1.
Field gun
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A field gun is an artillery piece. Perhaps the most famous use of the gun in terms of advanced tactics was Napoleons use of very large wheels on the guns that allowed them to be moved quickly even during a battle. As the evolution of artillery continued, almost all guns of any size became capable of being moved at some speed, even the German super-heavy guns in World War II were rail or caterpillar-track mobile. In British use, a gun was anything up to around 4.5 inches in calibre—larger guns were medium. Their largest gun was the 5.5 inch Medium, with a range of about 15, 000\16,000 yards. Since about the start of World War II, the term has been applied to artillery pieces that fire at a relatively low angle. Field guns also lack a specialized purpose, such as anti-tank or coastal artillery, the U. S. Army tried the long-range gun again in the 1960s with the M107175 mm gun. The M107 was used extensively in the Vietnam War and proved effective in artillery duels with the North Vietnamese forces and it was considered a high-maintenance item and was removed from service with U. S. forces after a rash of cracked barrels. Today the gun finds itself in an area that seems to be gone for good, the need for a long-range weapon is filled by rocket artillery, or aircraft. Modern gun-artillery such as the L118 105mm light gun is used to fire support for infantry. Man-packed mortars lack the range or hitting power of gun-artillery, in between is the rifled towed mortar, this weapon is light enough to be towed by a Land Rover, has a range of over 6, 000m and fires a bomb comparable in weight to an artillery shell
2.
Falklands War
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It began on Friday,2 April 1982, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands in an attempt to establish the sovereignty it had claimed over them. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval force to engage the Argentine Navy. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, in total,649 Argentine military personnel,255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities. The conflict was an episode in the protracted confrontation over the territories sovereignty. Argentina asserted that the islands are Argentine territory, and the Argentine government thus characterised its military action as the reclamation of its own territory, the British government regarded the action as an invasion of a territory that had been a Crown colony since 1841. Falkland Islanders, who have inhabited the islands since the early 19th century, are descendants of British settlers. The conflict has had an effect in both countries and has been the subject of various books, articles, films, and songs. Patriotic sentiment ran high in Argentina, but the outcome prompted large protests against the military government. In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party government, bolstered by the outcome, was re-elected the following year. The cultural and political weight of the conflict has had less effect in Britain than in Argentina, diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina were restored in 1989 following a meeting in Madrid, Spain, at which the two governments issued a joint statement. No change in either countrys position regarding the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was made explicit, in 1994, Argentinas claim to the territories was added to its constitution. In December 1981 there was a change in the Argentine military regime, bringing to office a new junta headed by General Leopoldo Galtieri, Brigadier Basilio Lami Dozo. Anaya was the architect and supporter of a military solution for the long-standing claim over the islands. Such action would also bolster its dwindling legitimacy, the newspaper La Prensa speculated in a step-by-step plan beginning with cutting off supplies to the islands, ending in direct actions late in 1982, if the UN talks were fruitless. The Royal Navy ice patrol vessel HMS Endurance was dispatched from Stanley to South Georgia in response, the Argentine military junta, suspecting that the UK would reinforce its South Atlantic Forces, ordered the invasion of the Falkland Islands to be brought forward to 2 April. Britain was initially taken by surprise by the Argentine attack on the South Atlantic islands, despite repeated warnings by Royal Navy captain Nicholas Barker, on 2 April 1982, Argentine forces mounted amphibious landings off the Falkland Islands. The invasion was met with a defence organised by the Falkland Islands Governor Sir Rex Hunt. Word of the invasion first reached Britain from Argentine sources, a Ministry of Defence operative in London had a short telex conversation with Governor Hunts telex operator, who confirmed that Argentines were on the island and in control
3.
Yugoslav Wars
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The Yugoslav Wars were a series of ethnically-based wars and insurgencies fought from 1991 to 2001 inside the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The wars are considered to be a series of separate but related military conflicts which occurred in. The wars ended through peace accords, involving full international recognition of new states, as a result, the JNA began to lose Slovenes, Croats, Kosovar Albanians, Bosniaks, and ethnic Macedonians, and effectively became a Serb army. According to the 1994 United Nations report, the Serb side did not aim to restore Yugoslavia, other irredentist movements have also been brought into connection with the wars, such as Greater Albania and Greater Croatia. Often described as Europes deadliest since World War II, the conflicts have become infamous for the war crimes involved, including cleansing, crimes against humanity. These were the first European conflicts since World War II to be formally judged genocidal in character, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was established by the UN to prosecute these crimes. According to the International Center for Transitional Justice, the Yugoslav Wars resulted in the deaths of 140,000 people, the Humanitarian Law Center estimates that in the conflicts in former Yugoslav republics at least 130,000 people lost their lives. The war have alternatively been called, Wars in the Balkans Wars/conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, third Balkan War, a term suggested by British journalist Misha Glenny in the title of his book, alluding to the two previous Balkan Wars fought 1912–13. In fact, this term has been applied by some historians to World War I. Yugoslavia Civil War/Yugoslav Civil War/Yugoslavian Civil War/Civil War in Yugoslavia, the nation of Yugoslavia was created in the aftermath of World War I, and was composed mostly of South Slavic Christians, but the nation also had a substantial Muslim minority. In the 1980s, relations among the six republics of the SFRY deteriorated, Slovenia and Croatia desired greater autonomy within the Yugoslav confederation, while Serbia sought to strengthen federal authority. As it became clearer that there was no solution agreeable to all parties, although tensions in Yugoslavia had been mounting since the early 1980s, it was 1990 that proved decisive. In the midst of hardship, Yugoslavia was facing rising nationalism among its various ethnic groups. By the early 1990s, there was no authority at the federal level. The Federal Presidency consisted of the representatives of the six republics, the communist leadership was divided along national lines. The representatives of Vojvodina, Kosovo and Montenegro were replaced with loyalists of the President of Serbia, Serbia secured four out of eight federal presidency votes and was able to heavily influence decision-making at the federal level, since all the other Yugoslav republics only had one vote. While Slovenia and Croatia wanted to allow a multi-party system, Serbia, led by Milošević, demanded a more centralized federation. This prompted the Croatian and Slovene delegations to walk out and thus the break-up of the party, the first of these conflicts, known as the Ten-Day War, was initiated by the JNA on 26 June 1991 after the secession of Slovenia from the federation on 25 June 1991
4.
Sierra Leone Civil War
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The resulting civil war lasted 11 years, enveloped the country, and left over 50,000 dead. During the first year of the war, the RUF took control of large swathes of territory in eastern and southern Sierra Leone, which were rich in alluvial diamonds. The governments ineffective response to the RUF, and the disruption in government diamond production, by the end of 1993, the Sierra Leone Army had succeeded in pushing the RUF rebels back to the Liberian border, but the RUF recovered and fighting continued. In March 1995, Executive Outcomes, a South Africa-based private military company, was hired to repel the RUF, Sierra Leone installed an elected civilian government in March 1996, and the retreating RUF signed the Abidjan Peace Accord. Under UN pressure, the government terminated its contract with EO before the accord could be implemented, in May 1997 a group of disgruntled SLA officers staged a coup and established the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council as the new government of Sierra Leone. The RUF joined with the AFRC to capture Freetown with little resistance, the new government, led by Johnny Paul Koroma, declared the war over. A wave of looting, rape, and murder followed the announcement, in January 1999, world leaders intervened diplomatically to promote negotiations between the RUF and the government. The Lome Peace Accord, signed on 27 March 1999, was the result, RUF compliance with the disarmament process was inconsistent and sluggish, and by May 2000, the rebels were advancing again upon Freetown. With help from a renewed UN mandate and Guinean air support, on 18 January 2002, President Kabbah declared the Sierra Leone Civil War over. In 1961, Sierra Leone gained its independence from the United Kingdom, when Siaka Stevens entered into politics in 1968 Sierra Leone was a constitutional democracy. When he stepped down, seventeen years later, Sierra Leone was a one-party state, Stevens rule, sometimes called “the 17 year plague of locusts, ” saw the destruction and perversion of every state institution. Parliament was undermined, judges were bribed, and the treasury was bankrupted to finance pet projects that supported insiders, when Stevens failed to co-opt his opponents, he often resorted to state sanctioned executions or exile. In 1985, Stevens stepped down, and handed the nation’s preeminent position to Major General Joseph Momoh, during his seven-year tenure, Momoh welcomed the spread of unchecked corruption and complete economic collapse. With the state unable to pay its civil servants, those desperate enough ransacked and looted government offices, even in Freetown, important commodities like gasoline were scarce. But the government hit rock bottom when it could no longer pay schoolteachers, since only wealthy families could afford to pay private tutors, the bulk of Sierra Leone’s youth during the late 1980s roamed the streets aimlessly. As infrastructure and public ethics deteriorated in tandem, much of Sierra Leone’s professional class fled the country, the phenomenon whereby countries with an abundance of natural resources tend to nonetheless be characterized by lower levels of economic development is known as the resource curse. The presence of diamonds in Sierra Leone invited and led to the war in several ways. First, the highly unequal benefits resulting from diamond mining made ordinary Sierra Leoneans frustrated, when DeBeers pulled out of the venture in 1984, the government lost direct control of the diamond mining areas
5.
Iraq War
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The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict and it became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition, the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion began on 20 March 2003, with the U. S. joined by the United Kingdom and several allies, launching a shock. Iraqi forces were overwhelmed as U. S. forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Baathist government, President Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year, the United States responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of U. S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama, the U. S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011. Select U. S. officials accused Saddam of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, while others cited the desire to end a repressive dictatorship, after the invasion, no substantial evidence was found to verify the initial claims about WMDs. The rationale and misrepresentation of pre-war intelligence faced heavy criticism within the U. S. in the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014, the al-Maliki government enacted policies that were widely seen as having the effect of alienating the countrys Sunni minority and worsening sectarian tensions. The Iraq War caused hundreds of thousands of civilian, and thousands of military casualties, the majority of casualties occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. A1990 Frontline report on The arming of Iraq said, Officially, most Western nations participated in an arms embargo against Iraq during the 1980s. Western companies, primarily in Germany and Great Britain, but also in the United States, sold Iraq the key technology for its chemical, missile, any Western governments seemed remarkably indifferent, if not enthusiastic, about those deals. N Washington, the government consistently followed a policy which allowed and perhaps encouraged the growth of Saddam Husseins arsenal. The Western arming of Iraq took place in the context of the Iran-Iraq War, prior to September 2002, the CIA was the George W. Bush administrations main provider of intelligence on Iraq. The agency was out to disprove linkage between Iraq and terrorism the Pentagon adviser told me, the U. N. had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance. This was confirmed by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, during 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action against Iraq unless inspections were allowed to progress unfettered. In accordance with U. N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Iraq agreed to new inspections under United Nations Monitoring, as part of its weapons inspection obligations, Iraq was required to supply a full declaration of its current weapons capabilities and manufacturing
6.
