The British army sought to reequip its artillery regiments with 52-caliber tubes that will permit ranges of approximately 40 kilometers. For example, the original version of the British AS 90 was armed with a 39-caliber tube (maximum range of approximately 30 kilometers with rocket-assisted munitions). Some howitzers are in the process of being refitted with longer-barreled weapons to extend their ranges. When employing base-bleed or rocket-assisted projectiles (RAP), these weapons can easily achieve ranges of 30-45 kilometers. Weapons of 39, 45, and now 52 caliber have become the standard. The current generation of SPHs becoming available in the world today are most often 155mm, with some 152mm weapons still being produced in the former Soviet bloc. Increased range enables the weapon to cover a larger portion of the enemy target array, gives artillery units greater ability to provide fires for neighboring formations on their flanks, and improves the survivability of cannon units by permitting the guns to stand well back from the front lines, thus inhibiting the ability of at least some enemy systems from ranging the friendly gun positions. The quest for longer range is probably as old as cannons themselves. Where artillery dimensions are concerned, caliber is the multiple of the length of a gun barrel compared with its diameter hence a 39-caliber gun is 39 times as long as it is wide. Artillery Caliber - 39-caliber vs 52-caliber
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