Source: Matsimus
The L118 Light Gun is a 105 mm towed howitzer. It was originally produced for the British Army in the 1970s and has been widely exported since, including to the United States, where a modified version is known as the "M119 howitzer". The versatile 105mm light gun is used by the parachute and commando field artillery regiments of the British Army. The light gun can be towed by a medium-weight vehicle or carried around the battlefield underslung by a Chinook helicopter. Royal Artillery L118 light guns are fitted with an automatic pointing system (APS), which enables the gun to be unlimbered and in action in 30 seconds. APS is based on an inertial navigation system, operated via a touch screen, it replaces the traditional dial sight. The light gun entered service with the British Army in 1976. The new weapon was heavier than its predecessor, but new and more capable helicopters such as the Puma and Westland Sea King, which could carry the new weapon, were entering service at the same time. A new vehicle, the Land Rover 101 Forward Control ("Land Rover, one-ton"), was designed as the prime mover in the field for the light gun (and the Rapier air-defence missile launcher). Since the end of the 1990s, the British Army has used Pinzgauer ATVs as their gun tractors. In Arctic service, and elsewhere, the gun is towed by the Hägglunds Bv 206 and is fitted with skis when over snow. In 1982, the light gun saw use in the Falklands War. Five batteries (30 guns) were deployed to the Falkland Islands. During the final phases of the battles around Port Stanley, these guns were firing up to 400 rounds per gun a day, mostly at "charge super", the most powerful propellant charge for which they were designed. They were a significant factor in the British victory. Since then, British forces have used the light gun in combat in the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan.
