Ordnance QF Tk. L1A2 (120 mm)
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Contents
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 | 487 | 482 | 460 | 434 | 410 | 386 |
| 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 | 1,463 | 6.37 | - | - | - | 75° | 78° | 80° | |||
| Shell L1TK | HESH | 792 | 15.87 | 0.1 | 4 | 3.97 | 73° | 77° | 80° | |||
Comparison with analogues
Give a comparative description of cannons/machine guns that have firepower equal to this weapon.
Usage in battles
Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against notable opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.
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
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
- references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- 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: | |
| 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 |
