FH-70

FH70 Field Howitzer
FH-70 Howitzer in North Cornwall Tank Museum Collection.
Type	Howitzer
Place of origin	United Kingdom, Germany, Italy
Service history
In service	1978–present
Used by	Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Morocco, Estonia, Norway, Netherlands, Oman, Malaysia
Production history
Manufacturer	VSEL, Rheinmetall, OTO Melara, Japan Steel Works (Licensed production)
Specifications
Weight	7,800 - 9,600 kg (17,196 - 21,164 lbs)
Length	Travel: 9.8 m (32 ft 2 in)
Barrel length	6 m (19 ft 8 in) L/39
Width	Travel: 2.2 m (7 ft 3 in)
Height	Travel: 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in)
Crew	8
Caliber	155 mm (6.10 in)
Carriage	Split trail, sole plate, auxiliary power unit and hydraulics
Elevation	-5° to +70° or -100 to +1,250 mils
Traverse	56°or 500 mils left and right
Rate of fire	Burst: 3 rounds in 15 seconds Sustained: 3-6 rpm
Muzzle velocity	827 m/s (2,713 ft/s)
Effective firing range	24 - 30 km (15 - 18 mi) depending on ammo

The FH70 (field howitzer for the 1970s) is a towed howitzer in use with several nations.

In 1963, NATO agreed a NATO Basic Military Requirement 39 for close support artillery, either towed or tracked. Subsequently, Germany and UK started discussions and design studies and in 1968 established agreed operational characteristics for a towed 155 mm close support gun. Italy became a party to the agreement in 1970.

Key requirements were:

The two national authorities had overall responsibility for R&D, and Vickers Ltd was the co-ordinating design authority. They were also the design authority for the carriage and Rheinmetall GmbH was the authority for the elevating mass, including the sights, and for the APU. There was a further breakdown at a more detailed level and production worksharing. The UK Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE) was responsible for designing the HE projectile and the charge system. Germany was responsible for Smoke, Illuminating, Minelet and extended range HE, although development of the last two was not completed in the program.

The intention was for FH70 to replace the M114 155 mm howitzer and equip general support battalions in German divisional artillery regiments and to equip three (two Territorial Army (TA)) British general support medium regiments replacing the 5.5-inch gun. In the event, it actually equipped UK regular regiments in direct support of infantry brigades until after the end of the Cold War, and only replaced the L118 light gun in two TA regiments, 100th (Yeomanry) Regiment Royal Artillery and 101st (Northumbrian) Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers) from 1992 to 1999.

FH70 had several interesting features, including:

The barrel was 39 calibres long, giving 827 m/s standard maximum MV. It had a muzzle brake giving 32% efficiency.