BAE Systems Land & Armaments
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It is the largest such company in the world. It was created on 24 June 2005, following the completion of BAE Systems acquisition of United Defense in 2004, in 2007 BAE Systems acquired Armor Holdings adding to the size of Land & Armaments significantly. BAE Systems was formed in 1989 by the merger of British Aerospace, bAes land systems business was RO Defence, a major manufacturer of explosives, ammunition and small arms. MES owned Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd, manufacturer of the M777 howitzer, on June 4,2003 BAE Systems outbid General Dynamics for Alvis plc, the UKs principal land systems business. What had seemed a certain win for the US company was stopped by BAE Systems surprise move and it has been seen as an attempt to keep such a strong competitor at bay in BAE Systems backyard. Alvis and BAE RO Defence were merged as BAE Systems Land Systems, when Dick Olver was appointed Chairman of BAE Systems in July 2003 he ordered a review of the companys businesses which confirmed the attractiveness of the land systems sector. This shift in strategy was described as remarkable by the Financial Times, on March 7,2005 BAE Systems announced the $3.174 billion acquisition of United Defense Industries. UDI, a competitor to General Dynamics, was primarily a land systems manufacturer, boosting BAE Systems involvement in this sector. UDI manufactured combat vehicles, artillery systems, naval guns, missile launchers, BAE Systems Land and Armaments was formed in June 2004 in a reorganisation of BAEs businesses. Land and Armaments, headquartered in the United States as part of BAE Systems Inc. took control of BAEs existing land systems businesses, Land and Armaments has received regular contracts for the reset of Bradley armoured fighting vehicles. By August of the financial year 2006 BAE had received contracts totalling $477.9 million, in July 2008 BAE failed to win the $1.06 billion MRAP All Terrain Vehicle contract which will see 7,244 vehicles produced for the US Marine Corps. In September 2009 BAE lost a contract, the first stage of a multibillion-dollar follow-on order for up to 23,542 trucks as part of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles programme. Despite a successful appeal forcing the US Army to reevaluate the bids, BAE announced a £592 million writedown of the former Armor Holdings business as a result. Global Tactical Systems was formed from the merger of Mobility & Protection Systems Medium/Heavy Vehicle business, the former United Defense business, BAEs US Combat Systems produces fighting vehicle platforms and armaments. Global Combat Systems was formed on 1 February 2009 by the merger of BAE Systems Land Systems Weapons & Vehicles, Land Systems Ltd and it also has a 50/50 joint venture with Nexter, CTA International, which is located in Bourges, France. Upon its creation on 2 January 1985, Royal Ordnance plc owned the twelve Royal Ordnance Factories that remained open, plus the Waltham Abbey South site, RSAF Enfield, several factors delayed the intended privatisation until 22 April 1987, when British Aerospace purchased the company. In 1999 British Aerospace merged with Marconi Electronic Systems, the interests of GEC to form BAE Systems. In 2002 Heckler & Koch was sold to Heckler and Koch Beteiligungs GmbH, in 2004 BAE Systems acquired Alvis plc which was merged with the RO Defence business and ex-GEC plants at Barrow-in-Furness and Leicester to form BAE Systems Land Systems
7.
Gun barrel
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A gun barrel is a part of firearms and artillery pieces. The hollow interior of the barrel is called the bore, a gun barrel must be able to hold in the expanding gas produced by the propellants to ensure that optimum muzzle velocity is attained by the projectile as it is being pushed out by the expanding gas. Modern small arms barrels are made of known and tested to withstand the pressures involved. Artillery pieces are made by various techniques providing reliably sufficient strength, early firearms were muzzle-loading, with powder, and then shot loaded from the muzzle, capable of only a low rate of fire. During the 19th century effective mechanical locks were invented that sealed a breech-loading weapon against the escape of propellant gases, the early Chinese, the inventors of gunpowder, used bamboo, a naturally tubular stalk, as the first barrels in gunpowder projectile weapons. Early European guns were made of iron, usually with several strengthening bands of the metal wrapped around circular wrought iron rings. The Chinese were the first to master cast-iron cannon barrels, early cannon barrels were very thick for their caliber. Bore evacuator Bore snake Cannon Muzzle Polygonal rifling Rifling Slug barrel Smoothbore
8.
Caliber
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In guns, particularly firearms, caliber or calibre is the approximate internal diameter of the barrel, or the diameter of the projectile it fires, in hundredths or sometimes thousandths of an inch. For example, a 45 caliber firearm has a diameter of.45 of an inch. Barrel diameters can also be expressed using metric dimensions, as in 9mm pistol, when the barrel diameter is given in inches, the abbreviation cal can be used. Good performance requires a bullet to closely match the diameter of a barrel to ensure a good seal. While modern cartridges and cartridge firearms are referred to by the cartridge name. Firearm calibers outside the range of 17 to 50 exist, but are rarely encountered. Larger calibers, such as.577.585.600.700, the.950 JDJ is the only known cartridge beyond 79 caliber used in a rifle. Referring to artillery, caliber is used to describe the length as multiples of the bore diameter. A 5-inch 50 calibre gun has a diameter of 5 in. The main guns of the USS Missouri are 1650 caliber, makers of early cartridge arms had to invent methods of naming the cartridges, since no established convention existed then. One of the early established cartridge arms was the Spencer repeating rifle, later various derivatives were created using the same basic cartridge, but with smaller-diameter bullets, these were named by the cartridge diameter at the base and mouth. The original No.56 became the. 56-56, and the smaller versions. 56-52. 56-50, the. 56-52, the most common of the new calibers, used a 50-cal bullet. Optionally, the weight in grains was designated, e. g. 45-70-405. Variations on these methods persist today, with new cartridges such as the.204 Ruger, metric diameters for small arms refer to cartridge dimensions and are expressed with an × between the bore diameter and the length of the cartridge case, for example,7. 62×51 NATO. This indicates that the diameter is 7. 62mm, loaded in a case 51mm long. Similarly, the 6. 5×55 Swedish cartridge has a diameter of 6.5 mm. An exception to rule is the proprietary cartridge used by U. S. maker Lazzeroni. The following table lists commonly used calibers where both metric and imperial are used as equivalents
9.
Breech-loading weapon
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A breech-loading gun is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel. Modern mass production firearms are breech-loading, early firearms, on the other hand, were almost entirely muzzle-loading. In field artillery, breech loading allows the crew to reload the gun without exposing themselves to fire or repositioning the piece. The main challenge for developers of breech-loading firearms was sealing the breech and this was eventually solved for smaller firearms by the development of the self-contained metallic cartridge. For firearms too large to use cartridges, the problem was solved by the development of the interrupted screw, breech-loading swivel guns were invented in the 14th century. The breech-loading swivel gun had a rate of fire, and was especially effective in anti-personnel roles. Breech-loading firearms are known from the 16th century, Henry VIII possessed one, which he apparently used as a hunting gun to shoot birds. More breech-loading firearms were made in the early 18th century, one such gun known to have belonged to Philip V of Spain, and was manufactured circa 1715, probably in Madrid. It came with a ready-to load reusable cartridge, patrick Ferguson, a British Army officer, developed in 1772 the Ferguson rifle, a breech-loading flintlock firearm. Later on into the century there were attempts in Europe at an effective breech-loader. There were concentrated attempts at improved cartridges and methods of ignition, the cartridge was loaded through the breech and fired with a needle. The needle-activated central-fire breech-loading gun would become a feature of firearms thereafter. The corresponding firearm was also developed by Pauly, Pauly made an improved version, which was protected by a patent on 29 September 1812. In 1846 another Paris Frenchman, Benjamin Houllier, patented the first fully metallic cartridge containing powder in a metallic shell, Houllier commercialised his weapons in association with the gunsmiths Blanchard or Charles Robert. In English-speaking countries the Flobert cartridge corresponds to the.22 BB, the first centrefire cartridge was introduced in 1855 by Pottet, with both Berdan and Boxer priming. The Dreyse Zündnadelgewehr or Dreyse needle gun, was a single-shot breech-loading rifle using a rotating bolt to seal the breech and it was so called because of its. 5-inch needle-like firing pin, which passed through a paper cartridge case to impact a percussion cap at the bullet base. It began development in the 1830s under von Dreyse and eventually a version of it was adopted by Prussia in the late 1840s. The paper cartridge and the gun had numerous deficiencies, specifically, however, the rifle was used to great success in the Prussian army in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866
10.
Recoil
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Recoil is the backward movement of a gun when it is discharged. To apply this counter-recoiling force, modern mounted guns may employ recoil buffering comprising springs and hydraulic recoil mechanisms, early cannons used systems of ropes along with rolling or sliding friction to provide forces to slow the recoiling cannon to a stop. Recoil buffering allows the maximum counter-recoil force to be lowered so that strength limitations of the gun mount are not exceeded, however, the same pressures acting on the base of the projectile are acting on the rear face of the gun chamber, accelerating the gun rearward during firing. This results in the required counter-recoiling force being proportionally lower, modern cannons also employ muzzle brakes very effectively to redirect some of the propellant gasses rearward after projectile exit. This provides a force to the barrel, allowing the buffering system. The same physics affecting recoil in mounted guns and cannons applies to hand-held guns, hands, arms and shoulders have considerable strength and elasticity for this purpose, up to certain practical limits. For this reason, establishing recoil safety standards for small arms remains challenging, a change in momentum of a mass requires a force, according to Newtons first law, known as the law of inertia, inertia simply being another term for mass. That force, applied to a mass, creates an acceleration, according to Newtons second law, the law of momentum -- changing the velocity of the mass changes its momentum. It is important to understand at this point that velocity is not simply speed, velocity is the speed of a mass in a particular direction. In a very technical sense, speed is a scalar, a magnitude, in summation, the total momentum of the system equals zero, surprisingly just as it did before the trigger was pulled. There are two conservation laws at work when a gun is fired, conservation of momentum and conservation of energy, recoil is explained by the law of conservation of momentum, and so it is easier to discuss it separately from energy. The nature of the process is determined by the force of the expanding gases in the barrel upon the gun. It is also determined by the force applied to the gun. The recoil force only acts during the time that the ejecta are still in the barrel of the gun, except for the case of zero-recoil, the counter-recoil force is smaller than the recoil force but lasts for a longer time. Since the recoil force and the force are not matched. In the zero-recoil case, the two forces are matched and the gun will not move when fired. In most cases, a gun is very close to a free-recoil condition, an example of near zero-recoil would be a gun securely clamped to a massive or well-anchored table, or supported from behind by a massive wall. For example, placing the butt of a large caliber gun directly against a wall, the recoil of a firearm, whether large or small, is a result of the law of conservation of momentum
11.
