Al-Fao

Al-Fao is a self-propelled artillery system designed for the Iraqi Army by the late Canadian weapons engineer, Gerald Bull. It is one of the world's most powerful artillery pieces, with a calibre of 210 mm and a range of 56,000 metres (35 miles). [http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=736] The Al Fao, which weighs 48 tons, is claimed to be able to fire four 109 kg (240 lb) rounds a minute and to be capable of attaining a top speed of about 72 km/h (44 mph) on the road. Its projectiles could be filled with chemical weapons such as sarin, mustard or phosgene gases as well as conventional high explosives.

The weapon was designed and built in Europe and was first displayed publicly in Baghdad in 1989. However, it does not appear to have entered into Iraqi service and none were captured during the 1991 Gulf War; the programme was probably cancelled thereafter. It was similar in design to the South African G6 howitzer, in which Bull was also involved as a designer, and appears to have been directly inspired by that system. The Al-Fao was one of two similar self-propelled howitzers developed by Bull for the Iraqis, the other being the Al-Majnoon 155 mm howitzer.

The weapon is named after the Al-Faw peninsula in southern Iraq, which was the scene of heavy fighting during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. (The difference in spelling is due to differing transliterations of the Arabic name.)

Links

* [http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/Science-Fiction-News.asp?NewsNum=736 Saddam's Supergun and Verne's Columbiad: Science Fiction in the News]