In 1928 Rheinmetall AG began to develop a new model of a light field howitzer. As far as Germany was forbidden by Versailles Treaty to work out new types of weapons, the gun received leichte FeldHaubitze 18 identifier that is a light field howitzer of model 1918. The first leFH 18 entered the forces in 1935, as by that time Germany had got a fully-featured army – Wehrmacht. A total of about 4,000 such howitzers had been produced before the beginning of 1939. Later the production of the leFH 18М began, which got a muzzle recoil compensator. From 1942 the modernized leFH 18/40 howitzer on the gun carriage of 75-mm antitank canon Pak 40 went into production. There were altogether more than 10 thousand leFH 18 of different modifications produced. Along with Wehrmacht these howitzers were used in Swedish and Finnish armies.

Weight in firing position, kg - 1,985
Maximum firing range, m – 10,675
Fire cycle, shots per minute: 4-6
Shot weight, kg - 14.8
Muzzle velocity, m/sec - 470
Guidance angles, degrees:
Vertical: -6/+40
Directional: 56
March capacity: km/h - 25
Crew, people - 5