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107-434: The howitzer ( / ˈ h aʊ . ɪ t s ər / ) is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun ) and a mortar . It is generally aimed lower than a mortar but higher than a cannon. With their long-range capabilities, howitzers can be used to great effect in a battery formation with other artillery pieces, such as long-barreled guns, mortars, and rocket artillery . The term "howitzer" originated from

214-472: A licorne , which remained in service for the next 100 years. In the mid-19th century, some armies attempted to simplify their artillery parks by introducing smoothbore artillery pieces that were designed to fire both explosive projectiles and cannonballs, thereby replacing both field howitzers and field guns. The most famous of these "gun-howitzers" was the Napoleon 12-pounder , a weapon of French design that

321-408: A 105 mm howitzer of the same weight could fire 15 kg shells. This is a matter of fundamental mechanics affecting the stability and hence the weight of the carriage. As heavy field howitzers and light siege howitzers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries used ammunition of the same size and type, there was a marked tendency for the two types to merge. At first, this was largely a matter of

428-500: A core, with the first drilled bore ordnance recorded in operation near Seville in 1247. They fired lead, iron, or stone balls, sometimes large arrows and on occasions simply handfuls of whatever scrap came to hand. During the Hundred Years' War , these weapons became more common, initially as the bombard and later the cannon . Cannons were always muzzle-loaders . While there were many early attempts at breech-loading designs,

535-421: A desired performance. The elementary equations of ballistics neglect nearly every factor except for initial velocity, the launch angle and an gravitational acceleration assumed constant. Practical solutions of a ballistics problem often require considerations of air resistance, cross winds, target motion, acceleration due to gravity varying with height, and in such problems as launching a rocket from one point on

642-408: A field carriage, immobility once emplaced, highly individual design, and noted unreliability (in 1460 James II , King of Scots, was killed when one exploded at the siege of Roxburgh). Their large size precluded the barrels being cast and they were constructed out of metal staves or rods bound together with hoops like a barrel, giving their name to the gun barrel . The use of the word "cannon" marks

749-406: A fixed angle and were entirely dependent on adjustments to the size of propellant charges to vary range, howitzers could be fired at a wide variety of angles. Thus, while howitzer gunnery was more complicated than the technique of employing mortars, the howitzer was an inherently more flexible weapon that could fire its projectiles along a wide range of trajectories. In the middle of the 18th century,

856-521: A hollow iron ball filled with pitch and fuse, designed to be fired at close range and burst on contact. The most popular in Portuguese arsenals was the berço , a 5 cm, one pounder bronze breech-loading cannon that weighted 150 kg with an effective range of 600 meters. A tactical innovation the Portuguese introduced in fort defense was the use of combinations of projectiles against massed assaults. Although canister shot had been developed in

963-478: A lack of engineering knowledge rendered these even more dangerous to use than muzzle-loaders. In 1415, the Portuguese invaded the Mediterranean port town of Ceuta . While it is difficult to confirm the use of firearms in the siege of the city, it is known the Portuguese defended it thereafter with firearms, namely bombardas , colebratas , and falconetes . In 1419, Sultan Abu Sa'id led an army to reconquer

1070-475: A mid-19th-century 12-pounder gun , which fired a 4.1 kg (9.0 lb) round, with a kinetic energy of 240 kilojoules, or a 20th-century US battleship that fired a 1,225 kg (2,701 lb) projectile from its main battery with an energy level surpassing 350 megajoules . From the Middle Ages through most of the modern era , artillery pieces on land were moved by horse-drawn gun carriages . In

1177-422: A number of European armies began to introduce howitzers that were mobile enough to accompany armies in the field. Though usually fired at the relatively high angles of fire used by contemporary siege howitzers, these field howitzers were rarely defined by this capability. Rather, as the field guns of the day were usually restricted to inert projectiles (which relied entirely on momentum for their destructive effects),

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1284-411: A parabola, so the path is parabolic. The axis of the parabola is vertical. If the projectile's position (x,y) and launch angle (θ or α) are known, the initial velocity can be found solving for v 0 in the afore-mentioned parabolic equation: The parabolic trajectory of a projectile can also be expressed in polar coordinates instead of Cartesian coordinates. In this case, the position has

1391-497: A prelude to a decisive infantry and cavalry assault. Physically, cannons continued to become smaller and lighter. During the Seven Years War, King Frederick II of Prussia used these advances to deploy horse artillery that could move throughout the battlefield. Frederick also introduced the reversible iron ramrod, which was much more resistant to breakage than older wooden designs. The reversibility aspect also helped increase

1498-565: A sixth of all rounds used by the Portuguese in Morocco were of the fused-shell variety. The new Ming Dynasty established the "Divine Engine Battalion" (神机营), which specialized in various types of artillery. Light cannons and cannons with multiple volleys were developed. In a campaign to suppress a local minority rebellion near today's Burmese border, "the Ming army used a 3-line method of arquebuses/muskets to destroy an elephant formation". When

