gun during modernisation programmes in Ukraine and China Lavrov, The 2A46 has been updated since its introduction; its more modern version has been given the designation 2A46M-5, but both versions are very similar.
Tank guns can typically fire a range of different projectiles, most commonly including anti-armour and multipurpose types, the latter used to engage light vehicles, personnel, and fortifications. Anti-armour warheads may be either chemical energy penetrators, or kinetic energy penetrators. The latter type is most commonly shaped like a dart or small-calibre rifle projectile, and are generally non-explosive Cross et al.
These are not examined in this study. Chemical energy penetrators rely on the energy of an explosive detonation generated when the munition functions on approaching or reaching its target Meyers, As these do not typically have wide-area effects relevant to their use in populated areas, they are not considered further in this study.
High explosive or multi-purpose tank gun ammunition consists, at its simplest, of a high explosive charge packed into a thick casing, typically constructed of hardened steel, a fuze, and typically , a cartridge case containing propellant.
The steel munition body serves two functions: firstly, it ensures that the ammunition is robust enough to withstand the intense forces it is subjected to during firing and whilst in flight; secondly, when the explosive fill detonates, it provides the primary fragmentation effect.
Different types of projectile bodies use different types of steel alloys. Some modern projectiles use steel that has not been heat-treated, because it has been found that this type of steel shatters into smaller and more regular fragments than other types of steel, thus increasing the lethal area of the projectile for the same weight of ammunition.
Regardless of whether a projectile is fired from rifled or smoothbore barrels, it must fit snugly inside the gun barrel to ensure that there is no movement along the axis of fire. Projectiles fired from rifled barrels have a soft metal driving band fitted towards the rear of the parallel-sided section of the projectile, which prevents any movement in the bore. Most projectiles are also stabilised in the barrel by an almost-imperceptible, slightly raised band towards the front of the parallel-sided section.
This is called a bourrelet. The combination of the bourrelet and the driving band keeps the projectile seated inside the barrel both before, and during, firing.
The soft metal of the driving band is forced against the hard metal rifling lands along the inside of the barrel. Each projectile is fitted with a fuze, either at time of manufacture or, more commonly, prior to firing.
The fuze must serve three functions: 1 ensuring a munition can be safely handled during the loading process and in transit; 2 arming the munition at a given time or position; and 3 ensuring the munition functions at a given time or position Dullum et al. They carried this rifling concept to bigger and bigger guns to include cannons.
So I remember reading a book about tanks and I read somewhere that modern Abrams' use a mm smoothbore gun. Why is that? Why not rifling like all the others? Doesn't that put the Abrams' gun at a disadvantage compared to all the other rifled ones other tanks use? From wikipedia: Quote The cannon made the transition from smoothbore firing cannonballs to rifled firing shells in the 19th century.
In more recent times anti-armour artillery, for example tank guns used for attacking tanks, is moving back to smoothbore. To reliably penetrate the thick armor of modern armored vehicles, a very long, thin kinetic-energy projectile is required. The longer the projectile is in relation to its diameter, the higher the spin rate must be to provide stability. Practical rifling can only stabilize projectiles of a limited length-to-diameter ratio, and these modern rounds are simply too long.
These rounds are instead formed into a dart shape, using fins for stabilization see kinetic energy penetrator for information on how this works. With the fins for stability, rifling is no longer needed, and in fact the spin imparted by rifling would degrade the accuracy of a finned projectile.
The first tank with a smoothbore gun was the Soviet T, introduced into service in ; today all main battle tanks except the British Challenger 2 and Indian Arjun MBT use smoothbore guns. The Russian navy conducted experiments with large-caliber smoothbore naval guns, which were halted by budget cuts. The armour-piercing gun evolution has also shown up in small arms, particularly the now abandoned U. The ACR "rifles" used smoothbore barrels to fire single or multiple flechettes tiny darts , rather than bullets, per pull of the trigger, to provide long range, flat trajectory, and armor-piercing abilities.
Just like kinetic-energy tank rounds, flechettes are too long and thin to be stabilized by rifling and perform best from a smoothbore barrel. The ACR program was abandoned due to reliability problems and poor terminal ballistics. Mortar barrels are typically muzzle-loading smoothbores. Since mortars fire bombs which are dropped down the barrel and must not be a tight fit, a smooth barrel is essential. It is also popular with irregular and guerrilla forces. Even with a single warhead it can be a problem from behind for most tanks or some other vulnerable area.
Most tanks have side skirts etc. To try to cover these areas. The Iraq war proved an RPG can damage the engine of an Abrams; this is the first way you can take the tank out of the fight. It had thick armor and devastating firepower, but could only fit 14 rounds and only 18 were built.
Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Dissertation Can a rifle have a smooth bore? Ben Davis March 13, Can a rifle have a smooth bore? What type of gun has a smooth bore? How accurate are smooth bore guns?
What is the advantage of a smooth bore tank gun? Register Don't have an account? Rheinmetall mm gun. Edit source History Talk 0. Warsaw, Poland: Brumar. Baryatinskiy, Mikhail Main Battle Tank T Surrey, United Kingdom: Ian Allen. ISBN Fort Knox, KY: U.
Armor Center. Candil, Antonio 1 February Center for Technology and National Security Policy. Clemens, Jon 1 July Dunstan, Simon Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank — Oxford, United Kingdom: Osprey. Eshel, David 1 January Eshel, Tamir 1 February Fogg, William; Robert Horner 1 May Gelbart, Marsh Modern Israeli Tanks and Infantry Carriers — Green, Michael; Greg Stewart M1 Abrams At War.
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