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| designer = Gerald Bull |
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| design_date = 1988 |
| design_date = 1988 |
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| manufacturer = Various (French, German, Spanish companies, |
| manufacturer = Various (French, German, Spanish companies, chassis) |
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Latest revision as of 14:32, 19 November 2025
Iraqi self-propelled artillery
| Al-Fao | |
|---|---|
Al-Fao 210mm Self-Propelled Artillery |
|
| Type | Self-propelled artillery |
| Place of origin | Iraq |
| In service | Unused (never fully realized) |
| Used by | Iraqi Army (planned use) |
| Wars | None (project never materialized) |
| Designer | Gerald Bull |
| Designed | 1988 |
| Manufacturer | Various (French, German, Spanish companies, Czechoslovak chassis) |
| Produced | Prototype stage |
| No. built | 2 prototypes (never mass-produced) |
| Variants | Majnoon (similar design) |
| Mass | 44 tonnes |
| Calibre | 210 mm |
| Barrels | 1 |
| Action | Autoloader |
| Carriage | Self-propelled (wheeled vehicle) |
| Rate of fire | 4 rounds per minute |
| Effective firing range | 57 km |
| Feed system | Autoloader |
|
|
|
|
Main |
210 mm gun |
| Engine | 550 hp 550 hp |
| Drive | Wheeled |
| 90 km/h (on roads), 60-70 km/h (cross-country) | |
| References | Altobchi, Cooper & Fontanellaz 2022, pp. 46–47 |
Al-Fao was a project for a self-propelled artillery system designed for the former Iraqi Army by the Canadian weapons engineer Gerald Bull. It would have been one of the world’s most powerful artillery pieces, with a 53-caliber, 210 mm (8.3 in) gun firing 109-kilogram shells over a range of 57 km (35 mi). The Al-Fao system was to weigh 44 tonnes, and its 550 hp engine was to give it a top speed of 90 km/h (56 mph) on roads, and 60–70 km/h (37–43 mph) cross-country.[1] The Al-Fao’s autoloader was to provide it with a rate of fire of four rounds a minute.[2]
A self-propelled howitzer using the same 155Â mm gun as the South African G6, similar to the Al-Fao and named Majnoon, was also designed by Gerald Bull on an Iraqi order.[3]
The design of the Majnoon and Al-Fao started around 1988. That year, South Africa had tried to sell the G6 howitzer to Iraq, but the Iraqis found it too expensive, and requested that Bull design two equivalents for them.[4] Prototypes of each model had to be ready by May 1989, in time for the Baghdad International Arms Fair. Numerous French, German and Spanish companies were contracted to manufacture parts for the guns, while the design for the chassis was bought in Czechoslovakia and modified to South African specifications. The deadline was met, and the prototypes of both Majnoon and Al-Fao were presented at the Arms Fair, although these were far from complete. However, by early 1990, the Iraqis had imported all the know-how, equipment and machinery necessary to produce them, as well as ammunition. Subsequent events prevented the realisation of the Majnoon and Al-Fao projects.[5]
- ^ Altobchi, Cooper & Fontanellaz 2022, pp. 46, II
- ^ Altobchi, Cooper & Fontanellaz 2022, p. 47
- ^ Altobchi, Cooper & Fontanellaz 2022, p. 46
- ^ Altobchi, Cooper & Fontanellaz 2022, p. II
- ^ Altobchi, Cooper & Fontanellaz 2022, pp. 46–47
- Altobchi, Ali; Cooper, Tom; Fontanellaz, Adrien (2022). Al-Hussein: Iraqi indigenous conventional arms projects, 1980-2003. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. ISBNÂ 978-1-914377-18-1.