1605-565: A strong integrating effect on emerging nation-states, as kings were able to use their newfound artillery superiority to force any local dukes or lords to submit to their will, setting the stage for the absolutist kingdoms to come. Modern rocket artillery can trace its heritage back to the Mysorean rockets of Mysore . Their first recorded use was in 1780 during the battles of the Second , Third and Fourth Mysore Wars . The wars fought between

1712-824: Is 45° and y 0 is 0. As shown above in the Displacement section, the horizontal and vertical velocity of a projectile are independent of each other. Because of this, we can find the time to reach a target using the displacement formula for the horizontal velocity: x = v 0 t cos ⁡ ( θ ) {\displaystyle x=v_{0}t\cos(\theta )} x t = v 0 cos ⁡ ( θ ) {\displaystyle {\frac {x}{t}}=v_{0}\cos(\theta )} t = x v 0 cos ⁡ ( θ ) {\displaystyle t={\frac {x}{v_{0}\cos(\theta )}}} This equation will give

1819-421: Is a widely used generic term for a projectile, which is a component of munitions . By association, artillery may also refer to the arm of service that customarily operates such engines. In some armies, the artillery arm has operated field , coastal , anti-aircraft , and anti-tank artillery; in others these have been separate arms, and with some nations coastal has been a naval or marine responsibility. In

1926-857: Is sometimes used for these (e.g., in Russia); many nations use "howitzer", while the UK (and most members of The Commonwealth of Nations ) calls them "guns", for example Gun, 105 mm, Field, L118 . Artillery Artillery are ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms . Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges , and led to heavy, fairly immobile siege engines . As technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery cannons developed for battlefield use. This development continues today; modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility generally providing

2033-574: Is the principle of compound motion established by Galileo in 1638, and used by him to prove the parabolic form of projectile motion. A ballistic trajectory is a parabola with homogeneous acceleration, such as in a space ship with constant acceleration in absence of other forces. On Earth the acceleration changes magnitude with altitude as g ( y ) = g 0 / ( 1 + y / R ) 2 {\textstyle g(y)=g_{0}/(1+y/R)^{2}} and direction (faraway targets) with latitude/longitude along

2140-783: The British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore in India made use of the rockets as a weapon. In the Battle of Pollilur , the Siege of Seringapatam (1792) and in Battle of Seringapatam in 1799, these rockets were used with considerable effect against the British. After the wars, several Mysore rockets were sent to England, but experiments with heavier payloads were unsuccessful. In 1804 William Congreve, considering

2247-499: The Czech word houfnice , meaning "crowd", which was later adapted into various European languages. Developed in the late 16th century as a medium-trajectory weapon for siege warfare , howitzers were valued for their ability to fire explosive shells and incendiary materials into fortifications. Unlike mortars, which had fixed firing angles, howitzers could be fired at various angles, providing greater flexibility in combat. Throughout

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2354-645: The Napoleonic Wars , the industrialist William Armstrong was awarded a contract by the government to design a new piece of artillery. Production started in 1855 at the Elswick Ordnance Company and the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich , and the outcome was the revolutionary Armstrong Gun , which marked the birth of modern artillery. Three of its features particularly stand out. Projectile motion Galileo Galilei showed that

2461-476: The Soviet deep battle doctrine. In modern times, the distinctions between guns and howitzers have become less pronounced, with many artillery pieces combining characteristics of both. Contemporary howitzers are often self-propelled , mounted on tracked or wheeled vehicles, and capable of firing at high angles with adjustable propellant charges for increased range and accuracy. The English word howitzer comes from

2568-407: The catapult , onager , trebuchet , and ballista , are also referred to by military historians as artillery. During medieval times, more types of artillery were developed, most notably the counterweight trebuchet. Traction trebuchets, using manpower to launch projectiles, have been used in ancient China since the 4th century as anti-personnel weapons. The much more powerful counterweight trebuchet

2675-536: The contemporary era , artillery pieces and their crew relied on wheeled or tracked vehicles as transportation. These land versions of artillery were dwarfed by railway guns ; the largest of these large-calibre guns ever conceived – Project Babylon of the Supergun affair – was theoretically capable of putting a satellite into orbit . Artillery used by naval forces has also changed significantly, with missiles generally replacing guns in surface warfare . Over

2782-616: The siege of Constantinople in 1453 weighed 19 tons , took 200 men and sixty oxen to emplace, and could fire just seven times a day. The Fall of Constantinople was perhaps "the first event of supreme importance whose result was determined by the use of artillery" when the huge bronze cannons of Mehmed II breached the city's walls, ending the Byzantine Empire , according to Sir Charles Oman . Bombards developed in Europe were massive smoothbore weapons distinguished by their lack of

2889-442: The 15th century. The development of specialized pieces—shipboard artillery, howitzers and mortars —was also begun in this period. More esoteric designs, like the multi-barrel ribauldequin (known as "organ guns"), were also produced. The 1650 book by Kazimierz Siemienowicz Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima was one of the most important contemporary publications on the subject of artillery. For over two centuries this work

