Historical weaponry of the Australian Army

The Australian Army was founded by a merger of the six separate armies of the six independent Australian British colonies. When those forces merged officially on 1 March 1901, during the Second Boer War in South Africa, all six colonies had troops already engaged in combat in the field. It was obviously impossible and unnecessary to completely re-equip and re-uniform the forces while they were deployed, and most of the colonial armies wore similar khaki uniforms anyway. A symbolic ceremony to replace colonial badges was held in the field during which Australian soldiers were given the Rising Sun Badge, the new symbol of the Australian Army, for the first time. Infantry weapons Side-arms • Beaumont–Adams revolver (.450 calibre) • Enfield revolver (.476 calibre) • Webley revolver (.455 calibre) Long-arms • Martini–Henry rifle (.577/.450 calibre) • Snider–Enfield rifle (.577 calibre) • Lee–Enfield rifle (.303 calibre) • Lee–Metford rifle (.303 calibre) Horses • Waler horse ==First World War==

By the outbreak of World War I, the equipment of the Australian Army had become standardised, and was essentially the same as most of the armies of the British Empire. The one major difference was the preference of kangaroo leather over canvas for webbing and other equipment, straps and belts. Aircraft (The Australian Flying Corps which served in WWI was an Army unit, not a separate airforce.) ==Second World War==

At the beginning of World War II, the Australian Army was continuing with the practice of sourcing military equipment from the United Kingdom as it had done in the colonial era and the first three decades of the twentieth century. However, as the war progressed, Britain's difficulties in keeping up production demand, Australia's geographic isolation, and a differing focus on war policies and theatres, caused Australia increasingly to obtain arms, equipment, and military assistance from the United States. ==Korean War==

When the Korean War began many Australian units were still equipped with weapons that they had used during World War II. Whilst there were minor changes such as the replacement of the British QF 4.5 inch Howitzer by the American-built 105 mm Howitzer M3 as the primary artillery piece, the most dramatic changes to Australian equipment during the Korean War period were to the aircraft used by the Royal Australian Air Force. Important lessons learned during the Korean War later influenced the way the Australian Army re-equipped to adapt to the needs of modern warfare in time for the Australian Army's entry into the Vietnam War. ==Vietnam War==

The Vietnam War proved to be a highly mobile operation for Australian forces, who often engaged their enemies during arduous jungle patrols through thick and difficult terrain. Much of the equipment used on the battlefields of the Korean War proved to be too cumbersome for this type of warfare, including long-arms such as the Lee–Enfield SMLEs. However, the Australian Army had become an expert at jungle warfare during their campaigns in South-East Asia against the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, and the lessons in jungle warfare they had learned proved invaluable in the choosing of equipment for the Vietnam War. Long rifles continued to be used by snipers, but infantry patrols favoured the use of battle rifles such as the L1A1 and assault rifles such as the M16. The heavy machine-guns which were useful for the static defences of the Korean War were replaced by the lighter general-purpose M60 machine gun, which was man-portable by a patrol machine-gunner. } L2A1 LMG SLR Varient (7.62 calibre) • L4A1 Bren Varient (7.62 calibre) • L3(A3&A4) GPMG Browning M1919 Varients (.30-06 calibre) • M2HB Heavy Machinegun (.50 calibre) • L16 81mm Mortar • M2A1-7 flamethrower Anti-personnel • M18A1 Claymore Antipersonnel Mine Anti-armour • M72 Light Anti-tank Weapon • M20 Bazooka • ENTAC Anti-tank guided missile Artillery • M2A2 howitzer • L5 (Aust) Pack Howitzer 105-mm (103 Battery) Vehicles • Land Rover series Armoured Personnel Carriers • M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier • Fire Support vehicle (FSV) (hybrid of M113 with Alvis Saladin turret fitted) Tanks • Centurion tank Aircraft • Cessna 180 • Pilatus PC-6 • Bell H-13 Sioux • UH-1 Iroquois (RAAF) • DHC-4 Caribou (RAAF) • Canberra Bomber (RAAF) ==Late 20th Century==

After the Vietnam war the Australian Army suffered severe budget cut-backs, and expenditure on equipment decreased as a result. The army was scaled back in size, and experienced a period of very little overseas deployment for the first time in the post–World War II period. Despite this the Army did manage to continue to modernise its weaponry and equipment. During the 1980s traditional long-arms such as the L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle (SLR) were phased out and finally withdrawn from front line service by 1990, and replaced by the locally produced F88 Austeyr, a derivative of the Austrian Steyr AUG which is still in service . During the 1980s the khaki field uniforms that had been used by the Australian Army since its foundation in 1901 were replaced by Disruptive Pattern Combat Uniform. } F1 Submachine Gun (9×19mm Parabellum) • FN Minimi as M249 (5.56 calibre) • Sterling Submachine Gun (9×19mm Parabellum) General-purpose machine guns • Bren Gun as L4A1 (7.62 calibre) • L2A1 LMG SLR Varient (7.62 calibre) • L3(A3&A4) GPMG Browning M1919 Varients (.30-06 calibre) • M2HB Heavy Machinegun (.50 calibre) • M60 machine gun • FN MAG • MG3 - Used on Leopard 1 Infantry-support • M252 Mortar • M9A1-7 Flame Thrower (limited number acquired for training before political concerns led to the phase out of flame weapons in 1990) Anti-personnel • M18A1 Claymore Antipersonnel Mine Anti-armour • M72 Light Anti-tank Weapon • Carl Gustav recoilless rifle • ENTAC Anti-tank guided missile • / MILAN Anti-tank guided missile Artillery • L118 Light Gun • 105 mm Howitzer M3 • M198 howitzer • M712 Copperhead 155mm projectile • M2A2 howitzer Anti-aircraft weapons • Rapier surface-to-air missile • FIM-43 Redeye surface-to-air missile Vehicles • Land Rover series II Scout cars • Medium Reconnaissance Vehicle (MRV) (hybrid of M113 with FV101 Scorpion turret) Armoured Personnel Carriers • M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier Tanks • Leopard AS1 tank Aircraft Fixed Wing • Pilatus Porter • GAF Nomad • de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter • Beechcraft Super King Air Rotary Wing • Bell 206B Kiowa (Light Recon) • Bell UH-1H Iroquois (Battlefield Support) • S-70A Black Hawk ==References==