L7A3 (105 mm)

Description

Write an introduction to the article in 2-3 small paragraphs. Briefly tell us about the history of the development and combat using the weaponry and also about its features. Compile a list of air, ground, or naval vehicles that feature this weapon system in the game.

General info

The L7A3 shares many of its properties with the L7A1 on British tanks, although it has access to a wider range of ammunition. Aside from the standard APDS and HESH rounds, the L7A3 is found to use HEATFS as well as a smoke shell. The L7A3 can be found either unstabilized or fully stabilized depending on the vehicle. Giving accurate fire at long ranges that can punch through even heavily armoured vehicles, the L7A3 is a highly capable weapon for the vehicles it is found on and will often face.

Available ammunition

Not all ammunition listed is available on all vehicles equipped with this weapon.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm)
		10 m	100 m	500 m	1,000 m	1,500 m	2,000 m
DM12	HEATFS	400	400	400	400	400	400
DM13	APDS	303	302	296	277	257	252
DM23	APFSDS	337	335	330	322	314	306
DM33	APFSDS	408	405	398	389	379	370
DM502	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127
M392A2	APDS	303	302	296	277	257	252
M393A2	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127
M456	HEATFS	400	400	400	400	400	400
M735	APFSDS	353	350	342	333	322	312
Type 75	HESH	127	127	127	127	127	127
Type 91	HEATFS	400	400	400	400	400	400
Type 93	APFSDS	405	403	396	388	378	370

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Fuse delay (m)	Fuse sensitivity (mm)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)	Ricochet
							0%	50%	100%
DM12	HEATFS	1,173	10.5	0.05	0.1	1,270	65°	72°	77°
DM13	APDS	1,478	4	N/A	N/A	N/A	75°	78°	80°
DM23	APFSDS	1,455	3.79	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°
DM33	APFSDS	1,455	3.79	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°
DM502	HESH	732	14.85	0.05	0.1	4,310	73°	77°	80°
M392A2	APDS	1,478	4	N/A	N/A	N/A	75°	78°	80°
M393A2	HESH	732	14.85	0.05	0.1	4,310	73°	77°	80°
M456	HEATFS	1,173	10.5	0.05	0.1	1,270	65°	72°	77°
M735	APFSDS	1,501	3.7	N/A	N/A	N/A	76°	77°	80°
Type 75	HESH	760	10.8	0.05	0.1	3,890	73°	77°	80°
Type 91	HEATFS	1,150	10.5	0.05	0.1	1,270	65°	72°	77°
Type 93	APFSDS	1,501	3.4	N/A	N/A	N/A	78°	80°	81°

Smoke shell characteristics
Ammunition	Velocity (m/s)	Projectile Mass (kg)	Screen radius (m)	Screen deploy time (s)	Screen hold time (s)	Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g)
M416	730	11.4	20	5	25	50

Comparison with analogues

• L7A1 (105 mm): The L7A1 is the British original version of the L7A3, and has identical performance with the exception that no HEATFS shell is available for the L7A1.
• M68 (105 mm): The M68 is the American production version of the L7, and so also shares identical performance for matching shells, although the Americans have added a smoke shell in the place of having smoke grenades on vehicles.
• D-10T2S (100 mm): Unlike the standard D-10T found on the T-54, the D-10T2S uses a full stabilizer and has access to ammunition such as the 3BM25 which performs similarly to DM23 and M735 on the L7A3. However, the vehicles using the L7A3 reload faster than the T-55A (which uses the D-10T2S), although the T-55AM-1 does have a gun-launched ATGM which is not a feature found on the L7A3.
• OTO Melara 105/52 (105 mm): The OTO Melara 105/52 shares ammunition with the L7A3, and Italian vehicles using it such as the Centauro and OF-40 can reload as fast as the German and Japanese vehicles with the L7A3.
• CN-105-F1 (105 mm): The CN-105-F1 has drastically limited ammunition available with only a single shell of each major type present, but the ammunition is just as good or better than that found on the L7A3 as the OFL 105 F1 has the edge in penetration over DM23, although the Japanese Type 93 is still the top ammunition choice.
• Type 83 (105 mm): The Type 83 is a Chinese produced variant of the famous British L7 gun. Its ammunition performs the same as every other L7 gun in game, however the ammunition has a different name in Chinese use. It is capable of firing all standard 105mm NATO rounds, and is very powerful, the Type 83 (DM23 equivalent) APFSDS round capable of knocking out nearly anything it may go up against.
• ZPL94 (105 mm): The ZPL94 is a Chinese variant of the L7, but is slightly longer, resulting in increased penetration.