Gun laying
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Gun laying is the process of aiming an artillery piece, such as a gun, howitzer or mortar on land, or at sea, against surface or air targets. It may be laying for direct fire, where the gun is aimed similarly to a rifle, or indirect fire, the term includes automated aiming using, for example, radar-derived target data and computer-controlled guns. Gun laying means moving the axis of the bore of the barrel in two planes, horizontal and vertical. A gun is traversed – rotated in a horizontal plane – to align it with the target, Gun laying is a set of actions to align the axis of a gun barrel so that it points in the required direction. This alignment is in the horizontal and vertical planes, Gun laying may be for direct fire, where the layer sees the target, or indirect fire, where the target may not be visible from the gun. Gun laying has sometimes called training the gun. Laying in the vertical plane uses data derived from trials or empirical experience, for any given gun and projectile types, it reflects the distance to the target and the size of the propellant charge. It also incorporates any differences in height between gun and target, with indirect fire, it may allow for other variables as well. With indirect fire the horizontal angle is relative to something, typically the guns aiming point, depending on the gun mount, there is usually a choice of two trajectories. The dividing angle between the trajectories is about 45 degrees, it varies due to gun dependent factors. Below 45 degrees the trajectory is called low angle, above is high angle, the differences are that low angle fire has a shorter time of flight, a lower vertex and flatter angle of descent. All guns have carriages or mountings that support the barrel assembly, early guns could only be traversed by moving their entire carriage or mounting, and this lasted with heavy artillery into World War II. Mountings could be fitted into traversing turrets on ships, coast defences or tanks, from circa 1900 field artillery carriages provided traverse without moving the wheels and trail. The carriage, or mounting, also enabled the barrel to be set at the elevation angle. With some gun mounts it is possible to depress the gun, some guns require a near-horizontal elevation for loading. An essential capability for any elevation mechanism is to prevent the weight of the barrel forcing its heavier end downward and this is greatly helped by having trunnions at the centre of gravity, although a counterbalance mechanism can be used. It also means the elevation gear has to be enough to resist considerable downward pressure. However, mortars, where the forces were transferred directly into the ground
12.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
13.
M119 howitzer
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The M119 howitzer is the US designation for the L119 light gun, a lightweight British 105 mm howitzer also used by the United States Army. It can be airlifted by helicopter, or dropped by parachute. It does not need a recoil pit, the howitzer was designed and produced by the British Royal Ordnance Factories as the L118 light gun. In the L118 configuration, the 105 mm ammunition is cased separate loading ammunition, the L118 entered service with the British Army in 1976 and is used by parachute and commando field artillery regiments. It saw combat during the Falklands War, where the 30 guns in action fired up to 400 rounds per gun per day, the most powerful propellant charge available. The L119 is the L118 reconfigured to fire NATO-standard US/Nato 105 mm semi-fixed ammunition, in 1987 an agreement was reached to produce the L119 under license by the US as the M119, to replace the M102 howitzer. It entered service with 7th Infantry Division, Fort Ord, California, some improvements were made to produce the M119A1, including increasing its extreme low temperate envelope from −30 °C to −45 °C, improving maintainability. The Army renewed contracts for the M119 to be produced by the Rock Island Arsenal-Joint Manufacturing & Technology Center at Rock Island, the 105 mm M20A1 cannon was produced by US Army Watervliet Arsenal. Other divisions may be of mixed composition between armor, Stryker, and infantry brigade combat teams, with armor having M109A6s Paladins, for example, two of four are IBCTs with M119s in the 25th Infantry Division. National guard light field artillery battalions assigned to IBCTs also have M119s and it is routinely airdropped in airborne operations and sling-loaded under CH-47 Chinook or UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters in air assault operations. In April 2009, the M119A2 howitzer was being fielded by the 4th Infantry Combat Brigade of the 3rd Infantry Division to provide support in operations in Afghanistan. It was the brigade in the division equipped with it. Firing platoons were equipped with larger, also digital M777A2 howitzers, and the M119A3 was more admired for being faster, lighter. Project Manager for Towed Artillery Systems has developed several upgrades for the M119A3 including digital fire control, increased low temperature capability from −25 to −51 °F, and the M20 breech
14.
OTO Melara Mod 56
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The OTO-Melara Mod 56 is an Italian-made 105 mm pack howitzer built and developed by OTO-Melara. It fires the standard US type M1 ammunition, the OTO Melara 105 mm Mod 56 began life in the 1950s to meet the requirement for a modern light-weight howitzer that could be used by the Italian Armys Alpini brigades mountain artillery regiments. That it remained in service with those same units a full century after the howitzers introduction is a testament to the guns quality. Being a pack howitzer, it is designed to be broken down into 12 parts, the capability of this weapon to be knocked-down allows the sections to be transported a number of ways although the original design was for mule-pack using special pack saddles. More often it is towed by a vehicle such as a jeep or Land Rover. Overall, the Mod 56 has served in more than 30 countries worldwide, the guns in Vietnam were replaced by the sturdy US-made M101A1 after some two years. This lack of durability also led to their being carried on trucks for longer distances outside the combat zone, the Mod 56 offered limited protection to its crew. The Chinese manufacturer NORINCO offers a version of the Model 56 pack howitzer, in Commonwealth service, the gun was known simply as the L5 pack howitzer with L10 ordnance
15.
M116 howitzer
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The 75mm Pack Howitzer M1 was an artillery piece used by the United States. It was designed in the 1920s to meet a need for a howitzer that could be moved across difficult terrain, the gun and carriage was designed so that it could be broken down into several pieces to be carried by pack animals. The gun saw combat in World War II with the United States Army, with US Marine Corps, in addition to the pack / air portable configuration, the gun was mounted on a conventional carriage to serve as a field artillery piece. The M2 and M3 are derived vehicle mounted howitzers used in the 75mm HMC M8, in addition, the M1 in its original version was mated to a number of other self-propelled carriages, though only one of those – 75mm HMC T30 – reached mass production. The 75 mm pack howitzer was designed in the United States in the 1920s to meet a need for a piece that could be moved across difficult terrain. In August 1927, the weapon was standardized as Howitzer, Pack, due to meager funding, production rates were low, by 1940, only 91 pieces were manufactured. It was not until September 1940 that the howitzer was put into mass production, by then, the M1 had been succeeded by the slightly modified M1A1. The only significant changes during the production period were carriage improvements. The original carriage M1 was of box type, with wooden wheels. The requirement for a lightweight howitzer for airborne troops led to the introduction of the M8 carriage, another requirement, from the cavalry branch of the US Army, resulted in a completely different family of field howitzer split trail carriages M3A1 / M3A2 / M3A3. However, only limited numbers of the M1 field howitzer variant were built, the howitzer M1 or M1A1 consisted of tube and breech, which were joined together by interrupted threads, allowing for quick assembly and disassembly. One eighth of a turn was required to connect or disconnect tube, the tube had uniform, right hand rifling with one turn in 20 calibers. The breech was of horizontal sliding type, with continuous-pull firing mechanism. Both recoil buffer and recuperator were located under the barrel, the pack howitzer carriage M1 had dismantling construction. The carriage was of box type, with steel-rimmed wooden wheels. The carriage M8 was identical, except for axle arms and wheels, the howitzer on carriage M8 could be broken down into seven mule loads or into nine parachute loads. It could also be towed by vehicle such as 1/4 ton jeep, the field howitzer carriages of the M3 family were non-dismantling, split trail. All these were fitted with metal wheels with pneumatic tires, all had an additional retractable support, in firing position, the firing base could be lowered and wheels raised, leaving the weapon to rest on the firing base and trails
16.
Ordnance ML 4.2 inch Mortar
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The Ordnance ML4.2 inch Mortar was a heavy mortar used by the British Army during World War II, and by other armies postwar. The 4.2 inch mortar was a Smooth Bore weapon of the Stokes pattern and was designed by the Armaments Research and Development Establishment and it entered British service in 1942, where it was used to equip Royal Engineer chemical warfare companies. The Mark 3 became the standard model, the first combat use was at El Alamein, which expended all the HE ammunition in the theatre. Around mid-1943, the Royal Engineer chemical warfare companies were disbanded and this company was organized with sixteen 4. 2-inch Mortars, in four platoons of four mortars each. The mortars were somewhat slower in reaching the far east, although the Australian forces in the South West Pacific had them before troops fighting in Burma did. After World War II, the mortars were handed over to the Royal Artillery and they were used during the 1950s, also by airborne artillery, deployed to Kuwait in 1961 and manned by soldiers from air defence batteries during the Confrontation in Borneo in 1965. The 4. 2-inch Mortar entered production at the end of 1941 with a standard baseplate, the normal detachment was six men and it was transported with ammunition in a 10 cwt trailer, usually towed behind a Loyd Carrier. There was also an auxiliary baseplate that fitted around it, to increase its area for use on softer ground, later an integrated trailer/baseplate was developed, called the Mk 1 Mobile Baseplate. The wheels, which were on suspension arms, were unlocked and raised for firing, the Mk1/1 had detachable wheels, the mobile baseplate trailer mounting could be brought into action by 2 men. Regarding rate of fire, one source reports a crew putting 23 bombs in the air before the first impacted, both HE and smoke ammunition was used. Smoke include WP and Base Ejection, and in World War II other types for practice, in World War II, both streamlined and cylindrical bombs were available. Fighting Vehicles and Weapons of the Modern British Army, the Gunners - A History of Australian Artillery. Maintenance Manual for ML 2-inch, ML 3-inch and SB4. 2-inch Mortars Bishop, the Encyclopedia of Weapons of WWII. British Mortars of the Second World War
17.
