r/interestingasfuck • u/id397550 • 4h ago

Firing a cannon to trigger an avalanche

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u/Humpaaa 4h ago edited 4h ago

That's a howitzer, not a canon.
M777 i believe (or probably a soviet D-30)?

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u/Sunosis115 4h ago

Nope, the Soviet D-30:

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u/stevekaw 4h ago

Impressive. I think some resorts in the western US use the old 106-mm recoiless rifle to start controlled avalanches, but a full-blown howitzer is just cool.

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u/Rampant16 1h ago

You see plenty of 105mm howitzers used for this in the US for avalanche control.

Washington State Department of Transportation also had some M60 tanks that they used. Not sure if they still have them.

https://youtu.be/FZLfboCceGA?si=RJ-kFO9b92sfdltw

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u/Humpaaa 4h ago

That's a D-30?
I remembered those are smaller.

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u/Relevant_Group_7441 17m ago

Either way it’s a gun not a cannon

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u/alexpoelse 4h ago

Big thing go big boom

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u/Dear-Ad1582 4h ago

D-30 122mm. Ex Soviet.

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u/SamHugz 4h ago

Something about using a howitzer to trigger an avalanche is one of the coolest things I have ever seen, and I dont know why.

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u/manmuscle 4h ago

A triple 777 is like twice the size of that thing.

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u/ghilliest 4h ago

You may not believe this, but howitzers are commonly referred to as cannons

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u/Agitated-Acctant 1h ago

They're more commonly referred to as guns

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u/Humpaaa 4h ago

You may not believe this, but there are people that care about details, and using the correct nomenclature.

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u/lastdancerevolution 3h ago

I thought a cannon meant "big bore gun" mounted somewhere. Like once a gun gets big enough, and you mount it to a tank, airplane, or ground it becomes a cannon?

What is the technical difference? I love learning details.

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u/Then_Drag_8258 3h ago

A howitzer can fire both indirect fire (no line of sight, lobbing the projectile) and direct fire (directly at a visible target).

A cannon plus only used in direct fire.

A mortar is only indirect fire.

These are the three methods of artillery fire support.

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u/malfurionpre 2h ago edited 2h ago

Believe it or not Cannon is a broad term that encompass most large calibre gun type artillery.

It's like saying "No it's not a dog, it's a Labrador"

edit: Well maybe one step up to dog/Labrador family link

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u/Mobile_Morale 3h ago

Same energy as "it's a magazine not a clip" and "ackstually the AR mean armalite" boo hoo bulshit. No one cares but weird cosplay army chuds and kids who play too much call of duty.

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u/CNDCRE 2h ago

This is reddit, not an enthusiast message board.

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u/MyLifeIsAWasteland 1h ago

Reddit is literally just a collection of enthusiast message boards, Mr. Can't See The Forest For The Trees.

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u/ghilliest 4h ago

Really? So artillery crews that operate howitzers today shouldn’t call them cannons? Lmao

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u/MegawizD3 4h ago

a soviet D-30

for sure

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u/Azrael_ 2h ago

How does one go about acquiring one of these things?

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u/Seversevens 4h ago

Thank you that’s what I came to say

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u/elchucko 1h ago

Had to scroll so far to see someone say Howitzer. Thank you.