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78-540: The 105 mm howitzer motor carriage M7 was an American self-propelled artillery vehicle produced during World War II . It was given the service name 105 mm self propelled, Priest by the British Army , due to the pulpit-like machine gun ring, and following on from the Bishop and the contemporary Deacon self-propelled guns. During the early stages of World War II, US Army observers realized that they would need

156-473: A covered and concealed observation post (OP) on the ground, from which he can see the enemy. However, he may also be airborne—this was one of the first uses of aircraft in World War ;I . He must take great care not to be observed by the enemy, especially if in a static position. Discovery of an FO does not only jeopardize his personal safety; it also hampers the ability of the battery to lay fire. Using

234-603: A few Komsomolets tractor-mounted 57   mm ZiS-2 guns early in the war. By 1943, the series of Samokhodnaya Ustanovka casemate-armored vehicles had started to appear at the front, starting with the SU-85 , and by late 1944 the SU-100 , which mounted powerful guns on modern chassis adopting the full-casemate enclosure of the crew compartment as the Germans had done with the StuG III. These had

312-709: A number of M7 Priests during the 1960s and employed them in the Six-Day War , the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War where three M7 units, the 822nd, 827th and 829th Battalions in the IDF Northern Command , supported operations in the Golan Heights . West Germany The new West German Bundeswehr received 127 Priests as its first self-propelled artillery vehicle. They entered service in 1956 and were used until

390-452: A number of further inventions (such as the limber , hitched to the trail of a wheeled artillery piece equipped with trunnions ), did the concept of field artillery really take off. The medieval Ming dynasty Chinese invented mobile battlefield artillery during the early part of the fourteenth century at the time when gunpowder and the primordial cannon were first being adopted in the West. One of

468-566: A self-propelled artillery vehicle with sufficient firepower to support armored operations. Lessons learned with half-tracks (such as the T19 howitzer motor carriage (HMC) with a 105 mm howitzer on the M3 half-track chassis) also showed that this vehicle would have to be armored and fully tracked. It was decided to use the M3 Lee chassis as the basis for this new vehicle design, named T32. The pilot vehicles used

546-500: A significant role throughout the Cold War era conflicts and in the 1991 Gulf War . Modern SP artillery is highly computerized, with the ability to self-survey firing positions using systems such as GPS and inertial navigation systems . This, in conjunction with digital fire control /ballistic computers and digital communications, allows individual guns to disperse over a wide area and still deliver rounds on target simultaneously with

624-530: A simple rocket rack on the back, a cheap and crushingly effective weapon, provided area saturation was called for rather than accurate fire. The Axis powers had captured the Katyusha and made their own versions; Germany created the 8 cm Raketen-Vielfachwerfer , while Romania developed the Mareșal tank destroyer , an early prototype of which was armed with a Katyusha. It also had self-propelled howitzer versions. After

702-478: A standardized format, the FO sends map references and bearing to target, a brief target description, a recommended munition to use, and any special instructions such as "danger close" (the warning that friendly troops are within 600 meters of the target when using artillery, requiring extra precision from the guns). The FO and the battery iteratively "walk" the fire onto the target. The Fire Direction Center (FDC) signals

780-555: A target identified by the FO. In most Artillery Batteries the Command Post (CP) controls the firing of the guns. It is usually located at the battery center so as to be able to communicate easily with the guns. The CP should be well camouflaged, but the CPO (Command Post Officer) should be able to see all the guns with ease. Gun markers are sometimes placed in front of the CP to remind the CPO which gun

858-436: A tracked chassis so they superficially resemble tanks. However, they are generally lightly armoured, which is insufficient to withstand direct-fire combat; nonetheless this protects their crews against shrapnel and small arms and therefore they are usually included as armoured fighting vehicles . Many are equipped with machine guns for defense against enemy infantry. The key advantage of self-propelled over towed artillery

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936-402: A trained artillery observer , also called a forward observer , who sees the target and relays the coordinates of the target to their fire direction center , which in turn translates those coordinates into: a left-right aiming direction; an elevation angle; a calculated number of bags of propellant; and finally a fuze with a determined waiting time before exploding (if necessary) to be set, which

1014-400: Is a 120 mm automatic twin-barrelled, breech-loaded mortar turret. There are also numerous AFVs and even main battle tanks that can be equipped with a mortar, either outside or inside the cabin. The Israeli Merkava main battle tank carried a 60 mm mortar in the small troop compartment in the rear, which fired through an opening in the roof, allowing the crew to remain protected. This

1092-450: Is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement. Until the early 20th century, field artillery were also known as foot artillery , for while the guns were pulled by beasts of burden (often horses), the gun crews would usually march on foot, thus providing fire support mainly to

