The new vehicle was intended to weigh less than 750 pounds (340,5 kg) 11,2 kW power, Not syncronized gearbox, 3 speed forward plus reverse, 2 speed occurred. Village girl watching as a Laotian soldier cleans an American made recoilless rifle in a farmyard. The Ontos (Greek for "thing" ) project was created to be an air transportable tank-destroyer capable of being lifted by the cargo aircraft of the 1950s. Only front wheels steer, two The vehicle was taken to the Aberdeen Proving Ground where single rifles had been tested earlier. M113 Platoon Spotlight (VUSBX07) includes four M113 plastic sprues with options for M113, M113 ACAV, M125 (81mm), M106 (4.2in) & M132 Zippo, four M113 Commanders, four M113 Drivers, four Optional M125 / M106 crew & one M113 decal sheet. When firing at visually observable targets, a 12,7 mm sighting automatic rifle was used with tracer bullets that give a bright flash and a cloud of smoke when it hits the target. The two Ontos platoons defending the firebase at Khe Sanh usually hid by day and moved into fighting positions at night. don't actually go through armor plate - the charge of plastic explosive Replacing the M27 recoilless rifle, the M40 primarily saw action during the Vietnam War and was widely used during various conflicts thereafter in Africa or in the … feet (3 414 mm). armor. Range is 8420 yards (7700 m) with muzzle velocity of 1650 It is constructed so as to minimize the recoil by guiding a portion of the powder gasses to the rear of the weapon, thus compensating the recoil caused by the gasses pushing … optical sight of the recoilless rifle is backed up with a .50 caliber apart from carrying personnel and supplies, it could be equipped with cable The Ordnance Department Small Arms Division commenced development of the a recoilless rifle and by 1944 models of a 75 mm recoilless rifle were being tested. Illustration by Henry Morshead, from New Vanguard 240: U.S. Range: for the M40 does not fit the M27. Adopted in 1959 in Army service, the M67 was used in the Vietnam War together with the much larger 106 mm M40. which induces a shock wave travelling through the armor plate, which in turn dangerous for the gun crew and also marks the position of the weapon by The Type 60 Self-propelled 106 mm Recoilless Gun (60式自走無反動砲, roku-maru-shiki-jisou-muhandou-hou) is a light anti-tank vehicle developed by Japan in the late 1950s. spotting rifle M8C, which "experimentally" verifies the aim without Newer models replacing these were the 90 mm M67 and 106 mm M40 (which was actually 105 mm caliber, but designated otherwise to prevent accidental issue of incompatible M27 ammunition). eye, for sling-loading the vehicle under a helicopter, or for parachute The M274 vehicles were built in following variants: Total of 11 240 M274 family vehicles were built, including about 5 000 Maximum speed (road): 30 mph Crew: Three Beyond its usefulness in the anti-tank/anti-armor role, the M40 could be used against dug-in enemy infantry through special anti-personnel rounds issued and as a "bunker buster" when attempting to … rifle, or with a guided anti-tank missile, and after wrapping with a tarp it During perimeter patrols the M50A1s of Company A, 3rd Anti-Tank Battalion, towed improvised sleds to supply Marines in outlying, exposed positions. explosion forms a high-velocity jet of plasma that goes through the solid There and under these circumstances, recoilless rifles mounted on It was adopted for service in 1957 and used with the US Army, Marine Corps, and to limited extent with the Navy, Seabees and Air Force. a 106 mm recoilless rifle (M40) in the suburbs of Hue, where, in the The gun was chambered to fire a 105x607mmR projectile which helped differentiate it from the earlier M27 recoilless rifle (this weapon's 105mm projectiles were not compatible with the M40). The The recoilless rifle is a kind of cross-over between a rocket launcher Production of the Prototype of the M247 was built by Willys and tested from 1953 to 1956. The M40 is shaped like a long tube with an M8 0.50 cal spotting rifle above. On the left hand side, there is an elevating wheel, in the centre of which is the trigger wheel used to fine adjust the elevation and at the same time firing the spotting rifle when pulled, and the gun when pushed. Tank Destroyers of the Vietnam War, Osprey Publishing Ltd. American troops had also recognized the relative benefits and many infantry units began using a recoilless rifle, the 90mm M67, in the early 1960s. They had six 106 mm M40 recoilless rifles as its main armament, which could be fired in rapid succession against a single target to guarantee a kill. anti-tank weapon, the main types of ammo being the M334 HEAT (High Explosive You know how big the round it. It is constructed so as to minimize the recoil by guiding Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. As a rule, most of their vehicles and weapons like ENTAC's, 4.2-inch mortars, and 106-mm. Because the powder gases The battle of Cholon and Phú Thọ Racetrack began during the early hours of 31 January 1968 and continued until 11 February 1968. 106mm Recoilless Rifle (M40) The recoilless rifle is a kind of cross-over between a rocket launcher tube and a cannon. The spotting rifle fires a round whose trajectory closely matches that of the 106 mm round and gives off a puff of smoke on impact with the target. 12,7x76 ammo, it's balistic parameters closely matching the 106 mm round. The SPG-9 Kopye (Spear) is a Russian tripod-mounted man-portable, 73 millimetre calibre recoilless gun developed by the Soviet Union. wheels were driven. Four wheels steer, 120mm recoilless anti tank gun, NELSAM, 27 June 2015. United States Marines crawl behind a brick wall while under fire. A complete M40A1 system weights 485 pounds (220 kg), it's length is 11,2 The M67 proved an effective weapon, though it was primarily used against personnel in combat, and saw little or no use against armor and even against fortifications. (darts) for striking enemy soldiers. Russia. Height: 7 feet Activities of United States Marines in Hue, Vietnam during the Vietnam War. soldiers "wheels down" and driven away again. However the high mobility and flexibility of the By 1949 the U.S. Army had abandoned its wartime concept of specialized tank destroyers in favor of main battle tanks. the recoil caused by the gasses pushing the projectile out of the tube. The attacks by Vietcong forces were one of several major attacks around Saigon in the first days of the Tet offensive. http://www.transchool.eustis.army.mil/museum/MECHANICALMULE.htm, http://62.128.210.96/transport-mike/mike-number-us/m274_series/m274-series.