| GC-455 155 mm Howitzer | |
|---|---|
An ex-Iraqi GHN-45 at the U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma in travel mode |
|
| Type | Howitzer |
| Place of origin | Canada |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Thailand Philippines Iran China Kuwait |
| Wars | Iran–Iraq War, Gulf War, Cambodian–Thai border stand-off |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Gerald Bull |
| Manufacturer | Space Research Corporation, NORINCO |
| Variants | GHN-45, Type 89 |
| Specifications | |
| Caliber | 155 mm (6.1 in.) |
| Carriage | split trail |
| Elevation | -89 to 1,280 mils |
| Traverse | Left 534 mils, Right 711 mils |
| Rate of fire | maximum: 5 rpm sustained: 2 rpm |
| Muzzle velocity | 897 m/s (2,943 ft/sec) |
| Maximum range | 39.6 km (24.6 mi) with Base bleed |
The GC-45 (Gun, Canada, 45-calibre) is a 155 mm howitzer designed by Gerald Bull's Space Research Corporation (SRC) in the 1970s. Versions were produced by a number of companies during the 1980s, notably in Austria and South Africa. The most notable use of the design was in Iraq, where it formed the basis of their artillery units and was cause for considerable worry on the part of the allied forces in the Persian Gulf War.
Contents |
The general design follows several decades of work by Bull with fin-stabilized artillery shells, starting at the Canadian Armament Research and Development Establishment(CARDE) and later at Project HARP. In these projects accuracy was not a huge concern, the objective was muzzle velocity, and the test articles were finned darts representing missiles. Yet with the removal of the rifling and the soft-metal driving band on the shell itself, the shell could be designed purely for ballistics, as opposed to having the external constraint of the driving band. A system combining some sort of rifling for accuracy without a driving band would result in a much longer ranged weapon.
After years of research at his Quebec firing range, Bull eventually settled on a solution. The resulting Extended Range, Full Bore (ERFB) ammunition was key to SRC's designs, a "pointy" looking shell with much lower drag at supersonic speeds. For longer range applications he added a base bleed system that could be screwed onto the standard shell, as well as an even longer-ranged system with a rocket booster.
Now all that was needed was the weapon to fire it. The new ordnance had a 1400 cubic inch chamber, a 45-calibre rifled barrel with 1/20 right hand twist fitted with a conventional muzzlebrake.[1] Its breech was a conventional screw with interrupted thread.
Key performance data, from the Firing Table[2] are:
The dispersion of the EFRB shell is more than three times that of the FH-70 field howitzer at its maximum range of only 5 km less, and is twice as great as FH-70's at 20 kilometres (12 mi). Its maximum range with the M107 projectile is the same as any 30 calibre 155mm gun and its dispersion about the same. Note that dispersion means that 50% of shells with fall up to the stated distance either side of the mean point of impact, but 100% will fall within 4 times the probable error either side. Dispersion of this magnitude significantly reduces the tactical value of the equipment.
Bull's work put him in touch with (what is today) Denel in South Africa in 1977. Denel designed a new mobile mounting that was able to handle the increased recoil. It used a sole-plate to lift the carriage to take the four wheels off the ground. The chassis had the option of being powered by a small diesel engine acting as an APU, driving hydraulics that could set up the gun in two minutes, and move it short distances.[3] Meanwhile Bull started production of $30 million worth of rounds, shipping them via Spain to avoid the international arms embargo against South Africa.
At first the U.S. chose to overlook Bull's actions, and according to him, the CIA actively mediated the deal between Space Research and the South Africans.[4] However, when the Carter administration joined the international efforts to sanction South Africa's apartheid regime, Bull was arrested by US Customs agents in 1980. The investigation did not go far, and active work on the case was ended by direct intervention of the White House.[4] Bull pled guilty and was sentenced to a year in prison, serving six months. Having expected some sort of "slap on the wrist", he was embittered and made statements to different newspapers that he would never set foot in North America again. He left Canada and moved to Brussels where he continued his work.
Denel continued work on their version of the gun, and these were put into service in South Africa in 1982 as the G5. They started replacing a variety of older guns, such as locally-built World War II-era Ordnance QF 25 pounders. The G5's saw service against Cuban and FAPLA forces in the Angolan conflict, where they were used very effectively.
