1.
SVS Soldiers swing barrel of new British artillery gun -- Howitzer 70 -- in field demonstration. (2 shots)
0.08

2.
SV Soldiers preparing gun for firing.
0.11

3.
SCU PULL BACK TO MV gun.
0.18

4.
SCU Senior officer checking sighting.
0.24

5.
SV PULL BACK TO GV Gun.
0.30

6.
SVS Gun being loaded and prepared for firing. (3 shots)
0.45

7.
SVS PAN Two guns being fired, and second gun re-loaded and fired again. (3 shots)
1.04

8.
SV Gun re-loaded and fired in rapid succession.
1.10

9.
GV Gun
1.15



Initials VS 16.00



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: Europe's first multi-national artillery weapon went on show in Wiltshire, England on Tuesday (21 September). It's the huge 155 millimetre gun known as the FH-70, short for Field Howitzer of the Seventies.

SYNOPSIS: The gun has been developed jointly by Italy, West German and Britain. It can also be used with a nuclear-tipped shell developed by the United States. The project began as a bilateral agreement between the U.K. and West Germany in 1966. Three years later Italy joined and development began. All governments have now accepted the gun for army service.

Pre-production guns will be delivered to each nation in 1978 to allow initial training and trials before the main production guns are received. The gun can fire a shell every ten seconds over a range of twenty miles, and there are plans for a self-propelled version.

The highlights of the new gun include the us of advanced technology, good rapid-fire capability, and the increased destructive power of the FH 70 high explosive shell.