L118 light gun

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

History

Development

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