Editing G6 howitzer (section)

==Combat history==
The first G6 prototype appeared in 1981, during the height of the [[South African Border War]].<ref name=Harmse/> Four engineering development models were being tested with the [[South African Defence Force]] by the mid-1980s.<ref name=Harmse/> In October 1987, the South African government ordered all the G6s deployed to Angola for combat trials as part of [[Operation Hooper]].<ref name="Weigert"/> One suffered an engine failure, so only three actually reached Angola, where they joined expeditionary troops of the [[4 South African Infantry Battalion]].<ref name=Harmse/> Operating as an independent battery, the three G6s were instrumental in the bombardment of the strategic Angolan airfield at [[Cuito Cuanavale]].<ref name="Weigert"/> In this their crews were significantly aided by [[South African special forces]] acting as forward artillery observers near the airfield; on one occasion the G6s were able to destroy four Angolan [[Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21]]s on the ground as they attempted to take off.<ref name="MHJ-9-1"/>

The heightened artillery threat to the Cuito Cuanavale airfield eventually forced the Angolan pilots to relocate their operations to another airstrip at [[Menongue]], which was beyond the range of the G5 and G6 but severely diminished their ability to time and execute their missions, given Menongue's distance from the actual fighting.<ref name="Weigert"/> However, they also began making South African artillery positions the primary targets of their raids, forcing the G6 crews to constantly shift positions after each bombardment.<ref name=Harmse/> The G6s themselves were considered so valuable that an air defence contingent from South Africa's [[10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment]] was subsequently attached to the battery for the remainder of the campaign.<ref name=Harmse/>

The G6 is not known to have seen combat again until 2015, when a single battery was deployed with the [[Union Defence Force (UAE)|United Arab Emirates Defence Force]] to [[Aden]] during the [[Yemeni Civil War (2015–present)|Yemeni Crisis]].<ref name="Analytics1">{{cite web|title=Analysis: Emirati armoured brigade spearheads Aden breakout|last=Binnie|first=Jeremy|url=http://www.janes.com/article/61175/regional-focus-middle-east-and-africa-es2016d1|location=London
|publisher=Jane's Information Group|date=7 August 2015|access-date=29 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219220559/http://www.janes.com/article/53503/analysis-emirati-armoured-brigade-spearheads-aden-breakout|archive-date=19 December 2015}}</ref> The howitzers were landed in Aden by ship and escorted by a large Emirati armoured formation.<ref name="Analytics1"/> They have since been used to shell [[Houthi]] militant positions in support of Emirati and allied Yemeni offensives carried out near [[Taiz]].<ref name="Sunday1">{{cite news|title=SA arms used to bomb civilians in Yemen|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/stnews/2015/11/15/SA-arms-used-to-bomb-civilians-in-Yemen1|work=The Sunday Times|location=Johannesburg|date=11 November 2015|access-date=24 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325001622/http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/stnews/2015/11/15/SA-arms-used-to-bomb-civilians-in-Yemen1|archive-date=25 March 2017}}</ref>