Ordnance QF 25-pounder
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The Ordnance QF 25-pounder, or more simply 25-pounder or 25-pdr, was the major British field gun and howitzer during World War II. It was introduced into service just before the war started, combining high-angle and direct-fire, relatively high rates of fire, and it remained the British Armys primary artillery field piece well into the 1960s, with smaller numbers serving in training units until the 1980s. Many Commonwealth of Nations countries used theirs in active or reserve service until about the 1970s and ammunition for the weapon is currently being produced by Pakistan Ordnance Factories. The design was the result of extended studies looking to replace the 18-pounder field gun and the 4. 5-inch howitzer, the result was a 3.45 inches weapon firing a shell weighing 25 pounds. It was mounted on late model 18-pounder carriages, one of these used a circular firing platform and this was adopted for the new guns. The firing platform was attached to the gun and when lowered the gun was pulled onto it and this platform transferred most of the recoil forces to the ground, instead of using the spade at the end of the trail, making the gun very stable when firing. It also provided a smooth surface for the carriage to rotate on using the road wheels. Unlike the 18-pounder, the 25-pounder used howitzer-type variable-charge ammunition, the 25-pounder was separate-loading, the shell was loaded and rammed, then the cartridge in its brass case was loaded and the breech closed. The use of shell and cartridge allowed the charge to be changed for different ranges. For the Mk 1 Ordnance on an 18-pounder carriage there were three charges, charges one, two and three, all of which could be used in the cartridge design. The Mk 2 Ordnance on Mk 1 carriage added a charge in a different cartridge. In 1943 a separately bagged increment charge was added, used with the Super it provided higher velocity for anti-tank use, the introduction of the increment to super was only possible following the addition of the muzzle-brake in the previous year. Subsequently another type of increment was introduced to be added to charges one, however, this fire required a dial sight adaptor, removal of the platform and some excavation of the ground. In common with all British guns of the period the indirect fire sight was calibrating and this meant that the range, not elevation angle, was set on the sight. The sight compensated for the difference in the guns muzzle velocities from standard, the gun was also fitted with a direct-fire telescope for use with armour-piercing shot. It also used one-man laying in accordance with normal British practice, an important part of the gun was the ammunition trailer. The gun was hooked to it and the trailer hooked to the tractor for towing, the gun did not need a limber and could be hooked directly to a tractor. The trailer provided the brakes as only a hand-brake was fitted to the gun carriage, the trailer carried ammunition, thirty-two rounds in trays in the trailer protected by two doors
18.
Alpini
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The Alpini, are an elite mountain warfare military corps of the Italian Army. They are currently organized in two brigades, which are subordinated to the Alpine Troops Headquarters. Established in 1872, the Alpini are the oldest active mountain infantry in the world and their original mission was to protect Italys northern mountain border with France and Austria. In 1888 the Alpini deployed on their first mission abroad, in Africa, during World War II, the Alpini fought alongside the Axis forces, mainly across the Eastern Front and in the Balkans Campaigns. After the end of the Cold War, the Italian Army was reorganised in the 1990s, three out of five Alpini brigades and many support units were disbanded. Currently, the Alpini are deployed in Afghanistan, in 1872, Captain Giuseppe Perrucchetti published a study in the May edition of the Military Review. In the study, he proposed to assign the defence of mountain borders of the recently established Kingdom of Italy to soldiers recruited locally, indeed, thanks to their knowledge of the surroundings and personal attachment to the area, they would be highly capable and better motivated defenders. Perrucchetti drew heavily on the work of Lieutenant General Agostino Ricci, five months after Perrucchettis article, the first 15 Alpini companies were formed by Royal decree no.1056. The units became active on October 15,1872, making the Alpini the oldest active Mountain Infantry in the world, at first the Alpini were organized as a militia, capable of defending Italy’s northern mountainous borders. Austrias surrender in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 resulted in Italy annexing the province of Venetia, prior to gaining the new northern borders, homeland defence was based on the so-called Quadrilatero strategy. That outdated strategy, however, ignored the geopolitics of the new Italian Kingdom and it called for primary defence of the Po Valley region farther to the southwest, but left the Alpine region undefended. Recruiting Italys mountain valleys locals and organising them into a corps was indeed an innovative idea. They possessed superior knowledge of mountain territory and greatest adaptability to Alpine conditions, at the beginning, the mountain regions were divided into seven military districts, each commanded by an Officer and home to at least two Alpini companies, each consisting of 120 personnel. Soldiers were equipped with the Vetterli 1870 rifle, in 1873 nine more companies were added, thus totalling 24. In 1875, the companies doubled in size, having 250 soldiers and 5 officers, on November 1,1882, the Alpini organisation doubled in size to 72 companies and a total of 20 Alpini battalions. The latter plus 8 Alpini mountain artillery batteries were now organized into six numbered Alpini regiments, Special Bn. and Fourth Bn. were issued blue tufts. Soldiers of the Mountain Artillery units were issued a green tuft with a patch in the middle onto which the number of the battery was written in golden numbers. On June 7,1883, the green flames collar patch was introduced, the Cappello Alpino, with its black raven feather, was also introduced at that time
19.
Westland Wessex
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The Westland Wessex is a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34, it was developed and produced under license by Westland Aircraft. Early models were powered by a single Napier Gazelle engine, later used a pair of de Havilland Gnome engines. The Wessex was initially produced for the Royal Navy and later for the Royal Air Force, the Wessex operated as an anti-submarine warfare and utility helicopter, it is perhaps best recognised for its use as a search and rescue helicopter. The type entered service in 1961, and had a service life in excess of 40 years before being retired in Britain. In 1956, an American-built S-58 was shipped to Britain for Westland to use as a pattern aircraft, initially assembled with its Wright Cyclone, it was demonstrated to the British armed services leading to a preliminary order for the Royal Navy. For British production, it was re-engined with a single Napier Gazelle turboshaft engine, the lighter Gazelle engine meant some redistribution of weight. The first Westland-built Wessex serial XL727, designated a Wessex HAS.1, in service, the Wessex was found to be a major improvement over the older Westland Whirlwind. The Wessex could also operate in a range of weather conditions as well as at night. These same qualities made the Wessex well-suited to the anti-submarine role also lent themselves to the search and rescue mission. The Wessex was also employed as a general-purpose helicopter for the RAF, capable of performing troop-carrying, air ambulance. The Wessex was the first of the RAFs helicopters in which instrument flying, the Wessex was first used by the Royal Navy, which introduced the Wessex HAS.1 to operational service in 1961. SAR-tasked Wessex helicopters were stationed abroad, such as at Cyprus. The qualities of the Wessex were described as being ideal for mountain flying, the Wessex often found itself being used on the battlefield as a utility transport, as well as delivering supplies and equipment, the Wessex could also transport small groups of troops. In large-scale helicopter assault operations, the type could be escorted by the RAFs Hawker Siddeley Harriers, the HC.4 variant of the Westland Sea King began to replace the Wessex in this capacity from the late 1970s onwards, although troop-carrying missions would continue into the late 1990s. The Wessexs service career featured long-term deployments to both Hong Kong and Northern Ireland to support security operations, performing transport and surveillance missions. Both Prince Philip and Prince Charles were trained Wessex pilots, occasionally they would perform as flying crew members in addition to being passengers on board the VIP services, the Wessex was replaced in this role by a privately leased Sikorsky S-76 in 1998. In 1962, a crisis arose as Indonesia threatened confrontation over the issue of Brunei. Around 55 Westland Wessex HU. 5s participated in the Falklands War and their prime role was the landing, and moving forward, of Rapier missile systems, fuel, artillery and ammunition
20.
Land Rover
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Land Rover is a car brand that specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles, owned by British multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, which has been owned by Indias Tata Motors since 2008. The Land Rover is regarded as a British icon, and was granted a Royal Warrant by King George VI in 1951, the Land Rover name was originally used by the Rover Company for the Land Rover Series, launched in 1948. It developed into a brand encompassing a range of models, including the Defender, Discovery, Freelander, Range Rover, Range Rover Sport. Land Rovers are currently assembled in the companys Halewood and Solihull plants, with research and development taking place at the Gaydon, Land Rover sold 194,000 vehicles worldwide in 2009. The carmaker said around 1,000 academics and engineers would work there, the design may have been influenced by the Jeep and the prototype, later nicknamed Centre Steer, was built on a Jeep chassis and axles. Early vehicles like the Series I were field-tested at Long Bennington, Land Rover as a company has existed since 1978. In 1994 Rover Group plc was acquired by BMW, in 2000, Rover Group was broken up by BMW and Land Rover was sold to Ford Motor Company, becoming part of its Premier Automotive Group. In 2006 Ford purchased the Rover brand from BMW for around £6 million, in 2008, Ford Motor Company sold Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata Motors. Included in the deal were the rights to three other British brands, Jaguars own Daimler marque, as well as two dormant brands Lanchester and Rover and this sale also included the dormant Rover brand. As of August 2012, most Land Rovers in production are powered by Ford engines, under the terms of the acquisition, Tata has the right to buy engines from Ford until 2019. In 2011, Tata confirmed plans that it is investing $559 million to build an assembly plant in the British West Midlands. However, it was stated that the plant will produce four-cylinder engines. The eight-cylinder engines used in Land Rovers were not mentioned,1997, Land Rover introduces the Special Edition Discovery XD with AA yellow paint, subdued wheels, SD type roof racks, and a few other off-road upgrades directly from the factory. Produced only for the North American market, the Special Vehicles Division of Land Rover created only 250 of these bright yellow SUVs, introduction of second generation of Freelander. 26 March 2008, Ford agreed to sell their Jaguar Land Rover operations to Tata Motors,2 June 2008, Tata Motors finalised their purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. The Freelander is also assembled in kit form at Land Rovers facility in Pune. Defender models are assembled under licence in several locations worldwide, including Spain, Iran, Brazil, in May 2010, Tata Motors announced that it plans to build Land Rover and Jaguar models in Mainland China as the company seeks to cut costs and expand sales. In late 2012, the automaker announced a joint venture for Jaguars and Land Rovers to be built in China, the agreement is with Chery, Chinas sixth largest auto manufacturer, and calls for a new Chinese factory in Changshu to build vehicles starting in 2014
21.
