Mountain gun

P. Lykoudis's original 1891 dismantleable breechloading gun with recoil control

Mountain gunsareartillerypieces designed formountain warfareand other areas where wheeled transport is not possible. They are generally capable of being taken apart to make smaller loads for transport by horses, humans, mules, tractors, or trucks. As such, they are sometimes called "pack guns"or"pack howitzers".During theAmerican Civil Warthese small portable guns were widely used and were called "mountain howitzers".

The first designs of modernbreechloadingmountain guns with recoil control and the capacity to be easily broken down and reassembled into highly efficient units were made by Greek army engineers P. Lykoudis andPanagiotis Danglis(after whom theSchneider-Danglis gunwas named) in the 1890s.

Mountain guns are similar toinfantry support guns.They are largely outdated, their role being filled byhowitzers,mortars,multiple rocket launchers,recoilless rifles,andmissiles.Most modern artillery is manufactured from light-weight materials and can be transported fully assembled by helicopters.

See also

• List of mountain artillery

Images

• 
  80 mm French mountain gun with a 59-kilogram (130 lb) air mine attached c. 1915
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  Norwegian 6-pounder muzzle-loading mountain cannon of 1848
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  British Indian Armycrew assembles a2.5 inch muzzle-loading "screw gun"c. 1895
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  Mule transport of barrel of US Army75 mm pack howitzerc. 1916
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  German crew using aSkoda 75 mm Model 15as an improvised anti-tank gun, 1918
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  Germany army pack transport of gun wheels, 1942
• 
  British3.7-inch mountain howitzercrew in action in Burma, 1944
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  Spanish Marines manning anOto Melara 105 mm pack howitzerin 1981
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  Italian mountain artillery troops with aMod 56in theDolomitesin 2019
• 
  Type 41 75 mm mountain gun,a licensed copy of the German Krupp M1908, located at The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum in London, Ontario.

External links

• Popular Science,May 1941,"The Old Army Army Mule Takes Guns Where Wheels Won't Go"
• Assembling the Howitzerdetail photos showing a 75mm howitzer's various sections being taken off mules and assembled