120 Mm M1 Gun

120 Mm M1 Gun

The 120 mm Gun M1 was the United States Army's standard super-heavy anti-aircraft gun, complementing the smaller and more mobile 90 mm M2 in service. Its maximum altitude was about 60,000 ft (18,000 m), which garnered it the nickname the stratosphere gun. The 120 served primarily in U.S. defensive roles, although it had been designed to be mobile. One battalion, the 513th AAA Gun Battalion did make it to the Philippines in February 1945, although they never fired their guns in anger. There is also speculation that some 120s arrived in England in early 1945 to provide air defense for London, although no concrete evidence of this has been documented. The 120 defended American cities from aerial attack from 1944 until the system was gradually phased out beginning in 1954 when the Nike Ajax surface to air missile gave air defenders a significantly greater long range capability.