Milliradian
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A milliradian, often called a mil or mrad, is an SI derived unit for angular measurement which is defined as a thousandth of a radian. Mils are used in adjustment of firearm sights by adjusting the angle of the sight compared to the barrel, Mils are also used for comparing shot groupings, or to compare the difficulty of hitting different sized targets at different distances. Using optics with mil markings in the one can make a range estimation of a known size target, or vice versa to determine a target size if the distance is known. In such applications it is useful to use a unit for target size that is a thousandth of the unit for range, for instance by using the metric units millimeters for target size and meters for range. This coincides with the definition of the milliradian where the arc length is defined as 1/1000 of the radius, a common adjustment value in firearm sights is 1 cm at 100 meters which equals 10 mm/100 m = 1/10 mil. The true definition of a milliradian is based on a circle with a radius of one. There are other definitions used for mapping and artillery which are rounded to more easily be divided into smaller parts. The milliradian was first used in the mid nineteenth century by Charles-Marc Dapples, degrees and minutes were the usual units of angular measurement but others were being proposed, with grads under various names having considerable popularity in much of northern Europe. However, Imperial Russia used a different approach, dividing a circle into equilateral triangles, around the time of the start of World War I, France was experimenting with the use of milliemes for use with artillery sights instead of decigrades. The United Kingdom was also trialing them to replace degrees and minutes and they were adopted by France although decigrades also remained in use throughout World War I. The United States, which copied many French artillery practices, adopted mils, before 2007 the Swedish defence forces used streck which is closer to the milliradian but then changed to NATO mils. After the Bolshevik Revolution and the adoption of the system of measurement the Red Army expanded the 600 unit circle into a 6000 mil one. Hence the Russian mil has a different origin than those derived from French artillery practices. In the 1950s, NATO adopted metric units of measurement for land, Mils, meters, and kilograms became standard, although degrees remained in use for naval and air purposes, reflecting civil practices. The approximation error by using the linear formula will increase as the angle increases. New shooters are often explained the principle of subtensions in order to understand that a milliradian is an angular measurement, subtension is the physical amount of space covered by an angle and varies with distance. Thus, the corresponding to a mil varies with range. Subtensions always change with distance, but a mil is always a mil regardless of distance, therefore ballistic tables and shot corrections are given in mils thereby avoiding the need of mathematical calculations
22.
Boeing Chinook (UK variants)
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The Boeing Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter operated by the Royal Air Force. A series of variants based on the United States Armys Boeing CH-47 Chinook, in March 1967 an order was placed for fifteen Chinook HC Mk1s, standing for Helicopter, Cargo Mark 1, for the Royal Air Force to replace the Bristol Belvedere. This original MK1 variant was to be based on the CH-47B, UK Chinook procurement ambitions were revived in 1978 with an announced requirement for a new heavy-lift helicopter to replace the Westland Wessex. Thirty Chinooks were ordered at a price of US$200 million and these helicopters, comparable to the CH-47C with Lycoming T55-L-11E engines, were again designated Chinook HC Mk1, and entered service in December 1980. Eight more Mk1s were delivered from 1984 to 1986 with the CH-47Ds Lycoming T55-L-712 turboshafts, the replacement of the Mk1s metal rotor blades with aluminium and glass fibre composite rotor blades saw these aircraft designated Chinook HC Mk1B. All surviving aircraft were returned to Boeing and updated to the Chinook HC Mk2 standard for further service within the RAF. The US Armys next generation Chinook, the CH-47D, entered service in 1982, the RAF returned their original Mk1s to Boeing for upgrading to CH-47D standard, the first of which returned to the UK in 1993. Three additional HC Mk2 Chinooks were ordered with delivery beginning in 1995, one Argentine CH-47C was captured during the Falklands War, and used by the RAF as a training aid. The rear fuselage was used to repair a crashed RAF Chinook in 2003. In 2006, the retirement dates for the Mk2 and Mk2A fleets were scheduled for 2015 and 2025 respectively, eight Chinook HC Mk3s were ordered in 1995 as dedicated special forces helicopters, which were intended to be low-cost variants of the US Armys MH-47E. The Mk3s include improved range, night vision sensors and navigation capability, the eight aircraft were to cost £259 million and the forecast in-service date was November 1998. Although delivered in 2001, the Mk3 could not receive airworthiness certificates as it was not possible to certify the avionics software. Unfortunately the procurement was a profoundly inept piece of procurement, Sir Peter Spencer, who as head of Defence Procurement inherited the project, said that, I mean, there were 100 essential requirements. One of them said to give protection against any missile coming from any direction, Spencer later commented, it is always hard to imagine why people think you would be able cost effectively to buy a bespoke requirement for a very small production run. The avionics were unsuitable due to risk analysis and necessary requirements omitted from the procurement contract. The Times claimed that the Ministry of Defence planned to perform software integration itself, without Boeings involvement, while lacking certification, the helicopters were only permitted to fly in visual meteorological conditions and subsequently stored in climate controlled hangars. The programme was estimated to cost £50–60 million, on 6 July 2009 the first of the eight modified Chinook HC Mk3s made its first test flight at MoD Boscombe Down as part of the flight testing and evaluation phase of the HC Mk3 reversion program. A programme to upgrade 46 Chinook Mk2/2A and Mk3 helicopters was initiated in December 2008, upgraded Mk2/2A and Mk3 aircraft will be redesignated Mk4 from Mk2/2a, and Mk5 from Mk3
23.
Hawker Siddeley Andover
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The Hawker Siddeley HS780 Andover is a twin-engined turboprop military transport aircraft produced by Hawker Siddeley for the Royal Air Force developed from the Avro-designed HS748 airliner. The Andover had a landing gear to make ramp loading easier. At the start of the 1960s the Royal Air Force issued a requirement for a medium tactical freighter and Avro started work on a military variant of the Dart-powered twin-engined Avro 748 airliner. Handley Page also proposed a variant of the Handley Page Herald to meet the same requirement, a prototype Avro 748 Srs 2 was used for the trials. It had more powerful Dart Mk 301s engines and a kneeling landing gear was fitted. In April 1963 the Royal Air Force ordered 31 aircraft and these were designated the Andover C.1 by the RAF, the 748MF first flew from Woodford Aerodrome on 21 December 1963. A dihedral tailplane was fitted to keep it clear of the propeller slipstream. Following a release to service in May 1966 the fifth aircraft was delivered to No.46 Squadron RAF at RAF Abingdon in June 1966. Subsequent RAF types are the Andover CC.2 VIP transport, the Andover C.1 was flown for the first time on 9 July 1965. The first four examples were flown to RAF Boscombe Down for acceptance trials that year, the full contract of 31 aircraft were delivered and deployed to squadrons in Transport Command. These were No.46 Squadron RAF at RAF Abingdon and later RAF Thorney Island, No.52 Squadron RAF at RAF Seletar and No.84 Squadron RAF at RAF Sharjah. There was an order placed with Hawker Siddeley for six aircraft that were designated CC.2, being a version of the standard HS748. The squadron had these for six months before being disbanded when the aircraft went to 32 Squadron at RAF Northolt, the aircraft were with 32 Squadron for over 18 years including some time spent on detachment at RAF Bruggen. The remaining aircraft was a modified C.1 converted for photo-reconnaissance, the Andover C.1, serial number XS596, All three were based at RAF Boscombe Down. The Royal New Zealand Air Force operated ten aircraft from 1976 and these saw service with UN missions to Somalia and on the Iran-Iraq border, and in disaster-relief work in the Pacific. The type was retired from service in 1998, the main difficulty with their service in New Zealand was their limited range –1,000 nautical miles of Pacific Ocean separate New Zealand from its nearest neighbours. New Zealands Andovers were purchased to replace the Bristol Freighter which had shorter range. Avro 748MF Prototype Avro 748 converted to military prototype which included a rear fuselage and rear loading ramp
24.
FV433 Abbot SPG
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Its correct designation was Gun Equipment 105mm L109, L109 was little used, probably to avoid confusion with 155 mm M109 that entered UK service at about the same time. The name Abbot continued the Second World War style of naming self-propelled artillery after ecclesiastical titles, the FV433 used a different configuration of power pack from other vehicles in the FV430 series. A completely new family, comprising shells, fuzes and cartridges, was designed for Abbots L13 gun. Compared to US105 mm M1 type ammunition, it uses electrical instead of percussion primers, the widely used US M1 type round was called 105 mm How in UK service. The 105 mm Fd came in two marks, both separate loading, the 105 mm Fd Mk 1 was used initially, it had a UK-produced 105 mm How shell, mostly US pattern fuzes and reduced charge 105 mm Fd cartridges with their electrical primers. The Mark 2 adopted a new design including an improved lethality HE shell and full charge cartridges. Its shell types include HE, Smoke, Coloured Marker, Illuminating, direct Action, Controlled Variable Time and Mechanical Time fuzes were available for HE and Coloured Marker shells. Sub-zones 1 and 2 were only used to short range in high angle fire. Normal cartridge gave charges 1–5, each bag being a different colour in accordance with established UK practice, both marks had charge Super, a single charge cartridge, although the charge was reduced in Mk 1. Charges 5 and Super used extended bags that projected beyond the metal cartridge case, the 105 mm Fd uses double base propellants designated N in UK service instead of the single based FNH propellants favoured by the US. The 105 mm Fd Mk 2 is still used with L118 Light Gun, maximum range with 105 mm Fd Mk 1 ammunition was 15 km, the Mk 2 gave 17.4 km. Maximum rate of fire was 6–8 rounds per minute, the gun was able to elevate to 70 degrees and depress to -5 degrees, sufficient to engage enemy AFVs if necessary. Traverse and shell ramming were powered by electrical servo mechanisms, elevation, due to the number of charges and its compact turret, the Abbot did not have calibrating sights. Instead, the mount had both Tangent Elevation and Angle of Sight Scales and a separate Gun Rule to convert range into TE. The dial sight had all internal, illuminated and viewed through a single eyepiece. The Abbot was fitted with line and radio Larkspur B48, then Clansman UK/PRC 352) communications to its battery command post. 23, this enabled the gun No.1 to acknowledge his fire orders merely by clicking his pressel switch, initially, it also used induction loop communications for the turret and external crew. Shortly after the Field Artillery Computer Equipment entered service in the early 1970s, AWDATS displayed firing data transmitted from FACE in the battery command post via either line or radio
25.
