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14-575: The M35 , known during development as the EX35 and XM35 , is an American 105 mm caliber low-recoil tank gun . The M35 was developed for the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps Mobile Protected Gun Program of the early 1980s. It was integrated onto the Marine Corps LAV-105, and the U.S. Army's M8 Armored Gun System and M10 Booker vehicles. The M35 was designed and developed by Benét Laboratories , Watervliet Arsenal in 1983 for

28-642: A single calibre, which simplifies logistics; however some military forces have retained 105 mm (4.1 in) towed howitzers for their lighter weight and greater portability, including their rapid airlift and airdrop capabilities. The lower power and shorter range of 105 mm (4.1 in) ammunition has led to its obsolescence in full-sized self-propelled guns , such as the American M108 howitzer and British FV433 Abbot SPG . China, North Korea, Russia, and other former Soviet bloc countries use 122 mm (4.8 in) and 130 mm (5.1 in) calibre weapons in similar roles. During

42-670: A wide variety of tanks developed during the Cold War. Both the United Kingdom and the United States had been developing projects for high calibre guns during WWII in order to compete with increasingly heavily armoured German tanks, and later for Cold War Soviet tanks. The US developed several heavy tank designs during this period, notable were the US 105 mm gun motor carriage T95 (also known as "super-heavy tank T28") as well as

56-531: The Cold War , the concept of the main battle tank was established and guns of 105 mm (4.1 in) (NATO) and 100 mm (3.9 in) ( Warsaw Pact ) were the standard until the advent of guns of 120 mm (4.7 in) (NATO) and 125 mm (4.9 in) (Warsaw Pact) from the 1960s to the 1990s. The L7 was widely used by NATO countries, and with it was popularized the now-standard 105×617mmR round, still used both in lighter-weight applications such as

70-653: The QF 32-pounder mounted on the British A39 Tortoise heavy assault tank . The US foresaw difficulties in engagements against the Soviet IS-3 and 4 with its M47 Patton. This led to the introduction of the M103 , a heavy tank designed to counter Soviet heavy tanks. It mounted an extremely powerful 120 mm cannon but the ammunition was so large that it required two loaders, one for the shell and another for

84-703: The Stingray light tank and the Stryker Mobile Gun System , as well as older MBTs such as the M60 tank . Royal Ordnance L7 The L7 is a popular weapon and continued 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 (AVRE) vehicles. The L7, and adaptations of it, can be found as standard or retrofitted equipment on

98-646: The turret and Watervliet Arsenal EX35 gun of the LAV-105 with an AGS chassis. This joint project never came to fruition. When the Army began its Armored Gun System (AGS) competition in 1991, the Army agreed to furnish the winning bidder with the EX35 gun. In 1992, the Army selected FMC 's Close Combat Vehicle Light as the winner of the AGS competition. United Defense (created by a merger of FMC and BMY) built six prototypes of

112-478: The 20-pounder was apparently incapable of defeating its frontal armour. This meant the most common British tanks were no longer able to effectively deal with Soviet medium tank designs, let alone their heavy tanks. These events spurred the United Kingdom to employ a new high-velocity tank gun in 1958, the Royal Ordnance L7 to keep existing Centurion tanks viable against this new Soviet tank design. While

126-665: The CCVL under the designation XM8, later type-classified as the M8. The Army canceled the AGS in 1996 due to budget concerns. United Defense proposed the AGS to meet the Army's Interim Armored Vehicle requirement, however the Army instead chose General Motors ' proposal, later type classified as the Stryker M1128 mobile gun system armed with the M68A2 . In January 2023, an Army report noted unexpectedly "high levels of toxic fumes" from

140-647: The Mobile Protected Gun Program, a joint U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army program. The program was canceled the following year, however the Large Caliber Weapon System Laboratory (LCWSL) mounted the EX35 in an XM4 Armored Gun System (AGS) turret basket during FY1984. LCWSL fired 100 rounds from the gun. In 1991, the Senate and House Armed Services Committees joined in directing the Army to integrate

154-557: The United States began design development of the XM60 tank in 1957 and began user trials of the weapon in 1958. The L7 was specifically designed to fit into the turret mountings of the 20 pounder. This would enable the Centurion tanks to be up-gunned with minimum modifications; hence, the fleet could be upgraded in a shorter time and at a lower cost. The first production tank to integrate the L7

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168-463: The crew. Background: Tank gun , List of tank guns 105 mm caliber 105 mm (4.1 in) is a common NATO -standard artillery and tank gun calibre. The rifled tank round is defined by STANAG 4458. The artillery round is defined by AOP-29 part 3 with reference to STANAG 4425. Since the early 21st century, most NATO armies have settled on 155 mm (6.1 in) weapons as having a good compromise between range and destructive power whilst having

182-933: The separate propellant charge. Of the 300 M103s built, most went to the Marines. The UK came to the same conclusions and developed their own heavy tank, the Conqueror , which mounted the L1 120 mm gun. 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 in November. After a brief examination of this tank's armour and 100 mm gun, British officials decided that

196-663: The spent rounds were being vented into the GDLS M10 Booker . The Army's long-term solution is to add a purge system to clear the fumes. The M35 is about 1,800 lb (816 kg) lighter than the M68 used on the M60 tank . The XM35 has a bore evacuator . The M35 on the BAE Systems XM1302 Mobile Protected Firepower variant uses a bore evacuation fan. This is because the gun, autoloader, and associated components are isolated from

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