Used by See users Designed 1974 | ||
 | ||
Wars Yom Kippur WarSouth African Border War | ||
The M-71 is a 155 mm 39 caliber towed howitzer manufactured by Soltam Systems.
Contents
Design
The weapon was based on the earlier Soltam M-68 and uses the same recoil system, breech and carriage but had a longer gun barrel (39 calibre versus 33 calibre of M-68). It is fitted with a compressed air-driven rammer to permit rapid and ease of loading at all angles of elevation as well as having a rechargeable battery mounted on the right trail for auxiliary power. It can fire a 43.7 kilograms (96 lb) high-explosive shell up to a maximum range of 23.5 kilometers (14.6 mi) at a muzzle velocity of 820 meters per second (2,700 ft/s).
Deployment
In addition to Israel, this weapon is in service with Chile, Singapore, Thailand, South Africa, Slovenia and Myanmar. A version of this weapon was developed to mount on a modified Centurion chassis (M-72), but this vehicle never reached production.