When presenting a combat tank, or an artillery system, it is common to highlight the functioning of its automatic loading system giving it a high rate of fire, here the aiming or pointing system of new generation offering enhanced precision, even the ammunition itself, capable of piercing the best armor or hitting its target with precision at several tens of kilometers.
Yet one of the most advanced and complex components to design and build of these weapon systems is none other than the artillery tube itself.
Indeed, the more efficient the artillery systems are, whether it is straight firing as for tanks, or bell firing for howitzers and artillery guns, the more they must withstand thermal and mechanical stresses. elevated, a reality to which the American teams working on the ERCA program are now facing tough.
In fact, the design and manufacture of an artillery tube requires high-tech skills and know-how, both in terms of metallurgy and engineering. And like all advanced technologies and know-how, it is essential for the manufacturers who own them to exercise and develop their skills in order to keep them operational.
This harsh rule has just been invited onto the public scene across the Channel. Indeed, as London sent Challenger 2 tanks and AS90 155mm artillery systems to Ukraine to support the ongoing Ukrainian counter-offensive, it appeared that the British Army was going to have to cannibalize its own tanks and artillery systems. remaining artillery, when it comes to replacing the tubes of these two pieces of equipment in Ukraine. Indeed, the British industry no longer has the competence to produce new artillery tubes beyond the small calibers.
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