• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

AMF3 MKF3 155mm Automouvant Howitzer

The French army proceeded to replace the American M41 (M 24 chassis) self-propelled howitzers in the 1960s. The 155mm Model F3 consists of a rotating artillery turrest piece on an AMX 13 family armoured tracked chassis. The gun is arranged to allow servicing the piece from the ground after a est-up of less than a minute without having to dig a pit. To achieve this result, the chassis was truncated in its back part and fitted with two short spades. The carrier vehicle, by simple drop builds on these spades which provide a very stable ground anchor. The vehicle moves out of battery without difficulty and movement is possible after lifting and hanging the spades.

The crew is only two men (1 commander and 1 driver) who travel one behind the other, under armour. The fire team was carried separately with munitions on the tracked artillery accompanying vehicle (ATV VCA) towing a specially engineered ammunition 2-wheel trailer. Later this contraption was replaced by a truck.

It has a wide range (greater than 20 km on a front of 16 km range), pulling with great precision very powerful ammunition, artillery but whose mobility on road and in varied terrain is practically equal to that of the other materials AMX 13, it means much higher than similar calibre towed equipment. Its low height in moving, its relatively low total mass and its template overall position very reduced also give this material of indisputable qualities for travel under wood, crossing bridges and airlift.

In the 1970s there were two types of regiments: the field artillery regiment, self-propelled 155-mm gun, which is organic to each maneuver brigade, and the general reserve field artillery regiment, towed, 155-mm howitzer which is usually attached to an army corps. No provision was made for assigning conventional field artillery units at division level.

One field artillery regiment, self-propelled 155-mm gun, is organic to each combat brigade. Each regiment is provided with a means of measuring muzzle velocity in the form of the MEDOVIC (the projectile velocity measurement in the field by doppler effect). The regiment is equipped with the 155-mm gun MK F3 mounted on an AMX 13 tank chassis. A tracked armored vehicle accompanies the self-propelled gun for the transport of gunners and ammunition. The gun weighs about 37,000 pounds and has a maximum range of 21,500 meters and a maximum rate of fire of 4 rounds per minute. The range was extended to 25,300 meters by the use of a rocket-assisted projectile (RAP).

Visual observation is supplemented and extended in depth by use of the RATAC (the fire direction radar for field artillery). In English the initial could stand for: Registration, Acquisition, Tracking, Assessment, Conformation. The RATAC can perform detection, acquisition, identification, precise location, and automatic tracking of moving targets either on or near the ground. It also insures the adjustment of artillery fire and control of its effectiveness, the guidance and identification of patrols, and assistance (locating and landing) to helicopters. By means of built-in computers, the information is supplied readily in the language of artillery units. The RATAC is installed in a cargo-type AMX armored vehicle PCA-MF.