1170-649: Is in which position. The CPO is assisted by two "Acks"—i.e., assistants—who operate the fire data computers. The GPO (Gun Position Officer) and CPO work at the plotter to ensure that the data calculated by the Acks is accurate and safe. The CP signaller is contact with the OP, or Observation Post, where the Forward Observer Officer (FOO), works with the OP team to identify targets and call-back fire data. In recent years headset radios have become common for communication between

1248-430: Is light by comparison to that of a tank, so it protects only from light fire (e.g.,  machine guns ) and shrapnel . Another disadvantage of self-propelled guns is that they tend to be equipped with lighter, less accurate guns. Depending on the nature of the battle being fought, either or both of these drawbacks could prove a severe restriction. However, this is not necessarily true of modern self-propelled guns such as

1326-414: Is that it can be brought into action much faster. Before the towed artillery can be used, it has to stop, unlimber and set up the guns. To move position, the guns must be limbered up again and brought—usually towed—to the new location. By comparison, self-propelled artillery can stop at a chosen location and begin firing almost immediately, then quickly move on to a new position. This shoot-and-scoot ability

1404-449: Is then mated to the artillery projectile now ready to be fired. Modern field artillery (i.e. post- World War I ) has three distinct sections: All batteries have a Fire Support Man (Forward Observer), Fire Direction Control (FDC), and Cannoners (Gunner). The FOs are forward with the infantry (in support role) where they can see the targets and Call For Fire (CFF) upon them. They call the FDC on

1482-409: Is to determine the suitability of the route of the unit's movement. Items to be analyzed include possible alternate routes, cover, concealment, location of obstacles, likely ambush sites, contaminated areas, route marking requirements, and the time and distance required to traverse the route. Several factors are taken into consideration. Once a location is determined and having arrived at the new position

1560-555: Is very useful in a mobile conflict and particularly on the advance in open battlefields. Conversely, towed artillery was and remains cheaper to build and maintain. It is also lighter and can be deployed in areas that self-propelled guns cannot reach. Since the Vietnam War , heavy transport helicopters have also been used for rapid artillery deployment albeit at considerable expense and risk, mitigating one of towed artillery's disadvantages. Both self-propelled and towed artillery remain in

1638-710: The Brummbär ), leftover chassis from cancelled programs ( Elefant and Sturer Emil ); others were converted from battle-damaged tanks ( Sturmtiger ). The single most-produced armored fighting vehicle design for Germany in WW II, the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun, in 1936–1937 pioneered the later casemate-style fully enclosed armor that would be used on almost all late-war German self-propelled artillery and Jagdpanzer -format tank destroyers. The Soviets experimented with truck- and tank-based self-propelled weapons, producing

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1716-866: The Burma campaign , the Priest played a significant role, in particular, at the Battle of Meiktila and the advance on Rangoon (1945). From early 1944 it was used in the South West Pacific theater , by the US Sixth Army in the later stages of the campaign in New Guinea and surrounding islands . The M7 also saw action in the Philippines campaign , with the US Eighth and Sixth armies. Korean War M7 Priests remained in use during

1794-504: The Islamic gunpowder empires , especially those of Iran, especially in the rugged Iranian plateau , where the transportation of heavy cannons is difficult. The British Gun Carrier Mark I was the first example of a self-propelled gun, fielded in 1917 during World War I . It was based on the first tank , the British Mark I and carried a heavy field gun. The gun could either be fired from

1872-738: The Korean War , where their flexibility, compared to towed artillery units, led the US Army on the path to converting fully to self-propelled howitzers. The limited gun elevation of the M7 (35 degrees) hampered its ability to shoot over the tall Korean mountains, so 127 M7B1s were modified to permit the full 65 degrees elevation in a model known as the M7B2. After the Korean War, many of these were exported to NATO countries, notably Italy and Germany. Israel Israel acquired

1950-489: The M3 half track and M113 APC , to vehicles specifically intended to carry a mortar, such as the 2S31 Vena . The Israeli Makmat is a mortar carrier based on the M4 Sherman tank chassis. The Russian army uses a 2S4 Tyulpan (Tulip) self-propelled 240 mm heavy mortar. Patria Hägglunds , a joint venture between Finnish Patria and Swedish BAE Systems Hägglunds , manufactures AMOS (Advanced Mortar System), which

2028-788: The Marder I , using captured French Lorraine 37L tractors, the Marder II , using the Panzer II light tank chassis, and the Marder III , which was based on the Panzer 38(t) Czech chassis. These led to better-protected assault guns – Sturmgeschütz – with fully enclosed casemates , built on medium tank chassis. In the same way self-propelled anti-tank guns such as the Jagdpanzer IV and Jagdpanther were built. Some designs were based on existing chassis (such as

