artillery, originally meant any large weaponry (including such ancient engines of war as catapults catapult (kăt`əpŭlt'), mechanism used to throw missiles in ancient and medieval warfare.
..... Click the link for more information. and battering rams) or war material, but later applied only to heavy firearms firearm, device consisting essentially of a straight tube to propel shot, shell, or bullets by the explosion of gunpowder . Although the Chinese discovered gunpowder as early as the 9th cent., they did not develop firearms until the mid-14th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. as opposed to small arms small arms, firearms designed primarily to be carried and fired by one person and, generally, held in the hands, as distinguished from heavy arms, or artillery .

Early Small Arms

The first small arms came into general use at the end of the 14th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. . Types of artillery include antiaircraft and antitank guns (which fire at high muzzle velocity through long barrels at flat trajectories) and howitzers (with shorter barrels, lower velocities, and parabolic trajectories). The term cannon can apply to almost all heavy artillery, especially howitzers, and even to automatic guns on aircraft. Mortars mortar, in warfare, term originally applied to certain types of artillery with high trajectories, but later applied to an infantry weapon that consists of a tube supported by a bipod that fires a projectile at a very high trajectory.
..... Click the link for more information. and batteries of small tactical rockets are usually used as artillery. Modern artillery came into use in the mid-14th cent. with the introduction of gunpowder gunpowder, explosive mixture; its most common formula, called "black powder," is a combination of saltpeter, sulfur, and carbon in the form of charcoal. Historically, the relative amounts of the components have varied.
..... Click the link for more information. in the West. At first, the new cannon were used mainly against fortifications fortification, system of defense structures for protection from enemy attacks. Fortification developed along two general lines: permanent sites built in peacetime, and emplacements and obstacles hastily constructed in the field in time of war.
..... Click the link for more information. . Its impact was demonstrated by the Ottoman Turks, who used giant guns cast on the battlefield to breach the walls of Constantinople and capture it in 1453. Cannon also revolutionized war at sea (see navy navy, originally, all ships of a nation, whether for war or commerce; the term navy now designates only such vessels as are built and maintained specifically for war. There have been three major developments in naval vessels.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Artillery was first extensively employed in the field during the Thirty Years War (1618–48); thereafter it played an increasingly important role until the advent of aircraft. Now that few pieces of fixed artillery (e.g., coastal defense guns) still survive, artillery is generally classified as either towed or self-propelled. Artillery was characteristically smoothbore and muzzle-loaded, firing solid, round shot, until the latter part of the 19th cent., when breech-loaded, rifled, and shell-firing artillery became standard.

Bibliography

See I. Hogg, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Artillery (1989).

artillery

In modern military science, big guns such as cannons, howitzers, or mortars operated by crews and of a calibre greater than 15 mm. The earliest artillery, introduced in the 14th century, were cannons and mortars of bronze, brass, or iron mounted on two-wheeled carriages. Modern artillery dates from the second half of the 19th century, when advances included steel gun barrels, more powerful gunpowders, and piston mountings that held artillery carriages steady during recoil. Both powder and projectile were encased in a shell, which allowed for faster loading. Since World War II, artillery has been ranked as light (up to 105 mm, for support of ground troops), medium (106–155 mm, for bombardment), and heavy (over 155 mm, for attacking rear installations). See also antiaircraft gun.

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Early Small Arms

Bibliography

artillery

artillery
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