Westland Sea King
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The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines, British-made anti-submarine warfare systems, the Sea King was primarily designed for performing anti-submarine warfare missions. A Sea King variant was adapted by Westland as troop transport known as the Commando, in British service, the Westland Sea King provided a wide range of services in both the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. The Sea King was also adapted to meet the Royal Navys requirement for an airborne early warning platform. As of 2014, the WS-61 Sea King remains in operation in Britain, as well as export customers, Germany, Norway, Egypt. Some operators have replaced, or are planning to replace, the Sea King with more modern helicopters, such as the NHIndustries NH90, on this matter, authors Jim Thorn and Gerald Frawley stated that, Despite appearances, Westlands Sea King very different aircraft from Sikorskys. Many of the differences between the Westland-built Sea King and the helicopter were as a result of differing operational doctrine. This resulted in a different crew arrangement, with operations being controlled by a rather than the pilot. The Royal Navy selected the Sea King to meet a requirement for an anti-submarine warfare helicopter to replace the Westland Wessex, the prototype and three pre-production aircraft were built by Sikorsky at Stratford, Connecticut and shipped to the United Kingdom to act as trials and pattern aircraft. The first of the SH-3Ds was initially fitted with General Electric T58s and, the other three were delivered from the docks, by road to Yeovil, for completion with British systems and Rolls-Royce Gnome engines. The first Westland-built helicopter, designated Sea King HAS1, flew on 7 May 1969 at Yeovil, by 1979, the Royal Navy had ordered 56 HAS1s and 21 HAS2s to meet the anti-submarine requirements, these were also configured for the secondary anti-ship role. The Westland Sea King was updated and adapted for numerous roles, subsequent variants include the HAS2, HAS5, changes from initial production aircraft included an expansion of the cabin and upgraded engines. One of the most extensively modified variants was the Westland Commando, the Commando had capacity for up to 28 fully equipped troops and had originally been developed to meet an Egyptian Air Force requirement. Several Royal Naval Air Squadrons have operated the Commando variant, such as 845 Naval Air Squadron,846 Naval Air Squadron and 848 Naval Air Squadron. In British service, the Sea King HC4 was deployed on operations in the Falklands, towards the end of the Sea Kings operational life, several HAS6s were repurposed by the removal of the ASW equipment, as troop transports. In 2010, the last of the UKs converted ASW Sea Kings to troop transports were retired, initial trials carried out with active Sea Kings found several advantages to the BERP rotor, including a longer fatigue life and improved aerodynamic characteristics. Subsequent Westland helicopters, such as the record-breaking Lynx and the AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin, Westland equipped later-built Sea Kings with the new composite rotors as well. Westland has produced a total of 330 Sea Kings, export customers include the Indian Naval Air Arm, the German Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, and the Royal Norwegian Air Force
26.
Land Rover 101 Forward Control
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The 101 Forward Control or Land Rover 101FC was a vehicle produced by Land Rover for the British Army. It was never available to the public. Of concern was the payload and limited stability, particularly when crossing an incline, development of the 101FC started in 1967, with a design team led by Norman Busby. Production took place between 1972 and 1978, a rare variant is the electronic warfare Vampire body. It is thought that only 21 of these were produced and less than half of these survive today, one was destroyed in the Buncefield Oil Terminal Fire. The 101FC also served with the RAF Regiment, two 101s were allocated to each Rapier Missile set up. The 101FC also served in a role, with ambulance bodywork built by Marshall of Cambridge. The 101FC was manufactured in left and right hand drive with either 12 or 24 volt electrical systems. Some 101FCs were produced with a PTO powered Nokken capstan winch mounted on the chassis at the centre of the vehicle, by the late 1990s, the 101s were decommissioned by the MoD and were replaced with Defenders and Pinzgauer vehicles. Many 101s have entered into private ownership and there is an owners club supporting these sourcing spares. The club also keeps a register of known surviving vehicles throughout the world, a prototype 101 was built based on a recovery vehicle. Only one of these are known to be in existence at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, the Australian Army acquired fifty 101 vehicles, which were used to tow Rapier missile carriers. These 101s were disposed of and some of these remain in private hands, thirty-one 101s were converted by Land Rover with artistically styled bodyshells for the 1995 Sylvester Stallone film Judge Dredd. Land Rover is supposedly the only surviving vehicle manufacturer in 2139 when the film is set. Several of these vehicles still exist in driveable condition and are often seen at Land Rover events. Jeep Forward Control UAZ-452 GAZ-66 The 101 Club for Owners and Enthusiasts 101 Forward control Club and Register
27.
Tractor unit
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A tractor unit is a characteristically heavy-duty towing engine that provides motive power for hauling a towed or trailered load. Tractor units typically have large displacement diesel engines for power, durability, and economy, several axles, the tractor-trailer combination distributes a load across multiple axles while being more maneuverable than an equivalently sized rigid truck. The most common trailer attachment system is a fifth wheel coupling, allowing rapid shift between trailers performing different functions, such as a bulk tipper and box trailer, trailers containing differing cargos can be rapidly swapped between tractors, eliminating downtime while a trailer is unloaded or loaded. Drawbar couplings are found, particularly in dedicated exceptionally heavy-duty ballast tractors. There have been three common cab configurations used in tractors, two are widely used. The conventional has an engine and hood over the front axle in front of the cab and this style is almost universal in North America. The cab over engine or cab forward has a flat nose cab with the sitting in front of the front axle. Widely used in the EU and Japan, this style has the advantages of good vision, maneuverability, in the North America this type of cab can be useful in straight trucks, but now has little advantage in tractors and is rarely used. A North American style cab over engine, now obsolete, had a flat nose cab located higher over the engine. This allowed a sleeper compartment in a tractor, and maximum wheelbase relative overall length. With the loosening of restrictions in 1982 this style had limited applications. In Australia both styles of cab over engine truck as well as conventionals are in common use, a tractor unit can have many axles depending on axle load legislation. The most common varieties are those of 4×2, 6×2 and 6×4 types, however, some manufacturers offer 6×6, 8×6, 8×8, 10×8, and 10×10 axle configurations. A 6×4 has three axles, normally an undriven front steer axle and the two axles driven. 6×4 units are common in long distance haulage in larger countries such as the United States. In Europe, the 4×2 and 6×2 variants are more commonplace, tractors with three axles or more can have more than one steering axle, which can also be driven. Most 6×2 units allow the rear axle to be raised when lightly loaded, or running without a trailer, to save tire wear, save toll road fees. The 8×8 units also have four axles, but with all of them driven, and 10×8 units have five axles with the rear four usually driven, all five axles of 10×10 units are driven
28.
Rapier (missile)
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Rapier is a British surface-to-air missile developed for the RAF Regiment and the British Army. It replaced Bofors guns and Tigercat missiles in RAF service and it remains the UKs primary air-defence weapon after almost 35 years of service, and its deployment is expected to continue until 2020. Rapier began development in 1961 as a venture at British Aircraft Corporation known as Sightline. The project was to combat supersonic, low level, high manoeuvrability craft, the operator would keep the telescopic gunsight centred on the target, and the automated systems would guide the missile to that point. BAC joked that the system was a hit-ile, as opposed to a miss-ile, the weapons system had entirely originated from research carried out by Bradfords Colin Baron and John Twinn at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in the 1960s. At the time the British Army was planning on purchasing the advanced American MIM-46 Mauler system for its air-defence needs, when Mauler ran into problems in 1963, the Ministry of Defence issued requirement ET.316 and started funding Sightline as a backup in case Mauler did not deliver. That eventuality came to pass, and ET.316 was completely developed as Rapier, complete systems were tested in 1968, which led to a production contract issued in 1969. On a parallel track, the RAF Regiment had Tigercat developed for it in 1967 from the Seacat naval surface-to-air missile system, in 1972 a trials unit known as the Rapier Pilot Battery was formed jointly by No 63 Squadron RAF Regiment and 9 Light Air Defence Battery Royal Artillery. Comprehensive trials ended in 1973 and the first Rapier unit in British service - No 63 Squadron - deployed to its station in Germany in mid-1974. The original Rapier took the form of a launcher with four missiles, an optical tracker unit. The search radar was of the pulsed Doppler type with a range of about 15 km, the aerial, located at the top of the launcher, rotated about once a second, looking for moving targets that are visible due to their doppler shift. When one was located, a lamp would light up on the Selector Engagement Zone, the radar operator could also blank out returns from other directions, providing jamming resistance. The optical tracker unit was made up of a lower section. The lower section housed the controls, while the upper section housed the tracking optics. The operators optical system was a modified telescope containing a Dove prism to prevent the image toppling as the optics rotate in azimuth and this system meant that, unlike a periscope, the operator did not have to move in order to track the target. The upper section contained a separate missile tracking system that was slaved to the operators optics. Upon detection, the tracking system would then be slewed to target azimuth. The operators field of view would depend on the target range, when the target was found the operator switches to track and uses a joystick to keep the target centred in the telescope
29.
