The Rheinmetall Rh-120 is a 120mm German tank gun, developed as Germany's response to the perceived "armour gap" against reported Soviet prototypes such as the Object 172U "Ural". It abandons the traditional rifling used in previous tank guns such as the Republican Ordnance L7 for a smoothbore design. This mechanical shift allows for significantly higher chamber pressures and muzzle velocities, as well as using advanced kinetic energy penetrators such as APFSDS Shot. While it would later become the golden standard of Western tank gun design, in the mid-1960s, the Rh-120 is a prototype weapon seldom used in field tests and special operations.
