They often display a bulge in the barrel, which is a bore evacuator, or a device on the muzzle, which is a muzzle brake. Tank guns generally use self-contained ammunition, allowing rapid loading (or use of an autoloader).

They must provide accuracy, range, penetration, and rapid fire in a package that is as compact and lightweight as possible, to allow mounting in the cramped confines of an armored gun turret. Anti-aircraft guns can also be mounted to tanks.Īs the tank's primary armament, they are almost always employed in a direct fire mode to defeat a variety of ground targets at all ranges, including dug-in infantry, lightly armored vehicles, and especially other heavily armored tanks. Modern tank guns are high-velocity, large-caliber artilleries capable of firing kinetic energy penetrators, high-explosive anti-tank, and cannon-launched guided projectiles. 元0 gun on a Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Challenger 2 tank.Ī tank gun is the main armament of a tank. JSTOR ( January 2017) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.

Modern medium-caliber anti-tank cannon