Last updated on February 17th, 2019 at 09:47 pm
The United Kingdom’s L6 Wombat 120mm recoilless rifle entered service in the 1960s and was used by the British Army in many parts of the world. It is now obsolete.
During the Vietnam War, the Wombat was used by the Australian army.
The L6 Wombat 120mm recoilless rifle was 12.66 feet (3.86m) long.
A crew of three was needed to operate this anti-tank weapon.
Usually, the Wombat was mounted on a towable two-wheeled carriage and was fired from the carriage.
It could also be mounted on Army Land Rover vehicles and on the FV432 Armoured Personnel Carrier.
The Wombat had a full circle of traverse and could engage static targets up to 1, 093 yards (1000m) away and moving targets up to 820 yards (750m) away. A 0.5inch (12.7mm) spotting rifle mounted over the barrel helped the firer to engage the target.
The Wombat’s 4.72inch (120mm) caliber HESH round weighed 60 pounds (27.2kg) and could penetrate 15.75 inches (400mm) of armor. The projectile itself weighed 28.3lbs (12.84kg.
While the L6 Wombat was a powerful weapon, it created such a large backblast when it was fired that it was difficult to keep its location a secret.