| 摘要 |
<p>An autoloader, capable of loading regardless of gun elevation, includes arcuate guide tracks, mounted for movement in azimuth with the gun and having a radius of curvature centered on the gun elevation axis, which serve to mount a trolley for guided movement between a lower magazine position and an upper gun loading position. A compact rammer, mounted by the trolley, extracts a shell from a magazine while in the trolley magazine position and controls the shell during transfer to the trolley gun loading position where the shell is rammed into the gun breech. In one disclosed embodiment, the guide tracks are mounted to a weapon pod of an exterior, turret mounted gun for movement in azimuth and elevation with the gun. In an alternative embodiment, the guide tracks are fixedly mounted in vertical orientation between the turret roof and the turret floor, and the rammer is pivotally mounted to the trolley to access shells from magazines variously located in the turret, the tank hull and the turret bustle. <IMAGE></p> |
