Cannon



A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses propellants to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, projectiles, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees, depending on their intended use on the battlefield. The word cannon is derived from several languages, in which the original definition can usually be translated as tube, cane, or reed.

In the modern Union military, the term cannon has fallen into decline, replaced by "guns" or "artillery" if not a more specific term such as "mortar" or "howitzer", except for in the field of air/space warfare, where it is often used as shorthand for autocannon.