UK service instead of the single based FNH propellants favoured by the US. The 105 mm Fd Mark 2 is still used with the L118 Light Gun. Gun Maximum range with 105 mm Fd Mark 1 ammunition was 15 km, the Mark 2 gave 17.4 km. Maximum rate of fire was 6–8 rounds per minute with 40 rounds carried in the vehicle. The gun was able to elevate to 70 degrees and depress to -5 degrees, sufficient to engage enemy AFVs if necessary. Traverse and shell ramming were powered by electrical servo mechanisms, elevation and cartridge ramming were by hand. Due to the number of charges and its compact turret, the Abbot did not have calibrating sights. Instead, the sight mount had both Tangent Elevation (TE) and Angle of Sight Scales with a separate Gun Rule to convert range into TE, corrected for the muzzle velocity variation from standard. The dial sight had all scales internal, illuminated and viewed through a single eyepiece. Communications The Abbot was fitted with both line and radio Larkspur B48, then Clansman UK/PRC 352) communications to its battery command post, which used the Apparatus Loud Speaking No. 23, this enabled the gun No. 1 to acknowledge his fire orders merely by clicking his pressel switch. Initially, it also used induction loop communications for the turret and external crew. Shortly after the Field Artillery Computer Equipment (FACE) entered service in the early 1970s, the Gun Rule was removed and the Artillery Weapon Data Transmission System (AWDATS) installed. AWDATS displayed firing data transmitted from FACE in the battery command post via line or radio. Mobility The Abbot was able to swim across water, using a flotation screen fixed around the hull, raised to provide buoyancy. The action of the tracks was sufficient to drive it forward at about (see also DD Tank). Each Abbot was supported by an amphibious Stalwart High Mobility Load Carrier with additional ammunition. Service history British Army Abbots were replaced by the AS-90 self-propelled gun in the mid-1990s. It was in service with the Indian Army, now replaced by the K9 Thunder self-propelled howitzer. No sources refer to Abbots ever being used in combat. Variants A simplified Value Engineered Abbot without flotation screen, NBC defence equipment, power traverse, elevation or loading, a simplified dial sight and communications fit was exported to India. A small number were purchased by the UK for use at