

The cannon is an early example of pre-modern mobile battlefield artillery.

History Early modern era An illustration of a bronze "thousand ball thunder cannon" from the 14th-century Ming Dynasty book Huolongjing. Multiple rocket launchers – mobile rocket artillery launchers.Mountain guns – lightweight weapons that can be moved through difficult terrain (mostly obsolete).Mortars – weapons that fire projectiles at an angle of over 45 degrees to the horizontal, modern versions being lightweight with fin-stabilized explosive ammunition.Gun mortars – breech-loaded mortars capable of high or low angle fire.Infantry support guns – directly support infantry units (mostly obsolete).Gun howitzers – capable of high or low angle fire with a long barrel.Field guns – capable of long range fire.Modern artillery has also advanced to rapidly deployable wheeled and tracked vehicles and precision delivered munitions capable of striking targets at ranges between 15 and 30 kilometers. Whereas horse artillery has been superseded by self-propelled artillery, field artillery has survived to this day both in name and mission, albeit with motor vehicles towing the guns (this towed artillery arrangement is often called mobile artillery), carrying the crews and transporting the ammunition. This was in contrast to horse artillery, whose emphasis on speed while supporting cavalry units necessitated lighter guns and crews riding on horseback. Until the early 20th century, field artillery were also known as foot artillery, for while the guns were pulled by beasts of burden (often horses), the gun crews would usually march on foot, thus providing fire support mainly to the infantry. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Army troops in Europe, spring 1945, with artillery shells labeled as " Easter eggs for Hitler".įield artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. Photo taken during the 200th anniversary reenactment of the battle of Austerlitz in 1805. ( December 2010) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)įrench Napoleonic artillery battery. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with Western culture and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
