As an Artillery veteran, I feel like this video had more information than what was taught to us in Artillery School back in the day. Great video, subscribed!
As an ex gunner, this was brilliant. I'd add a description of the variable size charges used. The reason the propellant is kept in bags is because they can be used to help with range. Fewer bags means lesser range. Determining the range needed also requires more or less charge/propellant, to reach the required range. Anyway, thanks for this
Additionally using a lesser charge - when appropriate - alleviates stresses on the the gun carriage and gun barrel thus giving them a longer service life.
@@looksirdroids9134: Two different types of munitions; White phosphorus is designated for highly flammable targets while smoke rounds are for cover and concealment of troop movements. Ex 13A here.
It seems that I've hit the gold mine of military technical animations. Straight and thorough explanation combined with detailed animation? No reason not to sub. Great content, keep up the good work!
I was 13Bravo for 12 years until I got hurt. I was the ammo team chief for three years; I became a chief of a section after six years. Your short little video taught me more about the internal workings of fuzes and rounds we used than correspondence courses or training. Even as the Ammo Team Chief, my training didn't cover this stuff. Thank you for posting this. I got a few friends that are still serving, with whom I've shared your video. Good training :-)
Keep in mind, there are many more fuzes than depicted in this video. Not to take away from the content, but it's dangerous to think that these are the only fuze functions if you are in the "business"
@@tonyk2796 Trust me, Tony, the OP of this comment knows his fuzes. I was a 13B for 4 years (fired in combat as well) and knew what fuzes were compatible with what rounds, and even which ones rain would affect when fired.
Man I absolutely love this video. Super simple, neat, no technical jargon, no nonsense talk, no extra human noises. Mundane, straightforward, insightful. I want more of these on every topic possible in military hardware. Please keep making such high quality videos. Thankyou so much.
That's because it's a text to speech voiceover. It's script also has tons of grammar and terminology issues. Why spend all that time making a nice animation only to pair it with a poorly written voiceover?
I served as a 89B (Ammunition Specialist) in Iraq… we operated a large ASP(Ammunition Supply Point) and we stored and issued large amounts of these weapons and many others. This video was outstanding! Refreshed my memory on many things I haven’t thought about in nearly two decades… and showed me things I never learned as an 89B. Thank you!
The type of ammunition and whether the gun is self propelled (SP) or towed are independent. There are three types of large caliber ammunition: fixed, semi-fixed and separate loading. SP or towed guns can be designed to shoot any of these types.
Don't forget the U.S. Navy's separated ammunition. It differs greatly from the Army's separate loading ammo. Yeah, I know. The video isn't about naval artillery.
Outstanding! I wish I saw this video 50 yes ago when I was in Artillery AIT at Ft. Sill, OK. I was ultimately assigned to a M110 Self Propelled Howitzer unit in Germany. Our guns projectile was 8 inches in diameter, weighed 200 hundred lbs and came up to my waist when stood up. It took 2 guys to lay the projectile down on a metal tray which was then lifted by 2 men and hooked up to a hydraulic ram which placed it into the breech of gun. One day during live fire the other guy that helped me load the projectile slipped and the tray dropped and the fused projectile tip hit the corner of the gun. The other screamed and I let out a holler myself. We thought we were going to be dead. They stopped the live firing to explain the shear pin that was in the fuse so that the thing wouldn't explode until it went through the barrel and spun thus snapping 5he shear pin and arming the projectile to explode. My Army experience was so intense that I still vividly remember my days on active duty 50 years ago!. Done some further research. Range was 15 to 20 milles. During that time. Czechoslovakia was communist So we were there to protect Europe. We had nuclear rounds on base. I remember we had a unit on base that took turns being active 24/7. If I remember correctly there were 5 guys in a group. Each had a sequence to do to arm the nuclear round. They had great duty Didn't do shit. They were there for one thing only. They never associated with us. They were secret ghosts. East Germany existed then. Berlin was right in the middle. If you had to go to Berlin, you could only fly in or take a train. If you took the train, you were advised to bring cigarettes. The train would be stopped on the way, boarded by armed guards, and they liked American cigarettes. They would question you less if you gave them cigarettes. Anyone make that train trip during early 70's?
I was in Vietnam serving on a 105 self propelled howitzer, I also worked in an Army ammunition plant where we manufactured 155mm, 175mm and 8 inch artillery shells. I seem to recall the 105 firecracker round that utilized air burst to deploy small explosive charges. There was also a round called the bee hive round the 105 version was loaded with 6,000 Fle-èchettes that were unleashed via a time delay fuse. I remember firing this round with the fuse set to muzzle action. This would result in a spread of darts 100 yards deep by 300 yards wide. Thanks for the video the comments are good too. Charlie battery 3rd battalion 6th artillery 52nd artillery group (I think) out of Pleiku 69 & 70
God bless you man. Glad you made it home safe my dad was over there from 61-64 he was one of Kennedys advisors to the south Vietnamese who wore a funny green beret. Lol Take it easy and have agood day Red Leg.
