Elevation (ballistics)

Inballistics,theelevationis theanglebetween thehorizontal planeand the axial direction of thebarrelof agun,mortaror heavyartillery.Originally, elevation was alinearmeasure of how high the gunners had to physically lift themuzzleof a gun up from thegun carriageto compensate for projectile drop and hit targets at a certain distance.

Until WWI

Though early 20th-century firearms were relatively easy to fire, artillery was not. Before and duringWorld War I,the only way to effectively fire artillery was plotting points on a plane.

Most artillery units seldom employed their guns in small numbers. Instead of using pin-point artillery firing they used old means of "fire for effect"using artillery en masse. This tactic was employed successfully by past armies.

By World War I, reasonably accurate artillery fire was possible even at long range requiring significant elevation. However, artillery tactics used in previous wars were carried on, and still had similar success where great accuracy was not required. Largewarshipssuch asbattleshipscarried large-caliber guns that needed to be elevated above the direct point of aim for firing accurately at small targets at long range.

From WWII

As time passed on, more accurate artillery guns were developed in a range of sizes. Some small artillery pieces were used at high elevations asmortars,medium-sized guns were used ontanksas well as fixed positions, and the largest guns became long-range landbatteriesand battleship armaments.

With the introduction of better tanks inWorld War II,elevation had to be taken into account by tank gunners, which had to aim through theGunner's Auxiliary Sights(GAS) or even throughiron sights.At shorter ranges the high velocity of tank and other munitions made elevation less of an issue.

During World War II artilleryfire-control systems(FCS) were introduced, improving the effectiveness of artillery fire.

With advances in the 21st century, it has become easy to determine how much elevation a gun needed to hit a target. Thelaser rangefinderand computer-based FCS make guns highly accurate.

Superelevation

When firing amissilesuch as aMANPADSat an aircraft target, superelevation is an additional angle of elevation above the angle sighted on which corrects for the effect of gravity on the missile.

See also

• Altitude (astronomy)
• Pitching moment

References

• Gunnery Instructions, U.S. Navy(1913), Register No. 4090[1]
• Gunnery And Explosives For Artillery Officers(1911)[2]
• Fire Control Fundamentals,NAVPERS 91900 (1953), Part C: The Projectile in Flight - Exterior Ballistics[3]
• FM 6-40,Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Field Artillery Manual Cannon Gunnery (23 April 1996), Chapter 3 - Ballistics; Marine Corps Warfighting Publication No. 3-1.6.19[4]
• FM 23-91,Mortar Gunnery (1 March 2000), Chapter 2 Fundamentals of Mortar Gunnery[5]
• Fundamentals of Naval Weapons Systems: Chapter 19(Weapons and Systems Engineering Department United States Naval Academy)[6]
• Naval Ordnance and Gunnery(Vol.1 - Naval Ordnance) NAVPERS 10797-A (1957)
• Naval Ordnance and Gunnery(Vol.2 - Fire Control) NAVPERS 10798-A (1957)
• Naval Ordnance and Gunnery[7]