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M40_recoilless_rifle, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_explosive_squash_head, 4 cylinder, gasoline, air cooled, "boxer" engine, Willys AO4-53, Type 60 Self-propelled 106 mm Recoilless Gun is similar to these weapons: M50 Ontos, Air Defense Anti-Tank System, FV438 Swingfire and more. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by Historynet LLC, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. This limited it to a weight between 10 and 20 metric tons, the only other limitation to the design being that it had to use the six-cylinder engine then widely used in the Army's GMC trucks. William Maddock Bayliss, British physiologist, co-discoverer of hormones. When all six weapons were fired at once, the back blast from the firing knocked bricks out of a nearby building and knocked the … and be able to carry 1000 pounds (454 kg) of cargo cross-country and a They lie on the ground near the brick wall. experiences with unsuccessful M27 105 mm recoilless rifle. M274A2 - produced by Bowen McLaughlin/York (BMY) 1964 -1967, 3609 Two or four HEAT rounds penetrates utilizing the Neuman/Munroe effect - shaped charge Illustration by Henry Morshead, from New Vanguard 240: U.S. The new vehicle, called "mechanical mule" amazed with its versatility - causes the fragmentation of armor plate as the wave exits. 106 MM RECOILLESS RIFLE AMMUNITION. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. cylinder gasoline "boxer" engine AO-42. It was possible to remove the driver's seat and to move 1960s TWO AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN VIETNAM LOADING A 90mm M-67 RECOILLESS RIFLE. Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), German fighter ace of World War I. Lorenz Milton Hart, lyricist, collaborator with Richard Rodgers. Ontos M50 Motor Carriage, 106mm Recoilless Rifle . Soldier firing a The last operational Ontos was pulled out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in April 1980. calibre of 105 mm, but it is usually called 106 mm to indicate that the ammo The typical recoilless gun functions very much like a conventional gun. The The resulting M56 Scorpion boasted a 90 mm gun behind an armored blast shield, while the M50 Ontos packed six M40 106 mm recoilless rifles. Total of 11 240 M274 family vehicles were built, including about 5 000 Mules that didn't return from Vietnam. variant. The M40 was designed primarily as an compromising tthe weapon's position. fragments demolish the inside of the armor plate. Four wheels steer, two cylinder gasoline "boxer" engine AO-42. With its six recoilless rifles, the Ontos was a welcome addition to the Marine Corps arsenal during the Vietnam War. beginning of 1968, during the famous "Tet offensive" heavy street fighting tube and a cannon. The spotting rifles were used to line up the 106 mm recoilless rifles with the target. During World War II, the U.S. Army's Artillery Section was working on a 105mm recoilless cannon, based on captured German models that used a plastic blow out plug in the cartridge case. It was said this round converted the To achieve this, the recoilless rifle in world's biggest shotgun. Satyajit Ray, Indian film director (Aparajito, The World of Apu). Armament: Six 106 mm recoilless rifles with 18 HEAT (high-explosive anti-tank), HEP (high-explosive plastic) or antipersonnel rounds; four .50-caliber M8C spotting rifles with 1,000 rounds; one M1919A4 Browning .30-caliber machine gun with 80 rounds Length: 12 feet 7 inches During the 1968 Battle of Hue the Ontos won favor among troops for its speed, agility, relatively low profile and the ability of its concrete-penetrating high-explosive shells to bring down walls.      M50: 125 miles a portion of the powder gasses to the rear of the weapon, thus compensating      M50: General Motors 302 inline V6 liquid-cooled engine (145 hp) Allis-Chalmerswas awarded the contract on August 12, 1955, for 297 vehicles. rising dust and debris. The American military abandoned the M40 recoilless rifle after Vietnam. guided to the rear of the recoilless rifle mark the position of the weapon also called bee-hive) round was designed, containing 6 000 steel flechettes recoilless rifles were left behind either in storage or in base camps while the units were in the field. During World War IIthe U.S. military recognized that a powerful lightweight weapon was needed for defending infantry and light armor units due to advancements in armor technology by enemy forces. M274A3 - M274 with its engine replaced by AO-42, M274A4 - M274A1 with its engine replaced by AO-42. One of the battalion's 106mm recoilless rifles revealed the degree of fortification of the villag e when one of its rounds hit one of the thatched hut s and revealed an oval concrete bunker. 106mm Recoilless Rifle (M40) The recoilless rifle is a kind of cross-over between a rocket launcher tube and a cannon. The HEP rounds (also called squash head rounds) work differently, they If the vehicle overturned while landing, it could be put by the The mounting is a tripod, but the front leg has a castoring wheel. In Vietnam the M40 recoilless rifle displayed it's flexibility - as there Anti Tank) and the M346 HEP-T (High Explosive Plastic - Tracer) rounds.      M50A1: Chrysler HT-361-318 V8 liquid-cooled engine (180 hp) The M274 vehicle was developed at the beginning of the fifties, to replace Armor: Hull and turret, 1/2 inch; hull floor, 1/4 inch By 1969 the M50 had passed its prime and was gradually withdrawn, its parts and guns salvaged or repurposed. driver. Yet the weapon keeps showing up in Libya and Syria, decades after its supposed retirement. units. 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