L30A1 (120 mm)

Description

Write an introduction to the article in 2-3 small paragraphs. Briefly tell us about the history of the development and combat using the weaponry and also about its features. Compile a list of air, ground, or naval vehicles that feature this weapon system in the game.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

• Challenger 2
• Challenger 2 (2F)
• Challenger 2 TES
• Black Night
• Challenger 2E

General info

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

Available ammunition

The gun has access to three variants of kinetic rounds, a chemical shell and a smoke shell. Additionally, the turret has one co-axial and an AA machine gun, both of which are 7.62 mm calibre.

The three kinetic rounds it has access to are:

• Shot L23A1 - APFSDS
• Shot L26 - APFSDS
• Shot L27A1 - APFSDS

These three rounds are all long-rod penetrators, which is characterised by low spalling creation on penetration but a much higher penetration value and is more consistent than its HEATFS counterpart, especially against ERA. The three rounds all act rather similarly, with one of the main benefits from upgrading being the higher penetration, and in regards to the L23A1, the other two rounds have a higher muzzle velocity. This higher penetration makes it easier to target the existing weak spots (turret mantlet, drivers port on Russian MBTs). One can reasonably expect to only bring kinetic rounds into the battle and have no problem dealing with any opponent.

The only chemical round the L30 has is the shell L31A7, a High Explosive Squash Head (HESH) round. This round excels at achieving penetration on highly sloped targets, such as the top of Russian MBTs turrets, Leopards upper frontal plates, etc. Using the round against ERA-equipped targets is inadvisable. Due to the hull break mechanic, these rounds are extremely effective, and help players remedy to situations when the kinetic round does not penetrate through the engine from the front (on BMPs, Begleitpanzers, etc.) or when shooting lighter vehicles in the side and failing to eliminate enough crew members or ammo to destroy the target. The round has 6.5 kg of explosive equivalent, and as such has a much reduced muzzle velocity, so using the laser rangefinder at longer ranges is recommended.

The tank also has access to a smoke round, the L34, which has a 20 m radius, and the round's effect lasts 30 seconds, with 5 seconds to fully deploy and 25 seconds of full smoke cover. The round has the same weight and muzzle velocity as the HESH.

Comparison with analogues

Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns that have firepower equal to this weapon.

Usage in battles

The gun is extremely accurate at all ranges, and with 1,650 m/s of muzzle velocity, is quite easy to aim. Due to the optics of the gun, sniping is extremely viable on almost all maps, and locating weak spots on far away enemies is also easy. The gun is capable of punching through the front of most top tier rivals at several points, the most common being the lower frontal plate, mantlet, and driver's port on some tanks. Due to the potency of the gun, fighting Russian MBTs is made easy as the rotary autoloading ammo rack below the turret will be set off if hit, and can be hit from all sides. Against Leopards and Abrams, the gun has enough penetration to punch through the turret ring. The HESH is also potent against light vehicles and some MBTs without ERA on the sides or turret roof. As expected, shooting for strong points, such as turret cheeks or upper front plates, will not provide a penetration.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• The gun is extremely accurate at all ranges
• The L27A1 is an extremely competitive round for the BR, in penetration and muzzle velocity
• The HESH round has plenty of explosive filler for soft targets
• Short reload time
• Access to gun-launched smoke shells (rare amongst top tier vehicles)
• Great optics - high zoom, wide FOV and second generation thermal sights

Cons:

• HESH rounds have low muzzle velocity
• Lower versatility than some smoothbore guns at the same BR, lacking any ATGM, HEATFS or Proximity rounds
• Lower penetration than contemporary and enemy tanks
• Sustained firing depletes the 4-round ready rack very fast

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

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

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