Autoloader

An autoloader or auto-loader is a mechanical aid or replacement for the personnel that load ammunition into crew-served weapons without being an integrated part of the gun itself.

[4] The advent of jet aircraft, and the rate of fire required to engage them, hastened the adoption of automatic loaders on naval artillery.

The autoloader on the cancelled Object 640 "Black Eagle" tank was supposed to have up to 15 rounds per minute rate of fire.

On the other hand, even during sustained bombardment an autoloader could be useful, as the fatigue issues of loading an artillery piece for hours (i.e. 155 mm (6.1 in) projectile weighs ~45 kg (99 lb)) do not affect them.

For example, the M1 Abrams was designed to protect the crew from cooking off, which is accomplished by storing the main gun ammunition in a compartment at the rear of the turret.

The compartment is separated from the crew by a power-operated armored door, which is only opened for a couple of seconds each time the loader needs to grab another round.

[9] This is made worse by the fact that autoloader holds only a limited number of rounds, while the remaining ammunition is stored around the crew compartment.

[10] Some Western designs, such as the Leclerc tank, store the primary ammunition in an isolated compartment in the turret bustle, with blowout panels on top and the ramming mechanism underneath or in the middle.

This allows for much better crew protection but the loading mechanism, taking up space in the ammunition compartment, reduces the available number of rounds that can be carried.

The Stridsvagn 103 and T-64 are examples of this, both being significantly lower in profile than contemporaries with manually loaded guns and a fourth loader crewmember.

Tanks that do not use autoloaders tend to weigh in the 55–70 ton range (American M1A2 Abrams, German Leopard 2, Indian Arjun, British Challenger 2, Turkish Altay, Israeli Merkava, and Italian C1 Ariete).