All Topics  
Royal Ordnance L7

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Royal Ordnance L7
 
 
  Topics Royal Ordnance L7 Topic Home

The Royal Ordnance L7 is the basic model of Britain's
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 most successful tank gun
Tank gun

A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. Modern tank guns are large-caliber high-velocity guns, capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high explosive anti-tank rounds, and in some cases guided missiles....
. The L7 was a 105 mm L/52 rifled design intended for use in armoured fighting vehicle
Armoured fighting vehicle

An armoured fighting vehicle is a military vehicle, protected by vehicle armour and armed with weapons. Most AFVs are equipped for driving in rugged terrain....
s. It was so successful that it armed not only British post-war designs, but was used almost universally in "the West" as the main armament of almost every main battle tank of the period.

The L7 was developed by Britain's Royal Ordnance Factories to equip British tanks of the postwar (Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
) period as the successor to the 20 pounder
Ordnance QF 20 pounder

The Ordnance QF 20 pounder was an 84 mm tank gun introduced in 1948 and used in the Centurion tank and the Charioteer tank. It was the successor to the popular Ordnance QF 17 pounder, having improved performance, and the predecessor of the Royal Ordnance L7....
 (84 mm) used on Britain's postwar tank—the Centurion
Centurion tank

The Centurion was the primary United Kingdom main battle tank of the postwar period, and has proven itself be a successful tank design for most of the postwar decades; the Centurion's success has been mainly due to its thick armour, adaptability of its chassis to other roles, and numerous upgrades....
.

The L7 was a popular weapon and it was maintained in use even after it was superseded by the L11 series 120 mm rifled tank gun, for some Centurion tanks operating as Artillery Forward Observation and Armoured Vehicle, Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the Structure of the British Army of the British Army....
 (AVRE) vehicles.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Royal Ordnance L7'
Start a new discussion about 'Royal Ordnance L7'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The Royal Ordnance L7 is the basic model of Britain's
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 most successful tank gun
Tank gun

A tank gun is the main armament of a tank. Modern tank guns are large-caliber high-velocity guns, capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high explosive anti-tank rounds, and in some cases guided missiles....
. The L7 was a 105 mm L/52 rifled design intended for use in armoured fighting vehicle
Armoured fighting vehicle

An armoured fighting vehicle is a military vehicle, protected by vehicle armour and armed with weapons. Most AFVs are equipped for driving in rugged terrain....
s. It was so successful that it armed not only British post-war designs, but was used almost universally in "the West" as the main armament of almost every main battle tank of the period.

The L7 was developed by Britain's Royal Ordnance Factories to equip British tanks of the postwar (Cold War
Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension and competition that existed between a number of world powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, People's Republic of China, France, United Kingdom and those countries' respective allies from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s....
) period as the successor to the 20 pounder
Ordnance QF 20 pounder

The Ordnance QF 20 pounder was an 84 mm tank gun introduced in 1948 and used in the Centurion tank and the Charioteer tank. It was the successor to the popular Ordnance QF 17 pounder, having improved performance, and the predecessor of the Royal Ordnance L7....
 (84 mm) used on Britain's postwar tank—the Centurion
Centurion tank

The Centurion was the primary United Kingdom main battle tank of the postwar period, and has proven itself be a successful tank design for most of the postwar decades; the Centurion's success has been mainly due to its thick armour, adaptability of its chassis to other roles, and numerous upgrades....
.

The L7 was a popular weapon and it was maintained in use even after it was superseded by the L11 series 120 mm rifled tank gun, for some Centurion tanks operating as Artillery Forward Observation and Armoured Vehicle, Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the Structure of the British Army of the British Army....
 (AVRE) vehicles. The L7, and adaptations of it, can be found today as standard or retrofitted equipment on a wide variety of tanks developed during the Cold War. It is also being used as the main armament of the U.S. Army
United States Army

The United States Army is the branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for Army operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S....
's Stryker
Stryker

The IAV Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled all wheel drive armored combat vehicles produced by General Dynamics Land Systems, in use by the United States Army....
-based Mobile Gun System.

