M119 howitzer gets new muzzle brake
The Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center's Benet Laboratories at Watervliet Arsenal is developing a new 105mm low blast overpressure (LBOP) muzzle brake for the US Army's M119 howitzer.
The 105mm LBOP muzzle brake is being developed for use with the M119 during shorter range howitzer missions and training.
A muzzle brake achieves recoil reduction by redirecting propellant gasses rearward, similar to the thrust reversal used during the landing of a jet plane when the jet plane's engines redirect engine exhaust forward to reduce forward momentum.
The LBOP muzzle break also reduces the auditory and non-auditory health hazards compared to the current muzzle brake on the M119.
Alan Ng, LBOP program lead, said: 'It is important to the warfighter because it allows them to be more lethal by sustaining [a] higher number of rounds fired per day because the blast overpressure from this new muzzle brake that is experienced by the artilleryman is significantly lower.
'The reduction in impulse noise [blast overpressure] varies between 13 percent to 48 percent at various quadrant elevations and crew locations.'
The M119 towed howitzer is designed specifically for this 105mm M20 cannon, but the technology can be engineered for other cannon platforms, such as a 155mm.
More from Land Warfare
-
Romania opens the chequebook and reorganises as it watches Russian aggression
Romania is retiring old systems, some Soviet, and replacing them with western equipment from countries such as Sweden and Turkey and boosting existing modern fleets.
-
Milrem picks Texelis for partnership in drive to develop large UGV
Milrem has delivered or is building a total of 200 Tracked Hybrid Modular Infantry System UGVs and has chosen Texelis as partner in its effort to develop a UGV.
-
Sweden takes delivery of first M3 amphibious bridge and ferry system
The most recent nation to join NATO has joined other member nations in using the M3 system.
-
CV90 delivery to Slovakia imminent
Slovakia is undergoing a radical refresh of its equipment, like many central and eastern European countries, and the arrival of new vehicles will form a substantial part of this.
-
Mortar mobility: Patria’s TREMOS takes aim at the modern battlespace
In conversation... Patria’s Lauri Pauniaho talks to Shephard's Gerrard Cowan about how high mobility levels are essential for mortar systems in the face of modern counter-battery fire, and how a new platform-agnostic module can combine existing vehicles and mortar barrels into a cost-effective new weapon system.