2996-551: The 16th century unequalled by contemporary European neighbours, in part due to the experience gained in intense fighting in Morocco, which served as a proving ground for artillery and its practical application, and made Portugal a forerunner in gunnery for decades. During the reign of King Manuel (1495–1521) at least 2017 cannon were sent to Morocco for garrison defense, with more than 3000 cannon estimated to have been required during that 26-year period. An especially noticeable division between siege guns and anti-personnel guns enhanced

3103-440: The 16th century, cannon were largely (though not entirely) displaced from the battlefield—the cannon were too slow and cumbersome to be used and too easily lost to a rapid enemy advance. The combining of shot and powder into a single unit, a cartridge, occurred in the 1620s with a simple fabric bag, and was quickly adopted by all nations. It speeded loading and made it safer, but unexpelled bag fragments were an additional fouling in

3210-797: The 1860s, artillery officers discovered that rifled siege howitzers (substantially larger than field howitzers) were a more efficient means of destroying walls (particularly walls protected by certain kinds of intervening obstacles) than smoothbore siege guns or siege mortars. Thus, at the same time armies were taking howitzers of one sort out of their field batteries, they were introducing howitzers of another sort into their siege trains and fortresses. The lightest of these weapons (later known as "light siege howitzers") had calibers around 150 mm and fired shells that weighed between 40 and 50 kilograms. The heaviest (later called "medium siege howitzers") had calibers between 200 mm and 220 mm and fired shells that weighed about 100 kilograms (220 pounds). During

3317-540: The 1880s, a third type of siege howitzer was added to inventories of a number of European armies. With calibers that ranged between 240 mm and 270 mm and shells that weighed more than 150 kilograms, these soon came to be known as "heavy siege howitzers". A good example of a weapon of this class is provided by the 9.45-inch (240 mm) weapon that the British Army purchased from the Skoda works in 1899. In

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3424-541: The 18th and 19th centuries, howitzers evolved to become more mobile and versatile. The introduction of rifling in the mid-19th century led to significant changes in howitzer design and usage. By the early 20th century, howitzers were classified into different categories based on their size and role, including field howitzers, siege howitzers, and super-heavy siege howitzers. During World War I and World War II , howitzers played significant roles in combat, particularly in trench warfare and artillery-heavy strategies such as

3531-431: The 20th century, target acquisition devices (such as radar) and techniques (such as sound ranging and flash spotting ) emerged, primarily for artillery. These are usually utilized by one or more of the artillery arms. The widespread adoption of indirect fire in the early 20th century introduced the need for specialist data for field artillery, notably survey and meteorological, and in some armies, provision of these are

3638-484: The 77 mm field gun adopted by the German Army in 1916 ( 7,7 cm Feldkanone 16 ) were often provided with carriages that allowed firing at comparatively high angles, and adjustable propellant cartridges. In the years after World War I, the tendency of guns and howitzers to acquire each other's characteristics led to the renaissance of the concept of the gun-howitzer. This was a product of technical advances such as

3745-520: The British Army replaced both the 18-pounder field gun and the 4.5-inch howitzer . During World War II , the military doctrine of Soviet deep battle called for extensive use of heavy artillery to hold the formal line of front. Soviet doctrine was remarkably different from the German doctrine of Blitzkrieg and called for a far more extensive use of artillery. As a result, howitzers saw most of

3852-758: The British call them guns. The British had a further method of nomenclature. In the 18th century, they adopted projectile weight for guns replacing an older naming system (such as culverin , saker , etc.) that had developed in the late 15th century. Mortars had been categorized by calibre in inches in the 17th century, and this was duplicated with howitzers. U.S. military doctrine defines howitzers as any cannon artillery capable of both high-angle fire (45° to 90° elevation) and low-angle fire (0° to 45° elevation); guns are defined as being only capable of low-angle fire (0° to 45° elevation); and mortars are defined as being only capable of high-angle fire (45° to 90° elevation). The first artillery identified as howitzers developed in

3959-584: The Czech word houfnice , from houf , 'crowd', and houf is in turn a borrowing from the Middle High German word Hūfe or Houfe (modern German Haufen ), meaning 'crowd, throng', plus the Czech nominal suffix -nice . Haufen , sometimes in the compound Gewalthaufen , also designated a pike square formation in German. In the Hussite Wars of the 1420s and 1430s,

4066-541: The Detachment Commander, and the highest number being the Coverer, the second-in-command. "Gunner" is also the lowest rank, and junior non-commissioned officers are "Bombardiers" in some artillery arms. Batteries are roughly equivalent to a company in the infantry, and are combined into larger military organizations for administrative and operational purposes, either battalions or regiments, depending on

4173-514: The Dutch word houwitser , which led to the English word howitzer . Since World War I , the word howitzer has been changing to describe artillery pieces that previously would have belonged to the category of gun-howitzers – relatively long barrels and high muzzle velocities combined with multiple propelling charges and high maximum elevations. This is particularly true in the armed forces of

4280-459: The Earth to another, the horizon's distance vs curvature of the Earth (its local speed of rotation). Detailed mathematical solutions of practical problems typically do not have closed-form solutions, and therefore require numerical methods to address. In projectile motion, the horizontal motion and the vertical motion are independent of each other; that is, neither motion affects the other. This