History

During the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, a Soviet T-54A medium tank was driven onto the grounds of the British embassy in Budapest by the Hungarians. After an examination of this tank's armour and 100 mm gun
D-10 tank gun

The D-10 is a Soviet antitank gun developed in late World War II, and installed in tank destroyers and tanks. Versions of the 100mm calibre gun were installed on new T-55 tanks as late as 1979, and continue to be in active service in many countries....
, British officials decided that the 20 pounder
Ordnance QF 20 pounder

The Ordnance QF 20 pounder was an 84 mm tank gun introduced in 1948 and used in the Centurion tank and the Charioteer tank. It was the successor to the popular Ordnance QF 17 pounder, having improved performance, and the predecessor of the Royal Ordnance L7....
 was apparently incapable of defeating it. Hence there was a need to adopt a 105 mm gun.

The L7 was specifically designed to fit into the turret mountings of the 20 pounder. This would enable the Centurions to be upgunned with minimum modifications, hence the fleet could be upgraded in a shorter time and at a lower cost.

The first tank to be equipped with the L7 was the Centurion Mark 5 in 1959. The gun was subsequently adopted by several other nations for their own MBTs, most notably the German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 Leopard 1 (for which the L7A3 variant was developed), the Japan
Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
ese Type 74
Type 74

The is a main battle tank of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force . It was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as a replacement for the earlier Type 61....
 (produced under license by Japan Steel Works
Japan Steel Works

is a steelmaking founded in Muroran, Hokkaido, Hokkaido, Japan in 1907....
), the Swedish
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
 Stridsvagn 103
Stridsvagn 103

The Stridsvagn 103 , or S-Tank, was a Sweden tank . It was known for its unconventional Gun turret-less design, with a fixed gun Gun laying by engaging the Caterpillar track and adjusting the hull Suspension ....
 (as the L74, with a longer barrel and automatic loader
Autoloader

An auto-loader or autoloader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load Ammunition into crew-served weapons, such as tanks and artillery....
), the US
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 M60 series of tanks
M60 Patton

The M60 Series was an all-purpose main battle tank designed to have the firepower and armor of a heavy tank and the mobility of a medium tank....
 (with the M68), and the Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
i Merkava
Merkava

The Merkava is the main battle tank of the Israel Defense Forces. Since the early 1980s, four main versions have been deployed. The "Merkava" name was derived from the IDF's development program name....
. In addition, several countries have used the gun to improve the firepower of existing main battle tanks. Derivatives have even been mounted in Warsaw Pact-built T-54 and T-55 tanks in Israel, Egypt and Iraq, and Type 79
Type 79

Type 79 may refer to:* Type 69/79 Chinese tank* Type 79 100 mm naval gun* Type 79 submachine gun* Bristol Ten-seater, variant Type 79* List of World War II British naval radar, a British World War II radar...
 tanks in China.

Technology

The breech uses a horizontally-sliding breechblock
Breechblock

A breechblock is the part of the firearm action that closes the breech of a weapon at the moment of firing.Most modern small firearms use a rotating bolt, better known as a bolt, first used in manually operated bolt action weapons, but later operated by the power of the cartridge in automatic weapons....
 for loading the fixed cartridge
Cartridge (firearms)

A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and Percussion cap into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm....
 cases. The gun recoil
Recoil

Recoil, in common everyday language, is considered the backward kick or force produced by a gun when it is fired. In more precise scientific terms, this force is equal to the time derivative of the backward momentum resulting when a gun is fired....
s approximately 29 cm (in most applications), automatically ejecting the empty cartridge case upon reaching full recoil. The barrel of the L7 is fitted with a bore evacuator
Bore evacuator

A bore evacuator is a device on the gun barrel of an armoured fighting vehicle which helps prevent poisonous propellant gases from venting back into the vehicle's fighting compartment when the gun breech is opened to load another shell ....
 approximately halfway down its length. It is eccentric
Eccentric (mechanism)

An eccentric in mechanical engineering is a circular disk solidly fixed to a rotating axle with its centre offset from that of the axle .It is most often employed in steam engines and used to convert rotary into linear reciprocating motion in order to drive a sliding valve or a pump ram....
ally mounted, which is a key recognition feature.