Pinzgauer High-Mobility All-Terrain Vehicle
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The Pinzgauer is a family of high-mobility all-terrain 4WD and 6WD military utility vehicles. They were most recently manufactured at Guildford in Surrey, England by BAE Systems Land & Armaments, the vehicle was originally developed in the late 1960s and manufactured by Steyr-Daimler-Puch of Graz, Austria, and was named after the Pinzgauer, an Austrian breed of horse. It was popular amongst military buyers, and continued in production throughout the rest of the century, in 2000 the rights were sold to Automotive Technik Ltd in the UK. ATL was subsequently acquired by Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc. in 2005, in May 2006, Stewart & Stevenson became a subsidiary of the aerospace and defence group Armor Holdings, Inc. Development work on a planned Pinzgauer II was evaluated by a BAE subsidiary in Benoni, Gauteng, South Africa, the original prototype was developed around 1969 and production began in 1971, as successor of the Steyr-Daimler-Puch Haflinger 700 AP 4×4 light military multi purpose offroad vehicle. The Pinzgauer first generation model was produced until 2000 by Steyr-Daimler-Puch in the city of Graz and it was, and is in use in many armies around the world like Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Albania, and Bolivia. When Austrian millionaire Mr. Stronach took over the majority of Steyr-Daimler-Puch offroad vehicles. As of 2009, in the Graz plant, the Mercedes-Benz G Wagon / Puch G offroad vehicles were being built, the Pinzgauer is one of the most capable all-terrain vehicles ever made. While not as fast as an American Humvee, it can carry more troops, even the smaller 710M can carry 10 people or two NATO pallets. Both the 4×4 and 6×6 models can tow 5,000 kilograms on road and it has a range of over 400 kilometres on one tank of fuel, or nearly 700 kilometres with the optional 125 litre tank. The first generation Pinzgauer is available in both drive and six-wheel drive versions. The Pinzgauer was designed to be reliable and easy to fix, the engine in the Pinzgauer was specifically designed for the vehicle, it has more than one oil pump so that the engine will not get starved of oil no matter how the vehicle is oriented. The Pinzgauer has a design which contributes to its high mobility. It has a tube chassis with a transaxle which distributes the weight more evenly. The differentials are all sealed units and require minimal additional lubrication, the Pinzgauer also has portal axles like the Unimog to provide extra clearance over obstacles. The 710 4×4 was the popular variant, but the Pinzgauer was designed to have a very capable 6×6 configuration from the start. The rear suspension on the back of the 6×6712 is designed to provide traction in the most demanding circumstances along with increasing its towing, load carrying. During production from 1971 until 1985,18,349 first-generation 710s and 712s were produced, the most common body types are either K or M types
30.
Bandvagn 206
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Bandvagn 206 is a tracked articulated, all-terrain carrier developed by Hägglunds for the Swedish Army. It consists of two units, with all four tracks powered and it can carry up to 17 people, and the trailer unit can be adapted for different applications. Development of the Bv 206 all-terrain articulated tracked carrier began in 1974, three batches of trial vehicles were delivered between 1976 and 1978 and the first production examples were delivered to the Swedish Defense Administration in 1980. Like its predecessor, the Volvo Bv 202, the Bv 206 is designed to carry troops and equipment through snow, the low ground pressure enables the Bv 206 to cope with a wide range of difficult conditions. It is also fully amphibious, with a speed in water of up to 4.7 km/h, over 11,000 have been produced and they are used in more than 37 countries worldwide. The total load capacity is 2,250 kg and a trailer of up to 2,500 kg gross weight can also be towed behind the second compartment, the Bv 206 is referred to as a Small Unit Support Vehicle pronounced susvee in United States service. U. S. military variants include the model, a tactical operations center variant, an ambulance variant. Additional users include the American and Australian Antarctic research organizations and British, Icelandic and Canadian search and they are also used for search and rescue services in the Austrian alpine region. As well, the Bv 206 was used in combat by the Canadian Forces during Operation Anaconda, the Singapore Armed Forces also uses the Bv 206 and recently transferred several of them to the Singapore Civil Defense Force to be used as a firefighting platform. The Bv206A is a version, which is capable of carrying stretchers in the rear compartment. The BV206F is a fire appliance variant, the RaBv 2061 is a Swedish Army communications/command version, fitted with radio equipment and workplaces for staff members. The PvBv 2062 is a Swedish Army anti-tank vehicle, an open top version of the Bv 206 armed with a 90 mm Pvpj 1110 recoilless anti-tank gun. The PvBv 2063 is another Swedish Army anti-tank vehicle, similar to PvBv 2062, the Bv206S is an armoured personnel carrier variant of the Bv 206, which provides protection from small arms fire for the occupants. It is in service with the forces of France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Greece and Singapore. Using a Steyr M1-Monoblock engine, the vehicle can carry the driver and 12 combat equipped troops — four in the front compartment and eight in the rear. The Bv 206S can be underslung and air lifted by Boeing CH-47 Chinook and Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters or carried in the C130 Hercules airplane, the UK is looking to replace its Bv206Ds by 2020. It was originally designed for the British Royal Marines Commandos and named All Terrain Vehicle - ATV VIKING and it is in service with the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group and the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps while the French Army have recently ordered 130 Bvs10s. Numerous other variants exist including mortar launcher, cargo carrier, fuel carrier, radar, command post, the units can easily be customized to meet the specific needs of a customer
31.
Port Stanley
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Stanley is the capital of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2012 census, the town had a population of 2,121, Stanley is represented by five members of the Legislative Assembly of the Falkland Islands, currently Jan Cheek, Barry Elsby, Michael Poole, Gavin Short and Mike Summers. Stanley is the shopping centre on the islands and the hub of East Falklands road network. The Falkland Islands Company owns several shops and a hotel, Stanley has four pubs, eleven hotels and guesthouses, three restaurants, a fish and chip shop and the main tourist office. There are three churches, including the Anglican Christ Church Cathedral, the southernmost Anglican cathedral in the world, a bomb disposal unit in the town is a legacy of the Falklands War. The town hall serves as a post office, philatelic bureau, law court, the police station also contains the islands only prison, with a capacity of thirteen in the cells. The community centre includes a pool, a sports centre, library. A grass football pitch is located by the community centre and hosts regular games, Stanley Racecourse, located on the west side of Stanley, holds a two-day horse racing meeting every year on 26 and 27 December. The Christmas races have been here for over one hundred years. Stanley Golf Course has an 18-hole course and a club house and it is also located to the west of Stanley. King Edward VII Memorial Hospital is the main hospital, with doctors practice and surgery, radiology department, dental surgery. Several bus and taxi companies operate out of Stanley, Stanley is also home to the Falkland Islands Radio Station, the Stanley office of the British Antarctic Survey, and the office of the weekly Penguin News newspaper. A nursery and garden centre is here, in whose greenhouses some of the islands vegetables are grown. The original capital of the islands was at Port Louis to the north of the present site of Stanley, captains Francis Crozier and James Clark Ross were recruited by Governor Richard Moody in his quest to find a new capital for The Falklands. Both Crozier and Ross were among the Royal Navys most distinguished seafarers and they spent 5 months in the islands with their ships Terror and Erebus. Governor Moody however, decided to move the capital to Port Jackson, Stanley Harbour was considered to have a deeper anchorage for visiting ships. Work on the settlement began in 1843 and it became the capital in July 1845 and it was named after Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for War and the Colonies at the time
32.
Balkans
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The Balkan Peninsula, or the Balkans, is a peninsula and a cultural area in Eastern and Southeastern Europe with various and disputed borders. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch from the Serbia-Bulgaria border to the Black Sea, the highest point of the Balkans is Mount Musala 2,925 metres in the Rila mountain range. In Turkish, Balkan means a chain of wooded mountains, the name is still preserved in Central Asia with the Balkan Daglary and the Balkan Province of Turkmenistan. A less popular hypothesis regarding its etymology is that it derived from the Persian Balā-Khāna, from Antiquity through the Middle Ages, the Balkan Mountains had been called by the local Thracian name Haemus. According to Greek mythology, the Thracian king Haemus was turned into a mountain by Zeus as a punishment, a reverse name scheme has also been suggested. D. Dechev considers that Haemus is derived from a Thracian word *saimon, a third possibility is that Haemus derives from the Greek word haema meaning blood. The myth relates to a fight between Zeus and the monster/titan Typhon, Zeus injured Typhon with a thunder bolt and Typhons blood fell on the mountains, from which they got their name. The earliest mention of the name appears in an early 14th-century Arab map, the Ottomans first mention it in a document dated from 1565. There has been no other documented usage of the word to refer to the region before that, there is also a claim about an earlier Bulgar Turkic origin of the word popular in Bulgaria, however it is only an unscholarly assertion. The word was used by the Ottomans in Rumelia in its meaning of mountain, as in Kod̲j̲a-Balkan, Čatal-Balkan, and Ungurus-Balkani̊. The concept of the Balkans was created by the German geographer August Zeune in 1808, during the 1820s, Balkan became the preferred although not yet exclusive term alongside Haemus among British travelers. Among Russian travelers not so burdened by classical toponymy, Balkan was the preferred term, zeunes goal was to have a geographical parallel term to the Italic and Iberian Peninsula, and seemingly nothing more. The gradually acquired political connotations are newer and, to a large extent, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia beginning in June 1991, the term Balkans again received a negative meaning, especially in Croatia and Slovenia, even in casual usage. A European Union initiative of 1999 is called the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe, and its northern boundary is often given as the Danube, Sava and Kupa Rivers. The Balkan Peninsula has an area of about 470,000 km2. It is more or less identical to the known as Southeastern Europe. As of 1920 until World War II, Italy included Istria, the current territory of Italy includes only the small area around Trieste inside the Balkan Peninsula. However, the regions of Trieste and Istria are not usually considered part of the Balkans by Italian geographers, the Western Balkans is a neologism coined to describe the countries of ex-Yugoslavia and Albania
33.
Sierra Leone
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Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north-east, Liberia to the south-east, Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with a diverse environment ranging from savannah to rainforests. Sierra Leone has an area of 71,740 km2. Sierra Leone is divided into four regions, the Northern Province, Eastern Province, Southern Province and the Western Area. Freetown is the capital, largest city and its economic and political centre, Bo is the second largest city. The other major cities are Kenema, Makeni and Koidu Town, Sierra Leone is a constitutional republic with a directly elected president and a unicameral legislature. Sir Milton Margai built his government based on democratic principles. Throughout his time in power, Sir Milton Margai was very popular across Sierra Leone, the main opposition APC, led by its leader Siaka Stevens, narowly defeated the ruling SLPP under the leadership of Albert Margai in the 1964 general elections. Stevens ruled for eighteen years in a government, in which his critics. Soldiers and politicians convicted of plotting a coup to topple Stevens were executed, under president Stevens, the APC was made the only legal political party in Sierra Leone, and all other political parties were banned, including the main opposition. Stevens handpicked successor, retired major general Joseph Saidu Momoh, lacked the political dominance of Stevens, Momoh reestablished the country as a multi party democracy in 1991. The current constitution of Sierra Leone was adopted in 1991 during the presidency of Joseph Saidu Momoh, the rebels started the civil war in 1991 in the eastern part of the country during Momohs presidency. Momoh was very unpopular, and Public anger against the Momoh government increasingly grew due to corruption, poor economy. In 1992 a group of officers in the army led by a 25-year-old captain, Valentine Strasser. In 1996 during the war, another military coup of soldiers within Strassers inner circle, led by a 32 year old Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio, toppled Strasser. Since independent to present, Sierra Leones politics has been dominated by two political parties, the Sierra Leone Peoples Party and the All Peoples congress. From 1991 to 2002, the Sierra Leone civil war was fought and this proxy war left more than 50,000 people dead, much of the countrys infrastructure destroyed, and over two million people displaced as refugees in neighbouring countries. In January 2002, then Sierra Leones president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, fulfilled his promise by ending the civil war, with help by the British Government, ECOWAS
34.