@@dungteller367 appreciate that alot. He was a heck of man and one I was proud of. He's up in the SF home in the sky as of 09 sharing beers with his buddies and all the others who didn't make it home. I'll do my best to have a good day and many more with everything that's going on anymore. Stay safe and God bless
I commanded a 105mm towed howitzer battery back in 1967. I truly enjoyed your excellent video. It was accurate and easy to understand. I'm sending the link to my great-grandson.
As a former Navy guy, this was very informative. We loaded all types of ordinance on our aircraft but the days of artillery type guns were long gone by the time I was in.
I remember back in the day when our artillery (The state of the art G5 and G6) of the South African Army was experimenting with "Base bleed" shells to extend the range of the 155. A certain Dr Bull was involved in the design...and was assassinated in his flat in Canada. If memory serves me correctly, they pinned it on Mossad. I was fortunate enough to be able to drive the G6 (self propelled artllery). A wonderful, fast and mobile piece of kit with very capable systems!
Almost. The base bleed principle was invented by a Swedish company in the '60s who licenced international production to Space Research Corporation owned by Gerald Bull who was assassinated in Brussels presumably by Mossad because he did work for Iraq. Base bleed works by generating a flame at the back of the shell which does not actively helps to propel the shell but improves it's aerodynamics over the standard boat tail shell. Since the '90s base bleed tech can or is used by anybody. It increases the range of 155mm shells by up to 30%.
@@gustavmeyrink_2.0 yup...quite right. a couple of inaccuracies on my part...but the base bleed works well reducing the tumbling vortices at the rear of the shell improving the drag ratio...and thus increasing the range.
I’m going to say what many have already have said since it is clearly the absolute truth. This is by far the most underrated channel on RU-vid! Well done !
FYI, this coming from an artilleryman, I can tell you for certain, that the 155mm HE projectile has a 50m kill radius and devastation radius of 100m (not saying you couldn't be killed from shrapnel at 100m away)! And the best way to put the weight of an 155 mm HE round is 95Lbs. And the only rounds really used are smoke, illum and HE, the Excalibur is just too expensive but accurate as hell! I actually got to be apart of the testing of the Excalibur round!
Having helped mfg, these devices years ago, (105 & 155mm) the Steel & aluminum component casings have to survive the launch, traveling to target to Become what they are Great informational video.
Thank you so much for explaining how it works in a such simple and complete way at the same time, I've had no idea about the different tipes of artillery used in war. Excelent and exquisite video.
I remember when I was so excited because I thought I'd found an ancient Roman bracelet while searching with my metal detector in the hills around my village. Turned out it was a copper driving ring from an artillery shell that the Americans used to defeat the last pockets of the Wermacht troops here in the Eifel. I had no idea that those rifling marks were caused by the barrel while firing. Great video!
I served in the Greek Artilery in mid 90s, on 105mm Howitzer mainly but also received training in 155mm and some old 25 pounders. Once in an exercise with the 105mm, we were on a hill and we would have to hit a moving target in the sea below. I do not remember what the distance was, definately a few km, was but this was supposed to be a direct hit (straight trajectory) and we used all 7 charges which was kind of rare. We usually used up to 5 or 6 for curved trajectories. As the barrel looked down aiming the target at a lower level the force of full charge sent the whole gun in the air, the wheels went up at least half a meter from the ground! Great work on the video, I recaled many things and learned a few details. The cutout cgi's of the detonators were amazingly informative!
Thank you soo much 😘😘💖, from many years I was unable to understand impact fuze and time delay impact fuze mechanism!! Not only this video but this whole channel help me lot!! Thanks from heart ❤️🇮🇳..
I was artillery for many years. Fantastic job with the info and animation. I wish this was around when I had to teach ammo classes. I just want to pint out 1 minor mistake. At around 1:54 you show the round loaded into the bore. The rotating band isn't making contact with the grooves in the bore making an airtight seal.
9:41 The proximity fuze was a HUGE advantage for the allied forces during WWII. We probably could've won the war without it but having it turned the war in the Pacific in our favor big time.
