10.5 cm Leichtgeschütz 40

10.5 cm

The 10.5 -inch lightweight gun 40 (short LG 40 ) was a recoilless gun of the Wehrmacht in World War II.

History

The LG 40 was developed by Krupp in Essen and later built by Duerkopp in Bielefeld. It was only given a limited number of paratroopers and mountain troops divisions. Among other things, the light artillery battalions ( mot ) 423, 424, 426, 429 and 430 were equipped with this gun.

Due to its special characteristic, the LG was 40 recoilless and was broken down into four loads per 124 kg to 189 kg are dropped by parachute from aircraft. Within two minutes, they were then reassembled the gun ready to fire. Another transportation option was to mount the gun in tubular steel transport containers under the fuselage of an aircraft or transport in gliders. The life of a tube which missed 14.74 or 14.81 kg heavy projectiles was approximately 10,000 rounds.

There were variants LG 40/1 built with a light metal mount and LG 40/2 with a steel pipe mount.