Iraq
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The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
35.
Afghanistan
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Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located within South Asia and Central Asia. It has a population of approximately 32 million, making it the 42nd most populous country in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan in the north and its territory covers 652,000 km2, making it the 41st largest country in the world. The land also served as the source from which the Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khiljis, Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, the political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a state in the Great Game between British India and the Russian Empire. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919, King Amanullah unsuccessfully attempted to modernize the country and it remained peaceful during Zahir Shahs forty years of monarchy. A series of coups in the 1970s was followed by a series of wars that devastated much of Afghanistan. The name Afghānistān is believed to be as old as the ethnonym Afghan, the root name Afghan was used historically in reference to a member of the ethnic Pashtuns, and the suffix -stan means place of in Persian. Therefore, Afghanistan translates to land of the Afghans or, more specifically in a historical sense, however, the modern Constitution of Afghanistan states that he word Afghan shall apply to every citizen of Afghanistan. An important site of historical activities, many believe that Afghanistan compares to Egypt in terms of the historical value of its archaeological sites. The country sits at a unique nexus point where numerous civilizations have interacted and it has been home to various peoples through the ages, among them the ancient Iranian peoples who established the dominant role of Indo-Iranian languages in the region. At multiple points, the land has been incorporated within large regional empires, among them the Achaemenid Empire, the Macedonian Empire, the Indian Maurya Empire, and the Islamic Empire. Archaeological exploration done in the 20th century suggests that the area of Afghanistan has been closely connected by culture and trade with its neighbors to the east, west. Artifacts typical of the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, urban civilization is believed to have begun as early as 3000 BCE, and the early city of Mundigak may have been a colony of the nearby Indus Valley Civilization. More recent findings established that the Indus Valley Civilisation stretched up towards modern-day Afghanistan, making the ancient civilisation today part of Pakistan, Afghanistan, in more detail, it extended from what today is northwest Pakistan to northwest India and northeast Afghanistan. An Indus Valley site has found on the Oxus River at Shortugai in northern Afghanistan. There are several smaller IVC colonies to be found in Afghanistan as well, after 2000 BCE, successive waves of semi-nomadic people from Central Asia began moving south into Afghanistan, among them were many Indo-European-speaking Indo-Iranians. These tribes later migrated further into South Asia, Western Asia, the region at the time was referred to as Ariana
36.
Edinburgh Castle
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Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position on the Castle Rock. Archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since at least the Iron Age, there has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century the residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison. Research undertaken in 2014 identified 26 sieges in its 1100-year-old history, giving it a claim to having been the most besieged place in Great Britain, few of the present buildings pre-date the Lang Siege of the 16th century, when the medieval defences were largely destroyed by artillery bombardment. The castle also houses the Scottish regalia, known as the Honours of Scotland and is the site of the Scottish National War Memorial, the British Army is still responsible for some parts of the castle, although its presence is now largely ceremonial and administrative. Some of the buildings house regimental museums which contribute to its presentation as a tourist attraction. The castle, in the care of Historic Scotland, is Scotlands most-visited paid tourist attraction, the castle stands upon the plug of an extinct volcano, which is estimated to have risen about 350 million years ago during the lower Carboniferous period. The Castle Rock is the remains of a pipe, which cut through the surrounding sedimentary rock before cooling to form very hard dolerite. Subsequent glacial erosion was resisted by the dolerite, which protected the softer rock to the east, leaving a crag and tail formation. The summit of the Castle Rock is 130 metres above sea level, with rocky cliffs to the south, west and north and this means that the only readily accessible route to the castle lies to the east, where the ridge slopes more gently. The defensive advantage of such a site is self-evident, but the geology of the rock also presents difficulties, archaeological investigation has yet to establish when the Castle Rock was first used as a place of human habitation. There is no record of any Roman interest in the location during General Agricolas invasion of northern Britain near the end of the 1st century AD. Ptolemys map of the 2nd century AD shows a settlement in the territory of the Votadini named Alauna, meaning rock place and this could, however, refer to another of the tribes hill forts in the area. The Orygynale Cronykil of Andrew of Wyntoun, a source for Scottish history, names Ebrawce. According to the chronicler, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Ebraucus had fifty children by his twenty wives, and was the founder of Kaerebrauc, Alclud. The 16th-century English writer John Stow, credited Ebraucus with building the Castell of Maidens called Edenbrough in 989 BC, the name Maidens Castle occurs frequently up until the 16th century. It appears in charters of David I and his successors, although the reason for it is not known. According to the 17th-century antiquarian Father Richard Hay, the maidens were a group of nuns, however, this story was considered apocryphal by the 19th-century antiquarian Daniel Wilson and has been ignored by historians since
37.
3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
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3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Horse Artillery in the British Army. They are currently based at Albemarle Barracks, Northumberland, England, the regiment was constituted in 1939 out of existing batteries. Two of the batteries have served continuously since the 1790s, two others have served continuously since their formation in the period 1805-1811 during the Napoleonic wars. M Battery, by contrast, has served continuously since 1993, the basic organic unit of the Royal Artillery was, and is, the Battery. Prior to May 1938, when grouped together they formed brigades, like an infantry battalion, an artillery brigade was usually commanded by a Lieutenant-Colonel. After May 1938, brigades were redesignated as regiments and on 27 August 1938, III Brigade Royal Horse Artillery at Abbassia, also in 1938, artillery brigades were reorganized from three six-gun batteries to two 12-gun batteries. Rather than disband existing batteries, they were linked in pairs. As a result, D and J Batteries formed D/J Battery on 11 May 1938 and this was the regiments structure on formation but in the event the batteries were unlinked within months and the regiment operated with four batteries. By the outbreak of the Second World War, the regiment was still in Egypt, M Battery, however, was permanently attached to the Armoured Division. In March 1941, P Battery left the regiment to join 6th Regiment, in practice just the title was transferred, the personnel and equipment were distributed amongst D, J and M batteries making them up to eight-gun units. On 1 March 1941, the regiment joined M Battery in 7th Support Group, 3rd RHA commemorate this by wearing a red backing to the cypher. On 26 April 1954, J Battery was awarded the Honour Title Sidi Rezegh in recognition of this action, the regiment was rearmed with 25 pounders after Sidi Rezegh, and the batteries were redesignated as field artillery on 8 September 1942. The regiment left the 7th Support Group on 8 February 1942 and was assigned directly to the 7th Armoured Division and it then took part in the Tunisia Campaign including the Battles of Medenine, Mareth, Akarit, Enfidaville, and Tunis. The regiment was withdrawn to Libya to rest and refit thereby missing the Sicilian Campaign and it next took part in the Italian Campaign, the Salerno Landings, the Capture of Naples, and the Volturno Crossing. It then returned to the United Kingdom, arriving on 4 January 1944 and it continued to support 7th Armoured Division, as a follow up formation, following the Normandy Landings In 1945, the regiment led the Allied Victory parade in Berlin, and fired the Victory Salute. After World War II the regiment served in the UK, West Germany, Aden, Egypt, Kenya, Hong Kong,1958 – C Battery joined the regiment, and M Battery was placed in suspended animation. 1975 – M Battery was revived,1976 – The regiment completed another tour of Northern Ireland, as part of Operation Banner 1978 – The regiment was placed in suspended animation. The batteries became independent anti-tank batteries,1984 – The regiment was reformed in Paderborn, Germany
38.
7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
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7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the artillery role with 16 Air Assault Brigade. The regiment was constituted in 1961 out of existing batteries that have served continuously since the Napoleonic Wars, the regiment was formed on 27 June 1961 with the re-designation of 33rd Parachute Light Regiment Royal Artillery as 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery. The regiment first saw action in the middle-east in Kuwait in 1961, in 1994 the regiment deployed to Cyprus as part of the UN mission to patrol the buffer-zone between Cypriot and Turkish forces. This was followed in 1996–97 with two battery deployments to Bosnia as part of the NATO mission and the Kosovo campaign of 1999, since the formation of 16 Air Assault Brigade in 1999,7 Para RHA has been involved in numerous overseas operations. The Sierra Leone campaign in summer 2000 was followed by Op Essential Harvest in Macedonia a year later, on the afternoon of 19 March 20037 Para RHA fired the first shots of the Iraq war by any coalition ground forces. The next day crossed the border in support of the US I Marine Expeditionary Force. The regiment was instrumental in securing the strategic Rumalya oilfields and supporting the MEF in their north to Nasiriyah. In late 2003 the regiment moved from Aldershot to Colchester to join the rest of 16 Air Assault Brigade,2006 saw the first of the regiments three tours of Afghanistan. The first of these saw the regiment play a key role in the break into Helmand province and this tour attracted much public attention and has often been described as the most intense combat fighting since the Korean War of the 1950s. 7 Para RHA’s final deployment to Afghanistan saw the Regiment’s gun groups, in May 2013, V Battery was disbanded. In September 2013, it was part of Exercise Sphinx Resolve, the Regiment also had an Airborne Air Defence element when part of 5 Airborne Brigade. Better known as P Troop this band of warriors consisted of soldiers who were the most highly trained. P Troop moved to Thorney Island for a period before being disbanded. British Army units from 1945 on
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Ireland (both variants)
Kenya
Malawi
Morocco
Nepal
New Zealand
Oman
Portugal
Spain
Switzerland
Thailand
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