Have you read the testimonies from the secret trials of the proximity fuze ? They are amazing, so is the whole story behind the research and early use of the fuze. When you have a look at how many shells were needed before the proximity fuze to shoot a plane and after... well, then it's kinda obvious why the sailors were amazed :)
@@herrhaber9076 I saw a video on YT that said we did not use VT over Germany until later in the war because they were so worried that the Germans might recover a round and learn the secret. Over water in the Pacific for AA fire, not so much risk. Airburst over troops is deadly effective and Germans feared it (so I read). Trying to time a fuse for a perfect airburst is very difficult but a proximity fuse gets it right every. single. time. A round that hits the dirt/mud is wasted (unless you happen to be very close).
@@swright5690 I've got a few books on the subject and to put it simply, the development of the proximity fuze was probably as much a game changer as being able to ramp up the production of the Norden bombsight to the levels needed, the nuclear bomb or other inventions made necessary or perfected by war.
EXCELLENT. It is amazing how well you picture and narrate ! Thank you for all your efforts, editing, & posting! You ARE APPRECIATED !!! Bill, from Tn. 🇺🇸
I know right alot of people think the same, it’s really wild how many different types artillery shells there are and what there capabilities are… For instance there was artillery shells with nuclear warheads in them, I’m pretty sure those aren’t in the arsenal anymore, at least I hope not anyways!!🤷♂️💥
Congratulations Mr. Mscope: Your narrative is so far about the Clearest, Most adequately Detailed and satisfyingly- Articulate of ALL the informative or technical videos on ALL of RU-vid. I am a discriminating, scrutinizing, picky s.o.b. about a lot of things. So I wouldn't speak frivolously or disingenuously about your production. It reminds me of the detail and articulation that might be required (in my imagination) in a beginner level intro on a military training base classroom. You deserve an award of some sort in official recognition of your presentation's high Quality. If I were present in person I would gladly affix an honorary symbol of some kind to your lapel for the achievement of quality. Keep on truckin brother. 👏🏻👏🏻 👌🏻 👍🏻👍🏻
Isn't that what cargo planes are for? Why would they drop that stuff from a shell when they can deliver far more with trucks/rail/plane, with much less risk.
I have been watching your videos recently, subscribed on the second one itself. I am loving the perfect no-nonsense, awesome animation, and straightforward explanations. Thank you for your videos, and you deserve many more subscribers.
I was with a 198HOW (ABN) unit out of Bragg. We were in Polk for pre-deployment training, and I went with the captain and soldiers to burn all the leftover powder. You usually dig a trench in the shape of a cross, pack powder, and light the ends. All was going well until we lit the ends without moving the captain's Humvee that transported the powder. There were 3 M16s, a bunch of blank ammo, MREs, and best of all, a 155 HE round (to this day, I have no Fuking clue why that was in there). Well, the humvee caught fire. We all tried to grab everything but realized there was no hope, so we ran.....we ran forever to reach the wood line, went about 50 yards in, and jumped to the ground. So much time went by we all assumed it wouldn't go off. Most of the humvee was destroyed by fire but then a big ball of light and heat; then I thought my teeth were blown out by shockwave. The humvee went about 100 ft in the air; shrapnel flew past us through the trees. It was absolute chaos. This was my first month at my unit, and our captain was replaced, busted down in rank.
I went "with the captain" There's your problem. In the British Army its a Senior NCO (usually a Sgt Major) that burns off unused charge bags. Best keep officers away from maps and things that go bang.
Wow super informative. Not that I really need but it's concise, neat and most importantly explains details I didn't knew (maybe most of us). Really nice schematics and illustrations that really explain well.
I remeber getting a few vietnam era radar proximity fuzes at a gun show. They had itty bitty vacuum tubes in them that could take the extreme forces. When the signal was strong enough to trigger it activated a miniature hydrgen thyratron tube that fired the blasting cap. The fuze was powered by a battery that screwed into the bottom of it. The battery was dry but had a vial that breaks when fired. It makes about 22V at very high impulse current. They were very cleaverly engineered. 🤓
@Mscope • I just want to add my praise to everyone else's. I learned so many things that I can't enumerate them all. I was very interested in how you displayed the aerodynamics of the shell. I also really appreciated the cut-away of the projectiles, their use, and how they work with different fuses. This video is truly a work of art. Thank you. 🏆👍
In 1985 to 1987 I worked at Lawton/Fort Sill for Telos Federal Systems writing software for a Fire Direction and Control system for field artillery. This brought back memories.
The capabilities of artillery impresses me every time. No wonder it’s so devastating (when used correctly). The one thing not mentioned here was DPICM, the one with like 80 submunitions in it. But the idea isn’t really different from the mines in mechanical function other than that it has immediate effect.
