Ordnance QF Tk. L1A2 (120 mm)

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The 120 mm Ordnance QF Tk. L1A2 on the Conqueror gun mantlet.

Description

The L1A2, also known as the L1 or L11, is a 120 mm tank cannon mounted on the Conqueror and Conway in the UK tree. The gun was developed by the Royal Ordnance as a precursor to the L11A5 tank cannon most commonly seen on the Chieftain tanks and later, the Challenger 1 tanks. The large calibre of 120 mm was deemed necessary in NATO's desire to counter the U.S.S.R's newly unveiled IS-3 heavy tanks. The gun never saw combat, with the Conway project being scrapped after one prototype and the Conquerors were only put into service in Germany as part of the BAOR (British Army of the Rhine).

The cannon fires a traditional APDS (Armour-Piercing Discarding Sabot) round and, thanks to the gun's rifling, also fires HESH (High Explosive Squash Head). Penetrating up to 487 mm of armour-equivalent, the gun has an absurdly high level of potency. The trade-off for this is the gun's two-stage round system, which significantly increases reload times (approximately 19-20 seconds stock).

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

General info

Tell us about the tactical and technical characteristics of the cannon or machine gun.

Available ammunition

The gun has two shells, Shot L1G (Armor-Piercing Discarding Sabot) and L1TK (High Explosive Squash Head).

The sabot will be familiar to anyone who has previously used other variants, especially those other variants in the UK tree. The sabot has the classic trade-off of reduced shell spalling in exchange for superior penetration. This shell is the main multi-purpose shot for this gun.

HESH is the UK's preferred HE delivery method, which gives greatly increased penetration values on extreme angles, in exchange for lower overall penetration. This shell is for use against vehicles that are vulnerable to overpressure, such as BMPs and SPAAs, and tanks with more extreme angles, for example later Russian tanks such as T-54s and T-55s.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
10 m 100 m 500 m 1,000 m 1,500 m 2,000 m
Shot L1G APDS 502 496 474 447 422 398
Shell L1TK HESH 152 152 152 152 152 152
Shell details
Ammunition Type of
warhead
Velocity
(m/s)
Projectile
mass (kg)
Fuse delay
(m)
Fuse sensitivity
(mm)
Explosive mass
(TNT equivalent) (kg)
Ricochet
0% 50% 100%
Shot L1G APDS 1,493 6.37 - - - 75° 78° 80°
Shell L1TK HESH 792 15.87 0.1 4 3.97 73° 77° 80°

Comparison with analogues

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Usage in battles

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Pros and cons

Pros:

  • The APDS shot has an absurdly high penetration for the BR
  • Very high muzzle velocity
  • Excellent spall production for an APDS shot
  • Powerful HESH round

Cons:

  • Long reload time
  • Limited ammunition selection
  • Unimpressive performance against heavily sloped armour

History

Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />.

Media

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See also

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  • reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
  • references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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  • topic on the official game forum;
  • other literature.


Britain tank cannons
30 mm  L21A1
40 mm  QF 2-pounder
47 mm  Ordnance QF 3-pounder
57 mm  6pdr OQF Mk.III · 6pdr OQF Mk.V
75 mm  OQF Mk.V
76 mm  OQF 3-inch Howitzer Mk I · OQF 3in 20cwt · QF 17-pounder
77 mm  OQF Mk.II
84 mm  20pdr OQF Mk.I
94 mm  28pdr OQF · 32pdr OQF · OQF Mk.II
95 mm  Howitzer, Tank No.1, Mk.I
105 mm  LRF · Royal Ordnance L7A1
120 mm  Ordnance QF Tk. L1A2 · Ordnance BL Tk. L11 · L11A5 · L30A1
165 mm  ORD BL 6.5in L9A1
183 mm  QF L4A1
  Foreign:
25 mm  M242 (USA)
37 mm  M5 (USA) · M6 (USA)
75 mm  M2 (USA) · M3 (USA)
84 mm  kan Strv 81 (Sweden)
105 mm  Sharir (Israel)
120 mm  Rh120 L/55 A1 (Germany)
125 mm  2A46M-5 (Russia)
155 mm  M185 (USA)
  South Africa
20 mm  GI-2
76 mm  GT-4
90 mm  GT-2
105 mm  GT-3 · GT-7 · GT-8
155 mm  G6 L/45