Usage in battles

Describe the cannon/machine gun in the game - its distinctive features, tactics of usage against notable opponents. Please don't write a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but give the reader food for thought.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Wide selection of potent ammunition
• Excellent ballistic properties
• Quick reload
• many nations in the game use the L7, ensuring familiarity

Cons:

• APDS, APFSDS HESH and HEAT-FS lose their potency when facing vehicles equipped with ERA or composite armour

History

Examine the history of the creation and combat usage of the weapon in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the weapon and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Weapon-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the article about the variant of the cannon/machine gun;
• references to approximate analogues by other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the weapon;
• other literature.

Japan tank cannons
37 mm	Type 94 · Type 100 · Type 1
47 mm	Type 1
57 mm	Type 90 · Type 97
70 mm	Type 94
75 mm	Type 90 · Type 99 · Type 3 · Type 5 (Type I Model II · Type II Model I · Type II Model II)
90 mm	Type 61
105 mm	Type 5 (Experimental · Production) · JSW L/52
106 mm	Type 60 (B)
120 mm	Taishō Type 10 · Navy short gun · Type 90 L/44 · Type 10 L/44
150 mm	Type 38
155 mm	NSJ L/30 · JSW L/52
	Foreign:
25 mm	Oerlikon KBA B02 (Switzerland)
30 mm	Bushmaster 2 Mk.44 (USA)
35 mm	Oerlikon KDE (Switzerland)
75 mm	M6 (USA)
76 mm	M1 (USA) · M32 (USA)
88 mm	KwK36 (Germany)
90 mm	M3A1 (USA) · M36 (USA)
105 mm	L7A3 (Germany)
120 mm	Schneider-Canet 1898 (France)

Italy tank cannons
20 mm	Breda Mod.35 · Fucile Controcarri S Mod.39
25 mm	Oerlikon KBA B02
37 mm	Vickers-Terni 37/40 mod.18
47 mm	47/32 mod.35 · 47/32 mod.39 · 47/40 mod.38
60 mm	Cannone da 60/70 · OTO HVG
75 mm	75/18 mod.34 · 75/32 mod.37 · 75/34 mod.39 · Ansaldo 75 L/34 · OTO 75/43 mod.40
90 mm	90/53 mod.41 · Cannone da 90/50 M3A1 · Cockerill Mk.3
100 mm	Cannone da 100/17 Mod.1914
105 mm	Cannone Ansaldo da 105/25 · OTO Melara 105/52 · OTO Melara 105/55
106 mm	Cannone da 106 s.r.M40A1
120 mm	OTO Breda 120/44 · OTO Melara 120/45
	Foreign:
30 mm	Bushmaster 2 Mk.44 (USA)
37 mm	M6 (USA)
75 mm	KwK37 (Germany) · KwK40 L48 (Germany) · M3 (USA) · M6 (USA) · StuK40 L48 (Germany)
76 mm	M1 (USA) · QF 17-pounder (Britain)
90 mm	M3 (USA)
105 mm	L7A3 (Germany) · M68 (USA)
155 mm	M126 (USA)
	Hungary
20 mm	Solothurn QF.36M
40 mm	37/42M · MÁVAG 41.M 40/51
75 mm	41.M · 43.M
105 mm	MÁVAG 40/43M
	Foreign:
30 mm	2A72 (USSR) · MK 30-2/ABM (Germany)
88 mm	KwK36 (Germany)
120 mm	Rh120 L/44 (Germany) · Rh120 L/55 A1 (Germany)
122 mm	2A31 (USSR)
125 mm	2A46 (USSR)