4387-521: The English-held towns of Jargeau, Meung, and Beaugency, all with the support of large artillery units. When she led the assault on Paris, Joan faced stiff artillery fire, especially from the suburb of St. Denis, which ultimately led to her defeat in this battle. In April 1430, she went to battle against the Burgundians, whose support was purchased by the English. At this time, the Burgundians had

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4494-454: The French invention of autofrettage just before World War I, which led to stronger and lighter barrels, the use of cut-off gear to control recoil length depending on firing elevation angle, and the invention of muzzle brakes to reduce recoil forces. Like the gun-howitzers of the 19th century, those of the 20th century replaced both guns and howitzers. Thus, the 25-pounder "gun-howitzer" of

4601-805: The Hussites used short-barreled houfnice cannons to fire at short distances into crowds of infantry , or into charging heavy cavalry , to make horses shy away. The word was rendered into German as aufeniz in the earliest attested use in a document dating from 1440; later German renderings include haussnitz and, eventually haubitze , from which derive the Scandinavian haubits , Polish and Croatian haubica , Estonian haubits , Finnish haupitsi , Russian gaubitsa ( гаубица ), Serbian haubica ( xаубицa ), Ukrainian ( гаубиця ), Italian obice , Spanish obús , Portuguese obus , French obusier , Romanian obuzier and

4708-684: The Javanese were considered excellent in casting artillery, and in the knowledge of using it. In 1513, the Javanese fleet led by Pati Unus sailed to attack Portuguese Malacca "with much artillery made in Java, for the Javanese are skilled in founding and casting, and in all works in iron , over and above what they have in India ". By the early 16th century, the Javanese had already started locally-producing large guns, which were dubbed "sacred cannon[s]" or "holy cannon[s]" and have survived up to

4815-556: The Moon or the Sun). In this article a homogeneous gravitational acceleration ( g = g 0 ) {\textstyle (g=g_{0})} is assumed. Since there is acceleration only in the vertical direction, the velocity in the horizontal direction is constant, being equal to v 0 cos ⁡ θ {\displaystyle \mathbf {v} _{0}\cos \theta } . The vertical motion of

4922-653: The Mysorian rockets to have too short a range (less than 1,000 yards) developed rockets in numerous sizes with ranges up to 3,000 yards and eventually utilizing iron casing as the Congreve rocket which were used effectively during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 . With the Napoleonic Wars, artillery experienced changes in both physical design and operation. Rather than being overseen by "mechanics", artillery

5029-525: The Portuguese and Spanish arrived at Southeast Asia, they found that the local kingdoms were already using cannons. Portuguese and Spanish invaders were unpleasantly surprised and even outgunned on occasion. Duarte Barbosa ca. 1514 said that the inhabitants of Java were great masters in casting artillery and very good artillerymen. They made many one-pounder cannons (cetbang or rentaka ), long muskets, spingarde (arquebus), schioppi (hand cannon), Greek fire , guns (cannons), and other fire-works. In all aspects

5136-465: The United States , where gun-howitzers have been officially described as howitzers since World War II . Because of this practice, the word howitzer is used in some armies as a generic term for any kind of artillery piece that is designed to attack targets using indirect fire . Thus, artillery pieces that bear little resemblance to howitzers of earlier eras are now described as howitzers, although

5243-662: The action on the Eastern front . Most of the howitzers produced by the USSR at the time were not self-propelled. Notable examples of Soviet howitzers include the M-10 , M-30 and D-1 . Since World War II, most of the artillery pieces adopted by armies for attacking targets on land have combined the traditional characteristics of guns and howitzers – high muzzle velocity, long barrels, long range, multiple charges and maximum elevation angles greater than 45 degrees. The term "gun-howitzer"

5350-530: The army. These may be grouped into brigades; the Russian army also groups some brigades into artillery divisions, and the People's Liberation Army has artillery corps. The term "artillery" also designates a combat arm of most military services when used organizationally to describe units and formations of the national armed forces that operate the weapons. During military operations , field artillery has

5457-619: The bronze "thousand ball thunder cannon", an early example of field artillery . These small, crude weapons diffused into the Middle East (the madfaa ) and reached Europe in the 13th century, in a very limited manner. In Asia, Mongols adopted the Chinese artillery and used it effectively in the great conquest . By the late 14th century, Chinese rebels used organized artillery and cavalry to push Mongols out. As small smooth-bore barrels, these were initially cast in iron or bronze around

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5564-450: The course of World War I had longer barrels than pre-war howitzers. The standard German light field howitzer at the start of the war (the 10.5 cm leichte Feldhaubitze 98/09 ) had a barrel that was 16 calibers long, but the light field howitzer adopted by the German Army in 1916 ( 105 mm leichte Feldhaubitze 16 ) had a barrel that was 22 calibers long. At the same time, new models of field gun introduced during that conflict, such as

5671-431: The course of military history, projectiles were manufactured from a wide variety of materials, into a wide variety of shapes, using many different methods in which to target structural/defensive works and inflict enemy casualties . The engineering applications for ordnance delivery have likewise changed significantly over time, encompassing some of the most complex and advanced technologies in use today. In some armies,

