120mm Royal Ordnance L11
Overview
120mm L11A5 rifled gun
Close-up of the 120mm L11A5 rifled gun on a Chieftain main battle tank.
Source: Simon Q -
© GNU Attribution Share Alike license
Origin
United Kingdom
Type
Cannon
Entered service
1966
Status
Limited service
Development
1957 - 1961 (design project)
1965 (formal acceptance)
1965 (formal acceptance)
Developer
United Kingdom
-
Royal Ordnance Factories
Production
Mid 1960's - Mid 2000's
Producer
United Kingdom
-
Royal Ordnance Factories
Unit cost
$ 277.000 in 1990
Number produced
Over 3.000
Designations
Gun 120 mm Tk L11 (official UK designation)
Details
Facts
L11A5
General
Origin
United kingdom
Type
Rifled cannon
Barrel
Caliber
120mm L/55
Ammunition
120mm two piece ammunition
Barrel length
6.604 mm
Barrel type
Rifled
Fume extractor
Yes
Dimensions
Weight
1.778 kg gun only
Length
6.858 m overall
Loading
Breechblock
Downward sliding semi-automatic breechblock
Loading mechanism
Manual loading
Recoil travel
0.37 m
Performance
Rate of fire
6 to 10 rpm
Range
3 km with APDS
8 km with HESH
Muzzle velocity
1.370 m/s with L15A5 APDS-T
1.499 m/s with L26 CHARM I
670 m/s with L31A7 HESH
Media
Chieftain with L11 rifled gun
120mm Royal Ordnance L11 rifled gun shown on Chieftain main battle tank in a museum.
Source: Morio
Copyright: GNU Attribution Share Alike license
Chieftain with L11 rifled gun
Right side view of Chieftain main battle tank on display without side skirts and gun in raised position.
Source: Acabashi
Copyright: GNU Attribution Share Alike license
Related articles
105mm Royal Ordnance L7
The successful 105mm L7 armed the previous generation of British tanks.
120mm Royal Ordnance L30
The L30 is the successor of the L11 gun and fires the same range of 120mm ammunition.