The L118 light gun is a 105 mm towed howitzer. It was originally designed and produced in England for the British Army in the 1970s. It has since been widely exported. The L119 and the United States Army's M119 are variants that use a different type of ammunition. History Development From 1961 to 1975, the British Army used the 105 mm pack howitzer L5 with L10 ordnance (OTO Melara Mod 56) as its light artillery weapon, replacing the 75 mm howitzer, 4.2 inch mortar and 25-pounder gun in eight regular artillery regiments. It fires the US M1 type ammunition (called "105 mm How" in the UK). The Mod 56 was originally designed in Italy for its mountain artillery units. It was light enough to be lifted by Westland Wessex helicopters or towed by Land Rovers. It could also be dismantled, with no piece heavier than 128 kg, to be transported by mules or horses. It lacked range (making it potentially vulnerable to counter-battery fire), was not notably robust, had poor sights and was not universally liked. Nor were its rate of fire and time to prepare for opening fire satisfactory. In 1965, a general staff requirement was approved for a new 105 mm weapon system because the L5 pack howitzer "lacked range and lethality". Key characteristics included 6400 mil (360°) traverse by one soldier, maximum weight of , small enough size to be carried inside new Chinook helicopters and Andover transport aircraft, and ability to fire immediately after being under water for 30 minutes. The ammunition to be used was the 105 mm Fd Mk 2 ammunition used in the L13 ordnance of the gun equipment 105 mm L109 (better known as the "Abbot self-propelled gun"). This ammunition uses electrical instead of percussion primers and is an entirely different design from the US M1 type ammunition as used in the L5 pack howitzer. The two types are not interchangeable. An early requirement was for the new weapon to use 105 mm Fd Mk 1 ammunition, which uses the M1 shell, in training. However, in 1968, this was changed to allow a different version of the weapon, which subsequently became the L119, to fire US 1935 pattern (i.e. M1) ammunition. The new gun, soon designated "light gun", was designed by the government Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment (RARDE), Fort Halstead, Kent. Prototypes were tested in 1968. It soon emerged that