8 cm FK M 18

8 cm Feldkanone M 18
At the Heeresgeschichtliches Museum
Type	Field gun
Place of origin	Austria-Hungary
Service history
In service	1918-1945
Used by	Austria-Hungary Austria Nazi Germany
Wars	World War I World War II
Production history
Designer	Böhler
Designed	1917-18
Manufacturer	Böhler
Specifications
Weight	1,478 kilograms (3,258 lb)
Barrel length	2.756 metres (9.04 ft) L/33
Shell	9.99 kilograms (22.0 lb) fixed
Caliber	83.5 mm (3.29 in)
Recoil	hydro-pneumatic
Carriage	box trail
Maximum firing range	12,078 metres (13,209 yd)

The 8 cm Feldkanone M 18 was a field gun used by Austria-Hungary during World War I. The initial guns used the standard Austro-Hungarian 76.5 mm caliber, but testing was underway for the heavier 83.5 mm version when the war ended. However, only six guns had been delivered by the end of World War I. Its post-war service is unclear, but it seems that it served in small numbers with the Austrian Army, although it doesn't appear that the Germans placed it into service following the Anschluss, possibly because it used non-standard ammunition. Gander and Chamberlain don't list it in their book, but the older work by Chamberlain and Gander claims it saw service with the German Army as the 8 cm leichte Feldkanone 18(ö).

It was a far more innovative design than Skoda's 8 cm FK M. 17. The carriage of the M 18 had a bent axle which allowed the whole carriage to traverse since the spade pivoted around a vertical pin, so that neither the spade nor the wheels had to be moved to traverse. For use in mountains it could be fitted with a special narrow set of wheels. For transport it broke down into three animal carts.

References

• Gander, Terry and Chamberlain, Peter. Weapons of the Third Reich: An Encyclopedic Survey of All Small Arms, Artillery and Special Weapons of the German Land Forces 1939-1945. New York: Doubleday, 1979 ISBN 0-385-15090-3
• Ortner, M. Christian. The Austro-Hungarian Artillery From 1867 to 1918: Technology, Organization, and Tactics. Vienna, Verlag Militaria, 2007 ISBN 978-3-902526-13-7
• Chamberlain, Peter and Gander, Terry. Light and Medium Field Artillery. New York, Arco