The Best Tank Gun?
Soooo...
At the height of the Cold War who fielded the best tank cannon?
For NATO I'd have to say the 105mm cannon L7A1/M68 series was the best of the lot. Decent engagement envelope, effective out to 2,500m, excellent rate of fire, officially 7rpm, but a first class loader pulling vacuum loads could crank 12-15rpm and sheer number of platforms it was deployed on: Upgraded Centurion, M-48A5, M-60, M-60A1, M-60A3, M-1, IPM-1, Leopard I.
For the Soviets, without a doubt the 115mm smootbore U-5TS mounted on the T-62 series was the best gun, unlike the NATO designs the Soviets went for short-range accuracy, Soviet doctrine held that tanks did not engage until 1,500m, but Israeli tests showed the 115mm was suprisingly accurate out to 2,500m. Its biggest fault is the poor quality of Soviet fire control equipment, when refitted with laser rangefinders and Western ballistic computers, well, the Israelis chose not to replace the 115mm on their captured T-62s. Rate of fire is excellent, capable of 7rpm, although there are reports that the accuracy of the U-5TS fell off during sustained combat due to the effects of a hot barrel and fouling due to the incomplete combustion of the propellent (quality control issues).
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The reason that the American Army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the American Army practices chaos on a daily basis.
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