The standard German light mortar in World War Two was the model 1936 5cm Leichter Granatwerfer. It was a very precise (Germanic, one might say) machine, and a bubble lever for careful aiming, and it threw a roughly 2 pound projectile out to a maximum range of 550 meters. Today I have the chance t...

Ukraine's unmanned surface vessels (drone boats) continue to evolve with a newly confirmed variant equipped with six 122mm Grad rocket tubes. In this video we take a look at how they might be employed

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When the clouds of World War Two began to loom in the 1930s, Britain decided to begin securing some of its more distant colonial outposts - places that might be of strategic importance in a future conflict. Fiji was once of these outposts - a vital point on the seagoing supply line from Europe an...

A look at the use of a small number of OTO Melara Mod 56 105mm pack howitzers in Ukraine. It appears that Spain has provided a battery of 6 of the light guns which are in use with Ukraine's National Guard.

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Last summer Matt had the chance to visit the vast Fortalesa Isabel II, which was built to defend the port of Mahon on the island of Menorca. One of the fort's most impressive sights is its huge 15 inch gun battery. The battery was established in 1932, the massive guns were made by Vickers and cou...

During World War One massive railway guns were used to reach deep behind enemy lines and attack enemy infrastructure with both sides using the massive artillery pieces. In this episode Matt takes a look at some archival footage of America's massive railway guns ranging from 10 to 16 inches. Check...

Footage of Brimstone anti-armour missiles being launched in Ukraine surfaced for the first time on 12 May. In this video we look at what the missile is capable of, how they came to be in Ukraine and how they have been deployed. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here - h...

In this video we take a look at an original 1970s brochure for an Oerlikon 20mm cannon! Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here - https://armourersbench.com/2021/06/09/so-you-want-to-buy-an-oerlikon/ If you enjoy our work please consider supporting us via Patreon, TAB is...

Back in September Ukraine received a batch of vintage M101 105mm howitzers from Lithuania. These guns have recently been seen in action. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here - https://armourersbench.com/2022/12/04/ukraines-newest-howitzer-is-an-antique/ If you enjoy o...

On 4 January photos of a 155 BONUS submunition were shared by a Russian Telegram channel. In this video we take a look at this interesting top-attack munition and it's capabilities. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here - https://armourersbench.com/2023/01/06/top-attac...

Recent video and photos from Ukraine show Russian troops getting to grips with the unique 2B25 82mm 'silent' mortar. In this video we'll examine the imagery and how it shows the 2B25 being used. Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here - https://armourersbench.com/2022/12...

A look at the German SMArt 155, a Sensor Fuzed Munition, currently in use in Ukraine. It releases a pair of fire-and-forget top-attack submunitions. The submunitions use a ballute and parachute to slow their descent and allow the onboard infrared sensor and millimeter wave radar to locate its tar...

The D30 is a Soviet 122mm multi-role gun introduced in the 1960s and still in use around the world today. It has a somewhat unusual 3-leg mount that is slower to set up than a standard trail, but allows for complete 360-degree rotation of the gun. The piece was designed for both indirect fire (ma...

This Vickers, Sons & Maxim 37mm MkIII "Pompom" is on display at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. The MkIII pattern is quite scarce, with less than one hundred ever made. It is built around the 37 x 124mm cartridge, firing a 1.25 pound explosive or armor piercing projectile. This one (or one of ...

"Pom-Pom" was the name given to the 37mm Maxim gun by the Boers of South Africa, based on the gun's sound. It was a Maxim machine gun scaled up to the quite impressive 37mm caliber, intended primarily for naval use defending large vessels against small torpedo boats. This particular example is se...

Sold for $23,000 (transferrable).

The 20mm Oerlikon automatic cannon was a mainstay of United States naval air defense during World War 2, and today we will look at a few of the characteristics and questions that apply to this sort of automatic cannon but not to typical small arms. Like, for i...

The largest muzzleloading black powder cannons ever built were the Armstrong 100-ton guns which saw service with the Italian Navy and with British coastal fortifications on Malta and Gibraltar. They were purchased by the Italians first, to outfit a pair of new super battleships, each vessel havin...

Developed between 1883 and 1889 by Lt. William Driggs and Commander (later Admiral) Seaton Schroeder, the Driggs cannon was an improvement on the market-standard Hotchkiss quick-fire cannon of the day. By quick-fire, I am referring to a single-shot cannon that has a recoil mechanism and ejects it...

Note: In the video I mistakenly describe this as a two-stamp NFA gun. It is actually deactivated, and thus does not require a tax stamp. Sorry for the mistake!

The Swedish Bofors company developed their 40mm antiaircraft gun in the 1930s, and it would go on to be one of the most successful weap...

The 37mm gun was found in many guises during World War One - that caliber was the smallest allowed to use exploding projectiles by the 1899 Hague accords. Every nation in the world, it seems, used 37mm guns of one type or another. Well, one particular version I had the chance to look at was built...

The Swedish Bofors company developed a sophisticated and very high-quality light anti-tank gun in the early 1930s, and found significant commercial success with it. A variety of countries either purchased the guns outright from Bofors or paid for licenses to produce them domestically. These count...

Taking a look at another artillery piece today, a 50mm mountain gun made for Siam (now Thailand) by the German Krupp company. It is a relatively simple (and thus relatively inexpensive at the time) design, with no recoil mechanism or adjustable traverse.

I didn't have the opportunity to do a full video with the folks who own this M18 Hellcat, but I did get some footage of it firing. Enjoy!

Edit: The three interlocking rings are Krupp's logo, not a Thai property mark - sorry!

In 1906, Siam (now Thailand) purchased a batch of 50mm mountain guns from Krupp of Germany. These were simple fixed barrel guns with steel-belted wooden wheels. Designed to be carried by elephant, mule, or e...