Military equipment comprising a turret carrying an external large caliber gun

Claim 2

Military equipment comprising: a turret mounted on a mount for rotation about a substantially vertical axis; a pair of side members secured to said turret and projecting upwardly therefrom; bearing means carried by said side members and defining an elevation axis transverse to said vertical axis; a main gun of a caliber greater than that suitable for belt feed of ammunition and located out of and above said turret, carried by said bearing means and provided with a separate shield unitarily connected to said gun, said bearing means cooperating with the shield of the gun to define a protected passage; and a gun loading system, at least a portion of which is located in said protected passage, arranged to carry one round of ammunition at a time from a predetermined location inside the turret and to insert said round into a firing chamber of said gun, said loading system being arranged to accomodate the variations in elevation, the shield of said gun including a front wall located on one side of the gun in which there is provided an opening for said loading system whose angular extent is sufficient to allow loading in the whole range of elevation aiming of the gun.

Claim 3

Military equipment according to claim 1, wherein the shield of the gun comprises a front wall in the form of a cylindrical sector centred on the elevation axis, located on one side of the gun, in which there is provided an opening for said loading system, whose angular extent is sufficient to allow loading in the whole range of elevation aiming of the gun.

Claim 4

Equipment according to claim 1, wherein the bearing means are placed on the shield of the gun in a position such that the centre of gravity of the pivoting unit consisting of the gun and shield is situated close to the elevation axis and resilient means are provided for balancing at least partially the torque due to gravitational forces tending to pivot the gun.

Claim 5

Equipment according to claim 1, wherein the shield of the gun is provided with a rear opening for ejection of the shells rearwardly of a compartment in the shield.

Claim 6

Equipment according to claim 1, wherein said loading system comprises a chain conveyor, adapted to successively bring rounds of ammunition one by one from an initial station in the turret to a transfer station provided in said shield and offset laterally from the median vertical plane of the gun, and means for transversely displacing one round at a time from said transfer station to a loading station placed along the axis of the gun and behind the breech thereof.

Claim 7

Equipment according to claim 5, wherein said loading system includes a transfer mechanism for transfer of an individual round of ammunition from said transfer station to said gun, said transfer mechanism having: clamping means slidably non-rotatably connected to a drive shaft and adapted to seize said individual round of ammunition at said transfer station, means for unitarily rotating said shaft and clamping means to the extent necessary to move said individual round from said transfer station to said loading station, and ram means for moving said clamping means axially toward the breech of the gun.

Claim 8

Equipment according to claim 6, wherein said ram means include a deformable parallogram linkage drivably connected to said clamping means and arranged to have an abutting connection with said individual round of ammunition whereby it rams it into a firing chamber of the gun from the position to which the round is brought by said clamping means.

Claim 9

Equipment according to claim 1, wherein said loading system is energized by separate power means.

Claim 10

Equipment according to claim 1, wherein said loading system is arranged to be moved clear of the gun after loading so as to allow recoil of the latter.

Claim 11

Equipment according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the elevation axis and the vertical axis of the turret is such that the circle swept by the end of the barrel of the gun during rotation of the turret approaches the minimum for a predetermined overall length of the gun and the shield.

Claim 12

A turret assembly for an armoured land vehicle comprising: a turret mounted on said vehicle for rotation about a substantially vertical axis and arranged to accommodate crew members, means inside the turret for storing individual rounds of ammunition of a predetermined caliber at a plurality of locations reachable by one of the crew members, a loading station inside the turret reachable by said one of the crew members for receiving said individual rounds one at a time, a gun of said caliber located out of and above said turret and of a type having a breech for shot by shot loading with said rounds of ammunition, a shield for said gun separate from said turret, enclosing said breech and securely connected to said gun, a pair of side members securely connected to said turret, projecting upwardly from said turret and defining bearing means supporting said shield and gun for rotation about an elevation axis transverse to said vertical axis and rearwardly thereof, said side members being constructed and arranged to define in cooperation with said shield a protected passage from said loading station to the inside of said shield, and a gun loading system including a chain conveyor extending along said protected passage and arranged to supply rounds of ammunition one at a time to the breech of the gun from said loading station, said chain conveyor being arranged to accommodate the elevation variations of the gun, the shield of said gun including a front wall located on one side of the gun in which there is provided an opening for said loading system whose angular extent is sufficient to allow loading in the whole range of elevation aiming of the gun.

Claim 13

A turret assembly for an armoured land vehicle comprising: a turret mounted on said vehicle for rotation about a substantially vertical axis and arranged to accommodate crew members, means inside the turret for storing individual rounds of ammunition of a predetermined caliber at a plurality of locations reachable by one of the crew members, a loading station inside the turret reachable by said one of the crew members for receiving said individual rounds one at a time, a gun of said caliber located out of and above said turret and of a type having a breech for shot by shot loading with said rounds of ammunition, a shield for said gun separate from said turret, enclosing said breech and securely connected to said gun, a pair of side members securely connected to said turret, projecting upwardly from said turret and defining bearing means supporting said shield and gun for rotation about an elevation axis transverse to said vertical axis and rearwardly thereof, said side members being constructed and arranged to define in cooperation with said shield a protected passage from said loading station to the inside of said shield, and a gun loading system including a chain conveyor extending along said protected passage and arranged to supply rounds of ammunition one at a time to the breech of the gun from said loading station, said chain conveyor being arranged to accommodate the elevation variations of the gun, the shield of said gun including a front wall located on one side of the gun in which there is provided an opening for said loading system whose angular extent is sufficient to allow loading in the whole range of elevation aiming of the gun.