L118 105mm Light Gun

The L118 light gun is a 105 mm towed howitzer. It was originally produced for the British Army in the 1970s and has been widely exported since, including to the United States, where a modified version is known as the "M119 howitzer". The proper name for it is "gun, 105mm, field, L118" but it is almost always called the "light gun".

From 1961 until the mid-1970s, the British Army used the 105 mm pack howitzer L5 with L10 ordnance (OTO Melara Mod 56) as its light artillery weapon, variously replacing the 75mm howitzer, 4.2 inch mortar and 25-pounder gun in some eight regular artillery regiments. It fires the US M1 type ammunition (called "105 mm How" in the UK). This widely used howitzer was originally designed in Italy for the Alpini, and is light enough to be lifted by Westland Wessex helicopters or towed by Land Rovers. However, it lacked range (making it potentially vulnerable to counter-battery fire), was not notably robust, had poor sights and was not entirely popular.

In 1965, a general staff requirement was approved for a new 105 mm weapon system because the pack howitzer "lacked range and lethality".[2] Key characteristics included 6400 mil (360°) traverse by one soldier, maximum weight of 3,500 pounds (1,600 kg), dimension limits imposed by internal carriage in Chinook helicopters and Andover transport aircraft, and the ability to fire immediately after being under water for 30 minutes.

The ammunition to be used was the 105 mm Fd Mk 2 ammunition used in the L13 ordnance of the gun equipment 105 mm L109 (better known as the "Abbot self-propelled gun"). This ammunition uses electrical instead of percussion primers and is an entirely different design from the US M1 type ammunition as used in the L5 pack howitzer. The two types are not interchangeable. An early requirement was for the new weapon to use 105mm Fd Mk 1 ammunition, which uses the M1 shell, in training. However, in 1968, this was changed to allow a different version of the weapon, which subsequently became the L119, to fire US 1935 pattern (i.e. M1) ammunition.

The new gun, soon designated 'light gun', was designed by the government Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE), Fort Halstead, Kent. Prototypes were tested in 1968. However, it soon emerged that some increase in weight was needed for a gun with the requisite robustness, and several assemblies were substantially redesigned.

Original production, which was authorised in late 1975, was by Royal Ordnance Factory, ROF Nottingham, which has since been incorporated into BAE Systems Land and Armaments. Deliveries started in 1976.