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The 75 SA 50 (French: 75 mm Semi-Automatique Modèle 1950; English: 75 mm Semi-Automatic 1950 Model) also called 75 Mle 50 or CN 75-50 is a French 75 mm high-velocity rifled gun. Although originally designed for the AMX-13 light tank, the SA 50 has also been used on the EBR wheeled reconnaissance vehicle and foreign medium tanks such as the Israeli upgraded Super Sherman.
| 75 SA 50 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Rifled tank gun |
| Place of origin | France |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1956-present |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Arsenal de Bourges (ABS) |
| Designed | 1950 |
| Manufacturer | Arsenal de Bourges (ABS) |
| Produced | 1952-1959 |
| No. built | 2200 |
| Variants | CN 90 F3 (D 960) |
| Specifications | |
| Length | 4.64 m (15 ft 3 in) |
| Barrel length | 61.5 calibres |
| Shell | 75×597mmR |
| Shell weight | 6.4 kg (APC-T shot POT-51A) |
| Calibre | 75 mm (2.95 in) |
| Barrels | autofrettaged |
| Action | semi-automatic horizontal sliding-wedge breech |
| Breech | horizontal sliding-wedge |
| Recoil | 330 mm |
| Carriage | FL 10 or modified D50878 (Israeli Super Sherman) turret |
| Elevation | -6° to +14° (FL 10) |
| Traverse | 360° |
| Rate of fire | up to 14 rounds per minute |
| Muzzle velocity | 1000 m/s |
| Maximum firing range | 8000 m (with HE shells) |
| Sights | APX L 862 |
History edit
By the end of 1944, the chief engineer Lafargue considered a more powerful alternative to the 75 mm SA 44 developed for the upcoming ARL-44 transitional tank destroyer. The new 75 mm gun should have ballistic performance similar to the German 7.5 cm KwK 42 ; which means firing a round weighing a little more than 6 kg at a muzzle velocity close to 1000 m/s. A longer gun barrel (L/70), an increased chamber volume with a higher chamber pressure were thus required to achieve such performance. The new gun was made from existing components (breech block, gun tube, ...) developed clandestinely during the German occupation.[1] Although not retained for the ARL-44, the gun was later selected for the AMX-13 prototype and was subsequently standardised as 75 mm SA 50.
Second life edit
In 1962, the decision was taken to rebore the SA 50 to the internal dimensions of the D 921A 90 mm low-pressure rifled gun (CN 90 F1) of the AML-90, allowing the retroffited AMX-13 to also use the powerful OCC 90 EMP Mle 62 fin-stabilized HEAT shell but fired at a higher muzzle velocity of 950 m/s.[2] A single baffle muzzle brake replaced the original double baffle muzzle brake.
The re-bored 75 SA 50 took the factory designation of D 960 and was later known as CN 90 F3 (French: CaNon de 90 millimètres modèle F3; English: 90 millimeters gun F3 Model). After a preliminary study and testing carried out between 1964 and 1966, 675 FL 10 turrets were transformed between 1966 and 1970.
Ammunition edit
- POT-51A : a 6.4 kg APBC-T with a muzzle velocity of 1000 m/s, it is able to penetrate 110 mm of RHA at an angle of 0° at 1000 m.
- PCOT-51P : a 6.7 kg APCBC-T with a muzzle velocity of 1000 m/s, it is able to penetrate 170 mm of RHA at an angle of 0° at 1000 m
- 75 OE : a 6.2 kg high-explosive shell with a muzzle velocity of 750 m/s.
- SC 75/54/40 : a 3.9 kg tungsten carbide APDS with a muzzle velocity of 1310 m/s. It is able to penetrate 300 mm of armour at an angle of 0° at 1000 m or 80 mm at 60° at the same range. Developed in 1956, it was never adopted by the French Army.
- 75 CC : a shaped-charge shell.
- 75 canister : a 6.4 kg canister round developed by Advanced Material Engineering for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). The steel-aluminium projectile contains 1200 steel spheres, each 9 mm in diameter and are projected in a 9°cone with a maximum range of at least 200 m.[3]
- 75 APFSDS : a Singapore APFSDS developed in the late 1980s by Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd under the codename Project Spider[4] for their upgraded AMX-13 SM1.
See also edit
Weapons of comparable role, performance, and era edit
- British Ordnance QF 17-pounder
- Soviet 85 mm D-70
- United States 76 mm Gun M32A1
References edit
- ^ Tauzin, Michel. "Tome 9 L'armement de gros calibre" (PDF). www.irsem.fr (in French). Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ^ Petit, Pierre (2013). "Panhard EBR l'exception à la française". Trucks & Tanks Magazine (in French) (37): 35.
- ^ "75 mm French M50 tank gun ammunition". GFKJQB. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ "Projects Spider and Archer" (PDF). www.dso.org.sg. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
External links edit
- COMHART Tome 9 L’armement de gros calibre (history of the development of French tank guns and artillery of the 20th century by former French weapon scientists)