akd Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 HIGH-RES Soldiers take the M777 through its first Army fielding during a live-fire battalion exercise at Pohakuloa Training Area in Hawaii. PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. (Army News Service, Oct. 31, 2006) – With the recent delivery of eighteen new M777 lightweight 155mm howitzers to the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 11th Field Artillery, at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, the King of Battle — the field artillery’s nickname — took a giant step forward. The M777 is the military’s newest field artillery weapon, a lightweight 155mm towed howitzer developed jointly by the Army and Marine Corps. It will be the artillery system for the Army’s Stryker Brigade Combat Teams. The program is managed by a joint-service program office here. The weapon systems themselves are manufactured by BAE Systems with final integration and assembly occurring at the firm’s Hattiesburg, Miss., facility. The M777 is the first ground-combat system to make extensive use of titanium in its major structures to trim weight; the howitzer is 7,000 pounds lighter than the M198 weapon it replaces. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarkus Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Originally posted by akd: the howitzer is 7,000 pounds lighter than the M198 weapon it replaces. Geez, that's some serious enhancement on deployability. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elmar Bijlsma Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 And I believe it's just as capable if not more so, is it not? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moronic Max Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 So, how useful is 155mm artillery in counter-insurgency work? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudel.dietrich Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 I still get a little rush of pride everytime I see a field piece in action. Truely the god of war. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Originally posted by Moronic Max: So, how useful is 155mm artillery in counter-insurgency work? Canadians seem to be liking them in Aghanistan... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akd Posted November 3, 2006 Author Share Posted November 3, 2006 Originally posted by Moronic Max: So, how useful is 155mm artillery in counter-insurgency work? Probably more useful than 105mm... HIGH-RES November 2, 2006 Soldiers send a 105 mm howitzer round downrange during a fire mission outside Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq. By Staff Sgt. Sean A. Foley. This photo appeared on www.army.mil. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splinty Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Artillery is very useful if you're sitting inside a F.O.B. getting mortared and rocketed every night. A Firefinder radar system and a few 155s can cut an attack short rather efficiently. I'm at Camp Rustamiyah on the south side of Baghdad and find our arty boys rather nice to have around. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wisbech_lad Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 How much in common does it have with the AS90 155mm? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergei Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Originally posted by Tarkus: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by akd: the howitzer is 7,000 pounds lighter than the M198 weapon it replaces. Geez, that's some serious enhancement on deployability. </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rudel.dietrich Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Originally posted by Sergei: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Tarkus: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by akd: the howitzer is 7,000 pounds lighter than the M198 weapon it replaces. Geez, that's some serious enhancement on deployability. </font> 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thermopylae Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 MM, single round precision artillery has been sued to some advantage in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Mostly for hitting UAV/air spotted targets and destroying shoot and scoot mortar technicals where a regular QRF would have no chance of getting there in time. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offtaskagain Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Artillery definitely has a use in Iraq. The above mentioned counter battery role is the primary, but with Excalibur (think 155mm JDAM) on the way it will have a whole new level of capability. The ability to hit point targets with the precision of CAS and the responsiveness of traditional artillery should be huge. The fielding of GMLRS has already brought some of this about. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingknives Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 AKAIK, there's very little, if any, commonality between the ordnance of the M777 and the AS90. 155mm JDAM isn't exactly right. 155mm Paveway, perhaps, since the G&C on excalibur is built in to a new airframe, rather than being an add on. CCF (Course Correcting Fuse) is the JDAM equivalent. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luderbamsen Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Originally posted by flamingknives: AKAIK, there's very little, if any, commonality between the ordnance of the M777 and the AS90. 155mm JDAM isn't exactly right. 155mm Paveway, perhaps, since the G&C on excalibur is built in to a new airframe, rather than being an add on. CCF (Course Correcting Fuse) is the JDAM equivalent. I'm a bit confused here: Is Excalibur GPS or laser guided? Isn't Paveway an add-on just like JDAM? Besides, wasn't the Excalibur programme stopped, with M777 teams firing off the few rounds made, or am I confusing it with an earlier guided arty round programme? Another thing I'm wondering about is mobility. How well does towed arty keep up with Strykers during manoeuver warfare, or are they supposed to do without (relying on air support, I suppose) until the fighting goes static? Respectfully luderbamsen 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingknives Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Today, I am mostly confusing people. Paveway isn't a good comparison. SDB or something them. Purpose built rather than an upgrade. Excalibur is going into service and is GPS-guided. A previous guided 155mm shell was the Laser-guided Copperhead. Some made it into service, but were unsuccessful and later dropped. Mobility-wise, Stryker infantry have to dismount to fight, gun teams have to unlimber. I shouldn't think that it takes longer to ready an M777 than it takes for an infantryman to prepare a fighting position. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luderbamsen Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Today, I am mostly confused and thanks for the explanation. I seem to recall reading something somewhere about about a guided 155mm arty projectile being used during OIF1. Supposedly, only a few were made (they worked fine but were too expensive), was that an Excalibur predecessor or whatnow? any takers? That said, I'm still not very keen on the notion of towed artillery for mech forces. The blessings of SP arty for rapid moving warfare has been proven consistently since WW2. To me, it smells like a case of not having a suitable SP arty platform rather than performance of the M777 system. BTW: Ayone know if HIMARS is/will be attached to Stryker brigades on a permanent/semipermanent basis? Respectfully luderbamsen 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingknives Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Copperhead was used in the 1991 Gulf conflict, but were expensive and needed someone with a laser designator, which were rarer than they are now, to call it in. The M777 might be less tactically mobile than SP systems, but they can be carried about by helicopters etc. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moronic Max Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 Thanks for answering the question, guys. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellfish Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 I think each Stryker brigade has/will have a HIMARS battery. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 akd, Wasn't aware of this at all. Appreciate the info! Thermopylae, Please provide the names of the firms involved, as well the amounts awarded. Did the guilty parties so admit, or were the cases settled without any admission of responsibility by the errant defendants? (too good a setup to pass up!) Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cassh Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 flamingknives said - The M777 might be less tactically mobile than SP systems, but they can be carried about by helicopters etcIndeed, which gives them great operational worth and greater flexibility over SP platforms in some conditions. Try getting a battery of SP guns into a jungle or up a mountain quickly! At the tactical level the ability to be moved by medium lift helos is a great asset to any force, and it means your guns are actually very mobile little bunnies. In operational warfare air-mobility is more useful than self-propulsion in your "extraordinary force" conducting exploitation as obviously a battery of air lifted guns can deploy faster and deeper than wheeled/tracked mobility. So light-weight towed artillery is far from being obsolete. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beastttt Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 I'd have to say if you don't have to worry about counter battery fire then they are just as good as sp arty that is the only advantage I see that sp has over towed 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Don't forget the obvious benefit of towed vs. SP... cost and logistics! I'd have to look up the cost differential between a M777 and M109A6, but I'm going to guess you can have roughly 10-15 M777s for the same cost as a single M109A6. As for logistics... tracked SPs have all the headaches that any heavy tracked vehicle does. With towed artillery you can use wheeled transport, which in theory is faster to make large deployment hops. Also, if a truck breaks down with a M777 you can get pretty much any ordinary truck (of the right size, of course) to pick up the gun and crew so it can keep moving. When a SP gun breaks down it stays there until it is back up and running again. Plus the helo deployment and other such things. So yeah, towed artillery will be a valuable asset on the ground for many years to come. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMC Posted November 5, 2006 Share Posted November 5, 2006 SP artillery emplaces faster and allows for better fire control with the ballistic computers on the tracks themselves. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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