There is no current requirement for the procurement of new 105mm artillery barrels for the Light Gun, and consequently no plans to restore domestic production capacity or to deliver British-designed barrels from Sheffield, according to an answer given in Parliament.
Ben Obese-Jecty, the Conservative member for Huntingdon, asked by when the Secretary of State will have restored domestic production capacity and the delivery of British-designed 105mm artillery barrels from Sheffield.
Luke Pollard said: “There is no current Ministry of Defence requirement for the procurement of new 105mm artillery barrels for the Light Gun. Consequently, there are no plans to restore domestic production capacity or deliver British-designed 105mm artillery barrels from Sheffield.”
The L118 Light Gun has been in British service since 1975 and remains the towed artillery piece of 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery and 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, the units whose role requires a gun that can be lifted by helicopter or dropped by parachute. The design was exported widely and the American M119 is a licensed version of it.
Barrel forging in Britain has been the subject of a deliberate rebuild over the past two years, and this publication has covered the work to rebuild the ability to manufacture large calibre guns and the point at which the first British made artillery barrels headed to Ukraine. That programme runs on 155mm, the calibre used by the AS90 and by the Archer system bought to replace it.
