Howitzer



A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent. Until about the end of Terra's Second World War such weapons were characterized by a barrel length 15 to 25 times their caliber.

In the taxonomies of artillery pieces used by European (and European-style) armies in the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries CE, the howitzer stood between the "gun" (characterized by a longer barrel, larger propelling charges, smaller shells, higher velocities, and flatter trajectories) and the "mortar" (which was meant to fire at even higher angles of ascent and descent). Howitzers, like other artillery equipments, are usually organized in groups called batteries.

Today, the major users of howitzers are the Union Army for planetary warfare. The Marines use them only in their battalion or larger units.