Beringer
Signed, limited edition prints, Miltary

FH70 battery at Larkhill

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FH70 battery at Larkhill
open edition print of 100 by Beringer
Image size 24" x 16"

The barrel was 39 calibres long, giving 827 m/s standard maximum muzzle velocity. It had a muzzle brake giving 32% efficiency.
Other conventional features included a split trail and turntable sole plate. Initially, it had assisted loading but became an early user of flick-ramming.
In accordance with long-standing UK practice, it used one-man laying.
All this meant that the gun could be operated by a minimum detachment of only 4 men (commander, layer and 2 loaders).
The burst fire rate was 3 rounds in 15 seconds.
It was also fitted with a direct fire telescope.
There were a number of design flaws that became apparent in service.
The equipment entered full operational service in the UK in 1980.
It became clear that there were significant difficulties with the tube feed system in anything but ideal conditions.
1st Regiment RHA, a unit that had conducted the Troop trials, developed their own procedures to solve these problems, related to dust contamination,
and this process became established in official manuals in due course. More significantly,
the trails of the gun proved to be weak at the point where maximum stress was incurred when the equipment was towed; this resulted in modification work on the UK guns in 1987.
There were continual problems with the drive train on the flat-4 VW APU, and the hydraulic system was always vulnerable to the obvious problems posed by external, non-armoured, housing in combat conditions.
In addition, the complex dial sight carrier was vulnerable to damage.