5778-461: The current context originated in the Middle Ages . One suggestion is that it comes from French atelier , meaning the place where manual work is done. Another suggestion is that it originates from the 13th century and the Old French artillier , designating craftsmen and manufacturers of all materials and warfare equipments (spears, swords, armor, war machines); and, for the next 250 years,

5885-564: The defense in a siege was lost. Cannons during this period were elongated, and the recipe for gunpowder was improved to make it three times as powerful as before. These changes led to the increased power in the artillery weapons of the time. Joan of Arc encountered gunpowder weaponry several times. When she led the French against the English at the Battle of Tourelles, in 1430, she faced heavy gunpowder fortifications, and yet her troops prevailed in that battle. In addition, she led assaults against

5992-415: The development of artillery ordnance, systems, organizations, and operations until the present, with artillery systems capable of providing support at ranges from as little as 100 m to the intercontinental ranges of ballistic missiles . The only combat in which artillery is unable to take part is close-quarters combat , with the possible exception of artillery reconnaissance teams. The word as used in

6099-453: The early 15th century, the Portuguese were the first to employ it extensively, and Portuguese engineers invented a canister round which consisted of a thin lead case filled with iron pellets, that broke up at the muzzle and scattered its contents in a narrow pattern. An innovation which Portugal adopted in advance of other European powers was fuse-delayed action shells, and were commonly used in 1505. Although dangerous, their effectiveness meant

6206-669: The early 20th century, the introduction of howitzers that were significantly larger than the heavy siege howitzers of the day made necessary the creation of a fourth category, that of "super-heavy siege howitzers". Weapons of this category include the famous Big Bertha of the German Army and the 15-inch (381 mm) howitzer of the British Royal Marine Artillery . These large howitzers were transported mechanically rather than by teams of horses. They were transported as several loads and had to be assembled at their firing position. These field howitzers introduced at

6313-414: The end of the 14th century, cannons were only powerful enough to knock in roofs, and could not penetrate castle walls. However, a major change occurred between 1420 and 1430, when artillery became much more powerful and could now batter strongholds and fortresses quite efficiently. The English, French, and Burgundians all advanced in military technology, and as a result the traditional advantage that went to

6420-399: The end of the 19th century could fire shells with high trajectories giving a steep angle of descent and, as a result, could strike targets that were protected by intervening obstacles. They could also fire shells that were about twice as large as shells fired by guns of the same size. Thus, while a 75 mm field gun that weighed one ton or so was limited to shells that weigh around 8 kg,

6527-433: The enemy by obscuring their view. Fire may be directed by an artillery observer or another observer, including crewed and uncrewed aircraft, or called onto map coordinates . Military doctrine has had a significant influence on the core engineering design considerations of artillery ordnance through its history, in seeking to achieve a balance between the delivered volume of fire with ordnance mobility. However, during

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6634-410: The fallen city, and Marinids brought cannons and used them in the assault on Ceuta. Finally, hand-held firearms and riflemen appear in Morocco, in 1437, in an expedition against the people of Tangiers . It is clear these weapons had developed into several different forms, from small guns to large artillery pieces. The artillery revolution in Europe caught on during the Hundred Years' War and changed

6741-528: The field howitzers of the 18th century were chiefly valued for their ability to fire explosive shells. Many, for the sake of simplicity and rapidity of fire, dispensed with adjustable propellant charges. The Abus gun was an early form of howitzer in the Ottoman Empire . In 1758, the Russian Empire introduced a specific type of howitzer (or rather gun-howitzer), with a conical chamber, called

6848-428: The first few months of World War I greatly increased the demand for howitzers that gave a steep angle of descent, which were better suited than guns to the task of striking targets in a vertical plane (such as trenches), with large amounts of explosive and considerably less barrel wear. The German army was well equipped with howitzers, having far more at the beginning of the war than France. Many howitzers introduced in

6955-683: The general formula In this equation, the origin is the midpoint of the horizontal range of the projectile, and if the ground is flat, the parabolic arc is plotted in the range 0 ≤ ϕ ≤ π {\displaystyle 0\leq \phi \leq \pi } . This expression can be obtained by transforming the Cartesian equation as stated above by y = r sin ⁡ ϕ {\displaystyle y=r\sin \phi } and x = r cos ⁡ ϕ {\displaystyle x=r\cos \phi } . The total time t for which

7062-494: The ground breaking legs and ankles. The development of modern artillery occurred in the mid to late 19th century as a result of the convergence of various improvements in the underlying technology. Advances in metallurgy allowed for the construction of breech-loading rifled guns that could fire at a much greater muzzle velocity . After the British artillery was shown up in the Crimean War as having barely changed since

7169-423: The gun barrel and a new tool—a worm —was introduced to remove them. Gustavus Adolphus is identified as the general who made cannon an effective force on the battlefield—pushing the development of much lighter and smaller weapons and deploying them in far greater numbers than previously. The outcome of battles was still determined by the clash of infantry. Shells, explosive-filled fused projectiles, were in use by

