British 4in Ratefixer High Speed Automatic Heavy AA Gun System

Tzoli

ACCESS: Top Secret
Senior Member
Joined
1 February 2011
Messages
3,347
Reaction score
5,034
I think I leave these pages here. I've got these from a friend and I think you guys will find this interesting.
It shows a British 1960's 4" Heavy AA guns system with various loading mechanisms called Ratefixer:
Variants include: K, C,CR,CN
P1010001.JPG P1010002.JPG P1010003.JPG P1010004.JPG P1010005.JPG P1010006.JPG P1010008.JPG P1010009.JPG P1010010.JPG P1010011.JPG P1010012.JPG P1010013.JPG P1010014.JPG P1010015.JPG P1010016.JPG P1010017.JPG P1010018.JPG
 

Attachments

  • P1010007.JPG
    P1010007.JPG
    648.2 KB · Views: 34
I think I leave these pages here. I've got these from a friend and I think you guys will find this interesting.
It shows a British 1960's 4" Heavy AA guns system with various loading mechanisms called Ratefixer:
Variants include: K, C,CR,CN
IIRC, Ratefixer is late '40s, rather than '60s. There are mentions scattered through a half-dozen different threads, but none in this detail.
 
Well the document cover is dated 1963
Yes, that's presumably when it was written up for publication in Proceedings of IMech by Professor Chaddock - note several references to the state of the art in 1939-45. There is one specifically datable reference I've noticed: the C scheme is attributed to Captain Kulikowski of the Polish Resettlement Corps, which only existed 1946 to 1949.
 
The K version reminds me of the US 75mm Skysweeper M51. Probably better balanced than the Skysweeper, since Skysweeper had a pair of ammo drums mounted on a loading tray at the back of the gun tube, and all of that elevated with the barrel.
 
My understanding was that Ratefixer applied new loading systems to the existing wartime 3.7" gun, in which case the title should probably be changed.
Well the document cover is dated 1963
The document was originally published as part of Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Vol. 177, No. 21, so in other words, a retrospective on the project, for a civilian organisation, well after the project had ended and the relevant information has been declassified, it's not an official government document on a then contemporary project.
 
Back
Top Bottom