I was an 81 mm mortar section leader in Vietnam. Picking up on a few points, obviously I considered naval 127mm, the problem is that in technical terms it is a ‘gun’ not a ‘howitzer’, without getting too theological the key point is that it fires a fixed round, without a choice of charges, this choice is important because it minimises barrel wear and ensures that hills between battery and target can be avoided. Simple and useful for their tactical purposes. AACs have to go to the place where the ammo is (presumably the exchange point with RLC), unpack it, load each shell and propelling charge into the AAC, this takes people and time, then return to a gun where ammo is then transferred to the gun. That’s three sizes plus what ever siuze the rockets take; as we know, same launcher units can handle different pods. Seventeen M102 howitzers were deployed to Camp Taji, Iraq. This one hadn't been hit, but had been overturned by blast. At least your pixeltruppen will keep there heads down in their holes and trenches rather than 'popping' up for a spotting check every few seconds unless fully pinned. I do not like the 130mm D30 field gun, They are and always will be crap. The M102 is also used on the United States Air Force's Lockheed AC-130 gunship. United Defense developed this new system together with Bofors Defence, Rockwell Collins and BT Fuze Products.

It will take repeated hits for the damage to show up. The M777 is probably the only real solution for replacing the 105 and the higher degree of precision should off set the need fro smaller rounds for suppression fire. 2020 StrategyWorld.com. I’ve had the privilege of seeing the results of a M109A3155mm “battalion four” converged sheaf fire mission.
I was not a bit fan of our M198 155mm piece. ” Emphasis would be placed on ensuring optimal fire allocation, which requires good operational mobility.”, A key point, and whether it is a 155 (G6), a 105 (Leo modified for Stryker) or 120 (AMOS/ NEMO) is secondary It has a muzzle velocity of 494 metres per second (1,620 ft/s). I suggested an air-dropped 120mm mortar round because it is in wide service and production, has existing PGM programs underway, is more lethal than a 105mm shell, and is small enough to be “dense-packed”, compared to existing air-dropped munitions. A quote from within ST’s quote: 105mm is good if you close in and so is your target, but honestly in today’s environment the 155mm is even lacking the punch it needs. Something like 125mm seems reasonable but 122mm might be politically attractive although the existing 122mm ammunition would need much improvement, @Obsvr: might the tendency for guided ammunition and the consequent reduction in usage drive us towards 155mm?

Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of crew served weapons of the US Armed Forces, http://www.marines.mil/unit/pandr/Documents/Concepts/2001/PDF/CI%25202001%2520chapt%25204%2520part%25202%2520Firepower%2520M795%2520Projectile.pdf, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=M795&oldid=973748822, Articles needing additional references from July 2012, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, TNT: 10.8 kg with a charge liner OR IMX-101 (IMX was adopted by the Army; Marines still use TNT), Manufacturer: General Dynamics (formerly Chamberlain Manufacturing Corporation), Scranton Division, Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, Scranton, Pennsylvania; Day & Zimmerman, Parsons, Kansas; Mason & Hanger - Silas Mason Company, This page was last edited on 19 August 2020, at 00:59.

The latter were RCT/RLC and delivered flatracks to the unit ammo points where they were picked up by the battery IMMLCs. The M102 howitzer fires a 33 lb (15 kg) projectile of semifixed ammunition and at charge 7 will fire 11,500 meters. Splitting the difference between 155mm and 105mm gives 130 mm and seems a good starting point. Light(Approx 75mm-100mm) 50meters 155mm gives the best coverage and lethality but 105mm is logistically more efficient for suppression and more suited to air movement and associated ammunition supply. In mid-2005, United Defense demonstrated a cost-effective system to improve cannon artillery accuracy with the successful firing of inert M795 155mm projectiles equipped with a two-directional Course Correcting Fuze (CCF). Suppressing the area(s) is a lot simpler. Platform stakes are issued in three sizes. But I have noticed myself buying more and more 120mm mortars and cutting back on the 81's since the HE effects dropped off. The 105 mm howitzer M102 is a lightweight towed weapon, which has a very low silhouette when in the firing position. None of this even counts the shrapnel coverage area.

– which ever fits in best with your logistics The lunette is the towing pintle that allows the weapon to be connected to the vehicle. Would there be any advantage to doing so? Are there any Asian Americans in the US Military ? My opponent's always seems to be uber. Assuming that planning is for a 3 day mission which is common, you get 15 rounds per day usage. It contains dry nitrogen gas to retard fogging and condensation. 155mm rounds have improved greatly but still have a way to go, only to be restricted by their size of 155 mm. Thanks for the info on the L118 and L119, only got a chance to see them in action in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The weapon carriage is lightweight welded aluminum, mounted on a variable recoil mechanism. Very good post. Fragments weighing less than a gram are lethal because of their high velocity, large fragments from a burst within about 10 metres of a lightly armoured vehicle may penetrate and fragments far further from a burst will damage optics, antennae and other external fittings of armoured fighting vehicles, tyres are likely to suffer significantly. The CCF is GPS-based so as to provide high accuracy. Range is somewhat less than the 105 with ‘normal’ ammunition, but potential advantages include the ability to operate (already available) guided rounds as well as top-attack, which provides easier penetration of buildings, which must be considered in this day and age. The defining characteristic of field artillery for the last century has been ‘firepower mobility’ of indirect fire. L118 also has substantially greater max range than a 155mm M114.