7276-418: The introduction in the 15th century of a dedicated field carriage with axle, trail and animal-drawn limber—this produced mobile field pieces that could move and support an army in action, rather than being found only in the siege and static defenses. The reduction in the size of the barrel was due to improvements in both iron technology and gunpowder manufacture, while the development of trunnions —projections at

7383-470: The introduction of a gun shield necessary. The problems of how to employ a fixed or horse-towed gun in mobile warfare necessitated the development of new methods of transporting the artillery into combat. Two distinct forms of artillery were developed: the towed gun, used primarily to attack or defend a fixed-line; and the self-propelled gun, intended to accompany a mobile force and to provide continuous fire support and/or suppression. These influences have guided

7490-486: The largest share of an army's total firepower. Originally, the word "artillery" referred to any group of soldiers primarily armed with some form of manufactured weapon or armour. Since the introduction of gunpowder and cannon, "artillery" has largely meant cannon, and in contemporary usage, usually refers to shell -firing guns , howitzers , and mortars (collectively called barrel artillery , cannon artillery or gun artillery ) and rocket artillery . In common speech,

7597-424: The late 16th century as a medium- trajectory weapon between that of the flat trajectory ( direct fire ) of cannon and the high trajectory ( indirect fire ) of mortars. Originally intended for use in siege warfare , they were particularly useful for delivering cast iron shells filled with gunpowder or incendiary materials into the interior of fortifications. In contrast to contemporaneous mortars, which were fired at

7704-421: The maximum height of the projectile do not depend upon its mass. Hence range and maximum height are equal for all bodies that are thrown with the same velocity and direction. The horizontal range d of the projectile is the horizontal distance it has traveled when it returns to its initial height ( y = 0 {\displaystyle y=0} ). Time to reach ground: From the horizontal displacement

7811-928: The maximum height of the projectile: The maximum reachable height is obtained for θ =90°: If the projectile's position (x,y) and launch angle (θ) are known, the maximum height can be found by solving for h in the following equation: Angle of elevation (φ) at the maximum height is given by: The relation between the range d on the horizontal plane and the maximum height h reached at t d 2 {\displaystyle {\frac {t_{d}}{2}}} is: h = v 0 2 sin 2 ⁡ θ 2 | g | {\displaystyle h={\frac {v_{0}^{2}\sin ^{2}\theta }{2|g|}}} h = d tan ⁡ θ 4 {\displaystyle h={\frac {d\tan \theta }{4}}} . If h = R {\displaystyle h=R} The range and

7918-451: The modern period, the consideration of protecting the gunners also arose due to the late-19th-century introduction of the new generation of infantry weapons using conoidal bullet , better known as the Minié ball , with a range almost as long as that of field artillery. The gunners' increasing proximity to and participation in direct combat against other combat arms and attacks by aircraft made

8025-482: The motion. The vertical component of the velocity changes linearly, because the acceleration due to gravity is constant. The accelerations in the x and y directions can be integrated to solve for the components of velocity at any time t , as follows: The magnitude of the velocity (under the Pythagorean theorem , also known as the triangle law): At any time t {\displaystyle t} ,

8132-468: The nuts, bolts and screws made their mass production and repair much easier. While the Gribeauval system made for more efficient production and assembly, the carriages used were heavy and the gunners were forced to march on foot (instead of riding on the limber and gun as in the British system). Each cannon was named for the weight of its projectiles, giving us variants such as 4, 8, and 12, indicating

8239-400: The object a downward acceleration towards Earth's center of mass . Due to the object's inertia , no external force is needed to maintain the horizontal velocity component of the object's motion. Taking other forces into account, such as aerodynamic drag or internal propulsion (such as in a rocket ), requires additional analysis. A ballistic missile is a missile only guided during

8346-701: The present day - though in limited numbers. These cannons varied between 180 and 260 pounders, weighing anywhere between 3–8 tons, measuring between 3–6 m. Between 1593 and 1597, about 200,000 Korean and Chinese troops which fought against Japan in Korea actively used heavy artillery in both siege and field combat. Korean forces mounted artillery in ships as naval guns , providing an advantage against Japanese navy which used Kunikuzushi (国崩し – Japanese breech-loading swivel gun ) and Ōzutsu (大筒 – large size Tanegashima ) as their largest firearms. Bombards were of value mainly in sieges . A famous Turkish example used at

8453-595: The projectile is the motion of a particle during its free fall. Here the acceleration is constant, being equal to g . The components of the acceleration are: *The y acceleration can also be referred to as the force of the earth ( − F g / m ) {\textstyle (-F_{g}/m)} on the object(s) of interest. Let the projectile be launched with an initial velocity v ( 0 ) ≡ v 0 {\displaystyle \mathbf {v} (0)\equiv \mathbf {v} _{0}} , which can be expressed as

8560-429: The projectile remains in the air is called the time of flight. After the flight, the projectile returns to the horizontal axis (x-axis), so y = 0 {\displaystyle y=0} . Note that we have neglected air resistance on the projectile. If the starting point is at height y 0 with respect to the point of impact, the time of flight is: As above, this expression can be reduced to if θ