Specification


  • Caliber: 105 mm (4.13 in)
  • Barrel length: 52 calibres
  • Weight: 1,282 kg
    Kilogram

    The kilogram or kilogrammeThe spelling kilogram is used by the International Committee for Weights and Measures and the U.S....
     (2,826 lbs)
  • Length: 5.89 m
    Metre

    The metre or meter is a Unit of measurement of length. It is the SI base unit of length in the metric system and in the International System of Units , used around the world for general and scientific purposes....
     (19.3 ft)
  • Rate of fire: 10 rounds per minute
    Minute

    A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle.The minute is a Unit of measurement of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the Coordinated Universal Time time scale, a minute occasionally has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second....
     (maximum)


Ammunition Available

  • APDS
    Shell (projectile)

    A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to Round shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage includes large solid projectiles previously termed shot ....
  • APERS-T ("Anti-personnel-tracer")
  • APFSDS
  • Dummy
  • HE
    Shell (projectile)

    A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to Round shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage includes large solid projectiles previously termed shot ....
  • HEAT
    Shell (projectile)

    A shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to Round shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage includes large solid projectiles previously termed shot ....
  • HESH
    High explosive squash head

    High explosive squash head is a type of explosive ammunition that is effective against buildings and is also used against tank vehicle armour....
  • Smoke-White phosphorus incendiary
  • Target Practice
  • Target Practice Discarding Sabot
    Sabot

    A sabot is a device used in a firearm or cannon to fire a projectile, such as a bullet, that is smaller than the caliber diameter. The term is also applied to a battery stub case, a device used similarly to make a small battery usable instead of a List of battery sizes one....


Variants


  • L7A1
Standard British production variant.
  • L7A3
Variant for the (West) German Leopard 1 MBT. The upper rear corner of the breech block reduced in size so gun can be depressed without hitting the turret roof.
  • L74
Swedish
Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
 variant with a 62 calibre (6.51 m) barrel used only for the Stridsvagn 103
Stridsvagn 103

The Stridsvagn 103 , or S-Tank, was a Sweden tank . It was known for its unconventional Gun turret-less design, with a fixed gun Gun laying by engaging the Caterpillar track and adjusting the hull Suspension ....
 MBT.
  • M68
US
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 built variant for M60 Patton
M60 Patton

The M60 Series was an all-purpose main battle tank designed to have the firepower and armor of a heavy tank and the mobility of a medium tank....
. Utilises a round breech with a vertically-sliding breechblock
Breechblock

A breechblock is the part of the firearm action that closes the breech of a weapon at the moment of firing.Most modern small firearms use a rotating bolt, better known as a bolt, first used in manually operated bolt action weapons, but later operated by the power of the cartridge in automatic weapons....
, and a different design of bore evacuator.
  • KM68A1
Republic of Korea Army
Republic of Korea Army

The Republic of Korea Army is by far the largest of the military branches of the South Korean armed forces with over 560,000 members as of 2004....
's license-produced variant of the U.S. M68 gun. Used on M48A3K
M48 Patton

The M48 Patton was the third and final US medium tank the M48 Patton would also serve as an interim tank until replaced by the US Army's first Main Battle Tank , the M60 Patton....
, M48A5K
M48 Patton

The M48 Patton was the third and final US medium tank the M48 Patton would also serve as an interim tank until replaced by the US Army's first Main Battle Tank , the M60 Patton....
 and K1
K1 Type 88

The K1 is a main battle tank in use with the South Korean ground forces. The vehicle was designed by General Dynamics, while the production is handled domestically in South Korea by Hyundai....
 tanks.
  • Type 79/81/83
Chinese copies of an L7 supplied by Austria.
  • FM K.4 Modelo 1L
Argentine Army
Argentine Army

The Argentine Army is the Army branch of the Military of Argentina and the senior military service of the country....
's license produced by Fabricaciones Militares in Argentina
Argentina

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic , is a country in South America, constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city....
. Used on the TAM
TAM (tank)

The Tanque Argentino Mediano , or TAM, is the Tank classification#Main battle tank in service with the Argentine Army. Lacking the experience and resources to design a tank, the Argentine Ministry of Defense contracted German company Thyssen-Henschel....
 medium tank.


