Royal Ordnance L9

Royal Ordnance L9 is a British short-barrelled 165 mm gun used for combat engineering, particularly the demolition of defences.

Initially called Ordnance BL 6.5" Mk I, it was later renamed 165mm L9 Demolition Gun.

The gun is capable of firing a 29 kg High Explosive Squash Head (HESH) demolition projectile distances up to 2,400 m. The HESH shell contains 18 kg of C-4 explosive.

The L9 gun was mounted on Royal Engineers AVRE versions of the Churchill and Centurion tanks after the Second World War.

The gun's primary purpose is the clearing of obstacles such as walls, fences, roadblocks or bunkers, and the destruction of buildings.

Variants



 * L9A1: improved version
 * M135: American version, used on M728 Combat Engineer Vehicle, variant of the M60 tank.

General and cited references

 * US Army Field Manual FM 5-103 Survivability, Appendix A, Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C., 10 June 1985
 * Hunnicutt, R. P. Patton: A History of the American Main Battle Tank. 1984; Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-230-1.