120FER – 120mm Low-Recoil Gun

The French company GIAT is developing a low-recoil 120mm gun to equip future air transportable armored fighting vehicles weighing around 18 tons. The 120 FER is a derivative of the F1 gun mounted on the Leclerc main battle tank, retaining the same qualities, such as a long barrel, providing better accuracy, trunnion balance and stabilization. The main difference is the lower recoil forces extracted to the turret and, therefore, reducing integration constraints. The new 52 Cal. Smooth bore, chromium plated gun weighs 2.5 tons (including cradle) and measures 7.1 meters in length (barrel length is 6.2 meters). It can fire all current NATO ammunition (STANAG 4385) as well as newly developed ammunition and is suitable for future ETC-ignited ammunition.