Topic: Cold War
Superior Weapon
Canada's Antitank Gun Interests Britain, U.S.
Ottawa Citizen, 29 September 1955
By the Canadian Press
Britain and the United States are showing a lively interest in the Heller, the Canadian Army's new tank-killing weapon for infantrymen.
The Heller has been demonstrated for senior American officers and a number have been lent to the U.S. Army for trials. The British Army also is putting the weapon through tests.
There is a good chance, it was learned Wednesday, that the U.S Army, if it does not adopt the weapon itself, will employ the new propulsion principle embodied in the Heller.
Twin secrets of the success of the Heller are the high velocity of the projectile fired from the launcher and the telescopic sight. The weapon has a muzzle velocity of 710 feet per second compared to 340 feet per second for the American bazooka, Second World War anti-tank weapon.
Maximum penetration of the Heller has not been disclosed but in a demonstration here last spring it cut through three inches of steel plate at 300 yards like a sword through cream cheese. Tange and accuracy are far advanced over the bazooka.
The Canadian Army has said that the Heller fires a projectile which burns through heavy armor and generates such intense heat "that a hit almost anywhere on a tank will ensure its destruction."
The Heller is the first weapon ever designed, developed and manufactured in Canada. The army claims there is no equal to it anywhere in the world. It has been on production for 1 ½ years.
The new weapon is mostly the work of Earl Guy, 39, of St. Catharines and Quebec City, who spent four years on its development at the Canadian armament and development establishment at Valcartier, Que.
The launcher part of the Heller is 54 inches long and weighs 32 pounds. The rocket itself is 26 ½ inches long and weighs 8 ½ pounds. It can be carried by one soldier and be fired from the shoulder while sitting, kneeling or standing. There is no recoil.
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