Noricum, the arms division of Voest-Alpine, purchased the design rights to the GC-45 after SRC moved to Europe. They made a number of detail changes to improve mass production, resulting in the GHN-45 (gun, howitzer, Noricum), which was offered in a variety of options like the APU and fire control systems. The first foreign sale was an order for eighteen guns with ammunition to the Royal Thai Navy for use by their Marine Corps. Other "aboveboard" customers included China, Singapore and Israel. All of these companies worked on local production under a variety of names, the Soltam 845P in Israel, ODE FH-88 from Singapore, and WA 021 in China.[5]
Bull was soon contacted by Iraq, which was constantly on the wrong end of Iranian artillery during the Iran–Iraq War. Iraq placed a $300 million contract for 110 guns from Noricum in Austria and 41,000 rounds subcontracted by SRC to PRB in Belgium. Deliveries were made in 1984 and 1985, eventually raising the number to 200 guns.[6] Iran and Iraq were under arms embargo at the time, so the guns were shipped to Jordan, and from there to Iraq. These sales led to the "Noricum affair" in 1990, when eighteen of Noricum's managers were placed on trial for illegal arms sales.[7] A further 100 were manufactured in South Africa.[6]
In Iraq the guns had a similar effect on the ongoing Iran–Iraq War as the G5 had in Angola, stopping any push by the Iranians deeper into Iraq. They became desperate to get more of these guns into the field as soon as possible, and requested that Bull improve deliveries any way he could. Bull then arranged a deal to deliver G5's from South Africa, similar enough to the GHN-45 to avoid problems while also firing the same ammunition. By the time of the Gulf War, about 124 of these weapons had been added to, forming the backbone of their long-range artillery, supplanting their older 130 mm M-46s and hodge-podge of other weapons.[8] Bull and Saddam Hussein became partners in a number of future ventures. These ventures are generally believed to be the cause of Bull's assassination; with the Israeli group Mossad being prime suspects
During the Gulf War, however, the GHN-45s proved less effective than anticipated by either side. Air strikes had disrupted the Iraqi command and control facilities, and because most of their gun tractors had been withdrawn to serve with logistics units in an attempt to re-supply the front line troops, they were unable to withdraw when under fire. Immobile and unsupported the majority of the guns were destroyed at their positions either by air strikes or Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) counter-battery fire.
Bull worked with NORICUM in Austria to produce a new-build version of the GC-45. The first foreign sales were 18 GC-45s with ammunition, which were sold to the Royal Thai Navy for use by their Marine Corps. NORICUM later modified the design for easier mass production as the GHN-45.
The Chinese armed forces also used the NORICUM version, producing it as the Type 89 starting in 1986. They also mounted it on a locally-designed tracked chassis to produce the PLZ-45 (also known as the Type 88), along with an ammo-carrier based on the same chassis. Interestingly the PLZ-45 did not enter service with the PLA due to costs, primarily because their existing artillery was all based on Soviet-standard 152 mm ammunition. However two major batches of PLZ-45's were sold to the Kuwaiti Army in 1997 and 2001.
Bull continued work on the GC-45, producing a much more practical version known as the FGH-155. In addition to a number of detail changes and deeper rifling, the FGH-155 allowed standard M-107 ammunition to be fired using a plastic adaptor ring.[5] Bull also felt that the FGH-155's carriage was suitable for a larger gun, and worked on the FGH-203, an 8" calibre gun adapted from U.S. standards in a fashion similar to the original GC-45 work. The increase in projectile weight gave the new weapon a range of over 50,000 meters with normal ERFB-BB ammunition, making it one of the longest ranged artillery pieces in the world. The gun was also purchased by the Iraqis, who mounted it in a self-propelled form to create the Al-Fao.
The Chinese armed forces also used the Norinco version, producing it as the Type 89 starting in 1986. They also mounted it on a locally-designed tracked chassis to produce the PLZ-45 (also known as the Type 88), along with an ammo-carrier based on the same chassis. Interestingly the PLZ-45 did not enter service with the PLA due to costs, primarily because their existing artillery at the time was all based on Soviet-standard 152 mm ammunition. However two major batches of PLZ-45s were sold to the Kuwaiti Army in 1997 and 2001.
The Denel G5 version has also seen continued development. The gun has been placed on an OMC 6x6 chassis as the G6 howitzer, and won major export sales to the United Arab Emirates and Oman. In response to an Indian requirement, the G5 was mounted on a 4x4 truck, resulting in the T5, though as yet no orders for this variant have been forthcoming. It is also fitted into a turret that can fit on any suitable vehicle. The turret is marketed as the T6 which has already been fitted on the T-72. Denel also used the basic ERFB ammunition concept to develop a new 105 mm gun, the G7 howitzer, which has become more interesting as forces look to downsize their artillery to improve mobility.
The dominant artillery system in the "Western World" remains the U.S. 155/39 as used in the M109 howitzer. When it was first introduced, the ERFB concept was rejected for NATO service, but a slower post-Cold War upgrade series led to it being re-evaluated when new purchases started in the mid-to-late 1990s. Out of these efforts an even longer 52-calibre version of the basic GC-45 system appears to be becoming a de facto standard for these newer designs, and most examples with the exception of the Chinese have moved to this larger gun (for instance, the G5-2000). With ranges of up to 75 kilometres (47 mi),[9] Bull's basic design now dominates all future artillery systems.