Very well explained and very informative Some Additional information is >>, 1. The the Proximity fuze are of two types, CVT (Controlled variable Time) and VT (Variable Time), the VT works as u explained However on CVT you can also set time which helps in crest clearance, i.e if there is a mountain in the flight path the CVT wont prime until it passes the crest. 2, The Projectiles are also weight marked i.e not all projectiles are of same weight so the difference from standard weight is shown on them to calculate correction. 3. SOme Projectiles have base bleed mechanism i,e to reduce wake at the back end of projectile thus increasing the range of a projectile with usage a concept of base drag reduction of the projectile. Reducing the base drag of projectile is accomplished by filling space behind the projectile base with combustion products to increase pressure to the value close to the ambient pressure. 4. The HEER Improved shell is specially designed for ranges of more than 40 km with very low dispersion. Its long-range capability has been obtained by optimizing the external ballistics via streamlining the body and equipping it with a base bleed unit to further reduce drag.
Huh. So the basebleed isn't actually propelling the shell so much as acting like an aerodynamic part? The shell goes farther because it's experiencing less drag from the low pressure pocket normally formed on its rear.
@@dannyzero692 Exactly the same? Numbers are diferent, but beside that... all guns (towed or self propelled artilery, tank's and fire support vechicle's) work more or less the same. If you have gun using single peace amunition, look on what he describe as 105mm. Guns with 2 part amunition work as 155mm he describe.
Excellent presentation. The former existence of U.S. 155mm nuclear shells using linear implosion of ellipsoid plutonium pits is not relevant, but I thought I'd mention it.
This was very interesting. Loved the detail. Would the "Excalibur" round function anything like these rounds explained or is that round a whole different story?
It’s fin stabilized and controlled, so it works very similar since it still needs to be able to be fired from the 155 but it’s flight characteristics and internals are different to an extent including a GPS guidance system.
13 F here, joint fire support specialist. Basically just forward observer so artillery and mortar. You nailed it all, mights know your rounds better than us guys who use them
informative and clearly explained - 10 minutes of pure information instead of stupid half-knowledge by so-called and self-appointed "military experts" here on youtube. I was in the army for a few years so I think I know what I'm talking about. Sir - Abo+like! 🚀👍
The fact that the narration is synthetic is a bit hard to spot. And this is good. Speech synthesis technology nowadays is mindblowing. The giveaway was the contrast between native accent and obviously non-native quirks.
Regular ammunition will also cook off when hit, just maybe not as easily. It's just that russian tanks have the ammunition stored in the crew compartment, while western tanks generally have the ammunition stored in a separate compartment which "blows out" when hit, leaving the crew unharmed. The reason why Russian tanks are made like this is because it allows them to use automatic loaders, saving space by having fewer crew members and therefore having a smaller tank which can be more easily hidden and is harder to hit.
When I was in the Navy, we used to run out on the forecastle after a gun shoot and pick up the propellent grains. They were about 1/4" diameter and about 1" long.
How much unburned propellent was there? I'm curious to know what % of the total charge is expelled from the barrel without igniting, and if this is seen as a problem or just normal.
For the 105mm example he is using, the loader holds the round in with their fist as the gunner closes the sliding breach. As the breach slides closed, it moves the loaders fist out of the way and the breach now holds the round in place. For separate loading ammo (powder and round are loaded separately) there is a groove in the powder chamber called the swiss groove. When the round is loaded, the crew push the round past that groove and it holds the round in place until it is rammed all the way to the lands and grooves of the barrel at the end of the powder chamber (1:51). Not shown in the picture correctly, the gold band on the round will make contact with the lands and grooves holding the round in place while the powder is loaded. When the fire mission calls for a high angle over 800 mils, the crew must drop the cannon tube below 600mil in order to load it. If the tube is not dropped, it is difficult to get a proper ram (seating) of the round against the lands and grooves.
the one thing I didn't understand is on the time delay fuse that rotating band of gunpowder that's set. how do you increase or decrease the amount of time? I would think that it would have to be shortened or lengthened
Inside the fuse is different lenghts of gunpowder filled tubes (or combination of tubes) to represent different time delays. By chosing the delay from selector you effectively set tube lenght.
@@vihi7436 I think there is some kind of mechanism that changes the position of the detonator tube along the length of the delay tube .. it should be something like a hole in the tube, and a flexible tube that moves freely there, if you move it to the depth, then the retarding compound will start burning not from the beginning of the tube, and from the middle, by changing the distance, you can change the time .. it would be more logical than several tubes .. Well, or make the tube vertical, and move the detonator inside, the same principle, because the shells have a scale with a large number of marks, there cannot be 20 + pipes lol.
