GC-45 howitzer

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GC-45 155 mm Howitzer
An ex-Iraqi GHN-45 at the U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma in travel mode
Type	Howitzer
Place of origin	Canada
Service history
In service	1970s-present
Used by	See users
Wars	Iran–Iraq War, Gulf War, Cambodian–Thai border dispute
Production history
Designer	Gerald Bull
Designed	1970s
Manufacturer	Space Research Corporation, Noricum, NORINCO
Produced	1980s-Present
Variants	GHN-45, PLL01
Specifications
Mass	8,220 kg (18,120 lb)
Barrel length	6.98 meters
Caliber	155 mm (6.1 in.)
Carriage	Split trail
Elevation	-89 to 1,280 mils
Traverse	Left 534 mils, Right 711 mils
Rate of fire	maximum: 5 rpm sustained: 2 rpm
Muzzle velocity	897 metres per second (2,940 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	39.6 km (24.6 mi) with Base bleed

The GC-45 (Gun, Canada, 45-calibre) is a 155 mm howitzer designed by Gerald Bull's Space Research Corporation (SRC) in the 1970s. Versions were produced by a number of companies during the 1980s, notably in Austria and South Africa.

The most publicized use of the design was in Iraq, where the GHN-45 variant used by some Iraqi artillery units had a longer range than any coalition cannon systems. This initially caused considerable worry on the part of the allied forces in the Persian Gulf War.^[1]