8667-409: The projectile's horizontal and vertical displacement are: The magnitude of the displacement is: Consider the equations, If t is eliminated between these two equations the following equation is obtained: Here R is the range of a projectile . Since g , θ , and v 0 are constants, the above equation is of the form in which a and b are constants. This is the equation of

8774-468: The rate of fire, since a soldier would no longer have to worry about what end of the ramrod they were using. Jean-Baptiste de Gribeauval , a French artillery engineer, introduced the standardization of cannon design in the mid-18th century. He developed a 6-inch (150 mm) field howitzer whose gun barrel, carriage assembly and ammunition specifications were made uniform for all French cannons. The standardized interchangeable parts of these cannons down to

8881-457: The relatively brief initial powered phase of flight, and whose remaining course is governed by the laws of classical mechanics . Ballistics (from Ancient Greek βάλλειν bállein  'to throw') is the science of dynamics that deals with the flight, behavior and effects of projectiles, especially bullets , unguided bombs , rockets , or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve

8988-406: The responsibility of the artillery arm. The majority of combat deaths in the Napoleonic Wars , World War I , and World War II were caused by artillery. In 1944, Joseph Stalin said in a speech that artillery was "the god of war". Although not called by that name, siege engines performing the role recognizable as artillery have been employed in warfare since antiquity. The first known catapult

9095-548: The role of providing support to other arms in combat or of attacking targets, particularly in-depth. Broadly, these effects fall into two categories, aiming either to suppress or neutralize the enemy, or to cause casualties, damage, and destruction. This is mostly achieved by delivering high-explosive munitions to suppress, or inflict casualties on the enemy from casing fragments and other debris and from blast , or by destroying enemy positions, equipment, and vehicles. Non-lethal munitions, notably smoke, can also suppress or neutralize

9202-471: The same basic weapon being employed on two different mountings. Later, as on-carriage recoil-absorbing systems eliminated many of the advantages that siege platforms had enjoyed over field carriages, the same combination of barrel assembly, recoil mechanism and carriage was used in both roles. By the early 20th century, the differences between guns and howitzers were relative, not absolute, and generally recognized as follows: The onset of trench warfare after

9309-411: The same effects (such as firing over low walls) that previously required the sharply curved trajectories of smoothbore field howitzers. Because of this, military authorities saw no point in obtaining rifled field howitzers to replace their smoothbore counterparts but instead used rifled field guns to replace both guns and howitzers. In siege warfare, the introduction of rifling had the opposite effect. In

9416-735: The sense of the word "artillery" covered all forms of military weapons. Hence, the naming of the Honourable Artillery Company , which was essentially an infantry unit until the 19th century. Another suggestion is that it comes from the Italian arte de tirare (art of shooting), coined by one of the first theorists on the use of artillery, Niccolò Tartaglia . The term was used by Girolamo Ruscelli (died 1566) in his Precepts of Modern Militia published posthumously in 1572. Mechanical systems used for throwing ammunition in ancient warfare, also known as " engines of war ", like

9523-406: The side of the cannon as an integral part of the cast—allowed the barrel to be fixed to a more movable base, and also made raising or lowering the barrel much easier. The first land-based mobile weapon is usually credited to Jan Žižka , who deployed his oxen-hauled cannon during the Hussite Wars of Bohemia (1418–1424). However, cannons were still large and cumbersome. With the rise of musketry in

9630-476: The siege of Roxburgh Castle in 1460. The able use of artillery supported to a large measure the expansion and defense of the Portuguese Empire , as it was a necessary tool that allowed the Portuguese to face overwhelming odds both on land and sea from Morocco to Asia. In great sieges and in sea battles, the Portuguese demonstrated a level of proficiency in the use of artillery after the beginning of

9737-454: The siege sixty-nine guns in fifteen separate batteries and trained them at the walls of the city. The barrage of Ottoman cannon fire lasted forty days, and they are estimated to have fired 19,320 times. Artillery also played a decisive role in the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs of 1444. Early cannon were not always reliable; King James II of Scotland was killed by the accidental explosion of one of his own cannon, imported from Flanders, at

9844-670: The strongest and largest gunpowder arsenal among the European powers, and yet the French, under Joan of Arc's leadership, were able to beat back the Burgundians and defend themselves. As a result, most of the battles of the Hundred Years' War that Joan of Arc participated in were fought with gunpowder artillery. The army of Mehmet the Conqueror , which conquered Constantinople in 1453, included both artillery and foot soldiers armed with gunpowder weapons. The Ottomans brought to

9951-417: The sum of horizontal and vertical components as follows: The components v 0 x {\displaystyle v_{0x}} and v 0 y {\displaystyle v_{0y}} can be found if the initial launch angle, θ {\displaystyle \theta } , is known: The horizontal component of the velocity of the object remains unchanged throughout

10058-406: The term "gunners" for the soldiers and sailors with the primary function of using artillery. The gunners and their guns are usually grouped in teams called either "crews" or "detachments". Several such crews and teams with other functions are combined into a unit of artillery, usually called a battery , although sometimes called a company. In gun detachments, each role is numbered, starting with "1"

