WAR MOTORS

Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

FV433 Abbot SPG

FV433, 105mm, Field Artillery, Self-Propelled "Abbot" is the self-propelled artillery, or more specifically self-propelled gun (SPG), variant of the British Army FV430 series of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs), using much of the chassis of the FV430 but with a fully rotating turret at the rear housing the 105 mm gun and given the vehicle designation of FV433.

Designed as a Sexton replacement, its correct designation was "Gun Equipment 105mm L109 (Abbot)"; L109 was little used, probably to avoid confusion with the 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.

Ammunition

A completely new ammunition family, comprising shells, fuzes and cartridges, was designed for Abbot's L13 gun, designated 105 mm Field (105 mm Fd). Compared to US 105 mm M1 type ammunition, it uses electrical instead of percussion primers, and has longer shells. 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 (shell and cartridge loaded separately). 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 (105 mm M1 uses percussion primers).

The Mark 2 adopted a new projectile design including an improved lethality HE shell (heavier with more HE) and full charge cartridges. Its shell types include HE, Smoke, Coloured Marker (Red and Orange), Illuminating, and HESH for direct fire against enemy armoured vehicles. Direct Action, Controlled Variable Time (CVT) and Mechanical Time (MT) fuzes were available for HE and Coloured Marker shells.

Initially, there were three cartridges. Sub-zones 1 and 2 were only used to provide short range in high angle fire, and were soon replaced by a plastic spoiler slipped over the shell ogive. Normal cartridge gave charges 1–5, each bag being a different colour in accordance with established UK practice, Mk 1 normal cartridge only went to charge 4. 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 (often internationally called triple) 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.

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 and cartridge ramming were by hand.

Due to the number of charges and its compact turret, the Abbot did not have calibrating sights. Instead, the sight mount had both Tangent Elevation (TE) and Angle of Sight Scales and a separate Gun Rule to convert range into TE, corrected for the muzzle velocity variation from standard. The dial sight had all scales internal, illuminated and viewed through a single eyepiece.

I hope you liked this post and as always have a chilled day from the Viking.