Use


  • Centurion
    Centurion tank

    The Centurion was the primary United Kingdom main battle tank of the postwar period, and has proven itself be a successful tank design for most of the postwar decades; the Centurion's success has been mainly due to its thick armour, adaptability of its chassis to other roles, and numerous upgrades....
and derivatives such as Olifant
  • EE-T1 Osório
    EE-T1 Osório

    The Engesa EE-T1 Os?rio was a Brazilian main battle tank. It was developed as a private venture by Engesa, with little government support using private funds....
  • Leopard 1
    Leopard tank

    The Leopard is a tank designed and produced in Germany that first entered service in 1965. It was used as the main battle tank by over a dozen countries worldwide....
  • M1 Abrams
    M1 Abrams

    The M1 Abrams is a Tank classification#Main battle tank produced in the United States. The M1 is named after General Creighton Abrams, former Army Chief of Staff of the United States Army and Commander of US military forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972....
  • M47 Patton
    M47 Patton

    The M47 Patton was the second tank of the Patton tank, and one of the United States Army principal medium battle tanks of the Cold war with models in service from the early 1950s to the late 1980s....
     in some upgraded variants (examples: Spanish M47E1 and M47E2)
  • M48 Patton
    M48 Patton

    The M48 Patton was the third and final US medium tank the M48 Patton would also serve as an interim tank until replaced by the US Army's first Main Battle Tank , the M60 Patton....
     in some upgraded variants (M48A5, Israel
    Israel

    Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
    i-rebuilt M48s, etc.)
  • K1 Type 88
    K1 Type 88

    The K1 is a main battle tank in use with the South Korean ground forces. The vehicle was designed by General Dynamics, while the production is handled domestically in South Korea by Hyundai....
  • M60 Patton Tank
    M60 Patton

    The M60 Series was an all-purpose main battle tank designed to have the firepower and armor of a heavy tank and the mobility of a medium tank....
     
  • Merkava
    Merkava

    The Merkava is the main battle tank of the Israel Defense Forces. Since the early 1980s, four main versions have been deployed. The "Merkava" name was derived from the IDF's development program name....
     I and II
  • OF-40
  • Pz-61
    Pz-61

    The Pz-61 is a Swiss tank that entered service in 1965. It was armed with a Royal Ordnance L7 main gun and weighed 37 tonnes. The tank was powered by a 630hp diesel engine which gave it a top road speed of 31 mpg ....
     & Pz-68
  • Stridsvagn 103
    Stridsvagn 103

    The Stridsvagn 103 , or S-Tank, was a Sweden tank . It was known for its unconventional Gun turret-less design, with a fixed gun Gun laying by engaging the Caterpillar track and adjusting the hull Suspension ....
  • Stryker
    Stryker

    The IAV Stryker is a family of eight-wheeled all wheel drive armored combat vehicles produced by General Dynamics Land Systems, in use by the United States Army....
     MGS
  • T-54 in several upgraded variants (for example Israeli Tiran-4Sh)
  • T-55
    T-55

    The T-54 and T-55 tanks were a series of main battle tanks designed in the Soviet Union. The first T-54 prototype appeared in March 1945, just before the end of the World War II....
     in several upgraded variants (for example Egyptian modified T-55s)
  • TAM medium tank
    TAM (tank)

    The Tanque Argentino Mediano , or TAM, is the Tank classification#Main battle tank in service with the Argentine Army. Lacking the experience and resources to design a tank, the Argentine Ministry of Defense contracted German company Thyssen-Henschel....
  • Type 74
    Type 74

    The is a main battle tank of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force . It was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as a replacement for the earlier Type 61....
  • Vijayanta
    Vijayanta

    The Vijayanta main battle tank was built in India based on a licensed design of the Vickers MBT. The prototype was completed in 1963 and the tank entered service in 1965....
  • Ramses II