10165-415: The total time t the projectile must travel for to reach the target's horizontal displacement, neglecting air resistance. The greatest height that the object will reach is known as the peak of the object's motion. The increase in height will last until v y = 0 {\displaystyle v_{y}=0} , that is, Time to reach the maximum height(h): For the vertical displacement of

10272-400: The trajectory of a given projectile is parabolic , but the path may also be straight in the special case when the object is thrown directly upward or downward. The study of such motions is called ballistics , and such a trajectory is described as ballistic . The only force of mathematical significance that is active ly exerted on the object is gravity, which acts downward, thus imparting to

10379-483: The trajectory. This causes an elliptic trajectory, which is very close to a parabola on a small scale. However, if an object was thrown and the Earth was suddenly replaced with a black hole of equal mass, it would become obvious that the ballistic trajectory is part of an elliptic orbit around that black hole, and not a parabola that extends to infinity. At higher speeds the trajectory can also be circular, parabolic or hyperbolic (unless distorted by other objects like

10486-634: The use and effectiveness of Portuguese firearms above contemporary powers, making cannon the most essential element in the Portuguese arsenal. The three major classes of Portuguese artillery were anti-personnel guns with a high borelength (including: rebrodequim , berço , falconete , falcão , sacre , áspide , cão , serpentina and passavolante ); bastion guns which could batter fortifications ( camelete , leão , pelicano , basilisco , águia , camelo , roqueira , urso ); and howitzers that fired large stone cannonballs in an elevated arch, weighted up to 4000 pounds and could fire incendiary devices, such as

10593-492: The way that battles were fought. In the preceding decades, the English had even used a gunpowder-like weapon in military campaigns against the Scottish. However, at this time, the cannons used in battle were very small and not particularly powerful. Cannons were only useful for the defense of a castle , as demonstrated at Breteuil in 1356, when the besieged English used a cannon to destroy an attacking French assault tower. By

10700-580: The weapon of artillery is the projectile, not the equipment that fires it. The process of delivering fire onto the target is called gunnery. The actions involved in operating an artillery piece are collectively called "serving the gun" by the "detachment" or gun crew, constituting either direct or indirect artillery fire. The manner in which gunnery crews (or formations) are employed is called artillery support. At different periods in history, this may refer to weapons designed to be fired from ground-, sea-, and even air-based weapons platforms . Some armed forces use

10807-421: The weight in pounds. The projectiles themselves included solid balls or canister containing lead bullets or other material. These canister shots acted as massive shotguns, peppering the target with hundreds of projectiles at close range. The solid balls, known as round shot , was most effective when fired at shoulder-height across a flat, open area. The ball would tear through the ranks of the enemy or bounce along

10914-573: The word "artillery" is often used to refer to individual devices, along with their accessories and fittings, although these assemblages are more properly called "equipment". However, there is no generally recognized generic term for a gun, howitzer, mortar, and so forth: the United States uses "artillery piece", but most English-speaking armies use "gun" and "mortar". The projectiles fired are typically either " shot " (if solid) or "shell" (if not solid). Historically, variants of solid shot including canister , chain shot and grapeshot were also used. "Shell"

11021-496: Was developed in Syracuse in 399 BC. Until the introduction of gunpowder into western warfare, artillery was dependent upon mechanical energy which not only severely limited the kinetic energy of the projectiles, it also required the construction of very large engines to accumulate sufficient energy. A 1st-century BC Roman catapult launching 6.55 kg (14.4 lb) stones achieved a kinetic energy of 16 kilojoules , compared to

11128-500: Was extensively used in the American Civil War . In 1859, the armies of Europe (including those that had recently adopted gun-howitzers) began to rearm field batteries with rifled field guns. These field pieces used cylindrical projectiles that, while smaller in caliber than the spherical shells of smoothbore field howitzers, could carry a comparable charge of gunpowder. Moreover, their greater range let them create many of

11235-454: Was invented in the eastern Mediterranean region in the 12th century, with the earliest definite attestation in 1187. Early Chinese artillery had vase-like shapes. This includes the "long range awe inspiring" cannon dated from 1350 and found in the 14th century Ming dynasty treatise Huolongjing . With the development of better metallurgy techniques, later cannons abandoned the vase shape of early Chinese artillery. This change can be seen in

11342-501: Was used in Europe as a basic artillery manual. One of the most significant effects of artillery during this period was however somewhat more indirect—by easily reducing to rubble any medieval-type fortification or city wall (some which had stood since Roman times), it abolished millennia of siege-warfare strategies and styles of fortification building. This led, among other things, to a frenzy of new bastion -style fortifications to be built all over Europe and in its colonies, but also had

11449-423: Was viewed as its own service branch with the capability of dominating the battlefield. The success of the French artillery companies was at least in part due to the presence of specially trained artillery officers leading and coordinating during the chaos of battle. Napoleon , himself a former artillery officer, perfected the tactic of massed artillery batteries unleashed upon a critical point in his enemies' line as

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