2106-595: The QF 6 pounder was named Deacon and a 1943 weapon carrier with the QF 25-pounder was called Sexton . Background: British armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II , Tanks in the British Army Self-propelled artillery In the past, self-propelled artillery has included direct-fire vehicles, such as assault guns and tank destroyers , which were typically well-armoured vehicles often based upon

2184-548: The arsenals of many modern armies. During the Thirty Years' War , early 17th-century experiments were made with early types of horse artillery . Batteries towed light field guns where most or all of the crew rode horses into battle. The gunners were trained to quickly dismount, deploy the guns and provide instant fire support to cavalry, and act as a flexible reserve. The Russian army organized small units of horse artillery that were distributed among their cavalry formations in

2262-442: The infantry . This was in contrast to horse artillery , whose emphasis on speed while supporting cavalry units necessitated lighter guns and crews riding on horseback. Whereas horse artillery has been superseded by self-propelled artillery , field artillery has survived to this day both in name and mission, albeit with motor vehicles towing the guns (this towed artillery arrangement is often called mobile artillery ), carrying

2340-669: The invasion of Normandy , from June 1944, the artillery regiments of the British 3rd and 50th divisions, and the Canadian 3rd Division were equipped with the M7; however, these were replaced by towed 25-pounder guns in early August. During the Battle of the Bulge , each US armored division had three battalions of M7s, giving them unparalleled mobile artillery support. The M7 was also used by US and British forces in Pacific and Asian theaters . During

2418-714: The British Sexton (25 pdr) and the German Wespe and Hummel being typical examples. A different route was chosen by the Soviets, who did not develop a specialized indirect-fire vehicle, but following a tradition of dual-purpose towed artillery, built a series of versatile assault guns with indirect-fire capabilities (example ISU-152 ). A related and novel program was the development of the Soviet Katyusha self-propelled multiple rocket launchers , which were unarmored trucks with

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2496-431: The CPO and gun detachment commanders. The final piece of the puzzle is the firing unit itself. The FDC will transmit a warning order to the guns, followed by orders specifying the type of ammunition and fuze setting, bearing, elevation, and the method of adjustment or orders for fire for effect (FFE). Elevation (vertical direction) and bearing orders are specified in mils , and any special instructions, such as to wait for

2574-484: The FDCs. They can also calculate "defensive fire" tasks. These are pre‑planned missions, typically just in front of or upon one's own positions, designed with the intention of either suppressing potential attacks (where fire is dropped just in front of a friendly position), or in dropping fire on a recently abandoned or overrun position to prevent the enemy from consolidating there. Because the calculations have already been done,

2652-624: The FO that they have fired and the FO knows to observe fall of shot. He then signals corrections. These are normally of the form of left/right of the bearing line and distance along it, for example "right 50 add 100" (distance in meters). When the fire is good enough the FO signals "target on, fire for effect". If the mission requires a walking barrage , he may continue sending correction orders. The FO may be called upon to direct fire for close air support and/or naval artillery in addition to field artillery based howitzer and infantry-embedded mortar units. The U.S. Army Field Manual describing

2730-495: The German PzH ;2000 . This has a 155 mm main armament that can with assisted firing charges reach 60 km, has a maximum speed of 67 km/h (41 mph) on road surface and 45 km/h (28 mph) off-road, and has a fully computerised fire-control system that enables it to fire-move-fire before the enemy can pin it down for counter-battery fire. It has a rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute. FDCs also exist in

2808-572: The M3 chassis with an open-topped superstructure, mounting an M2A1 105 mm howitzer , with a machine-gun added after trials. The T32 was accepted for service as the M7 in February 1942 and production began that April. The British Tank Mission had requested 2,500 to be delivered by the end of 1942 and a further 3,000 by the end of 1943, an order which was never fully completed. As the M4 Sherman tank replaced

2886-662: The M3, it was decided to continue production using the M4 chassis (the M4 chassis was a development of the M3). The M7 was subsequently supplanted by the T77 multiple gun motor carriage (on the "light combat team" chassis that also gave the M24 Chaffee light tank). A total of 3,489 M7s and 826 M7B1s were built. They proved to be reliable weapons, continuing to see front-line service in the US and other armies well past

2964-568: The M7, as it used US ammunition that was not compatible with standard British artillery pieces or tank guns, and had to be supplied separately. Whereas the Sexton – a rival self-propelled gun developed in Canada - featured the standard British QF 25-pounder (on an M3 or M4 chassis). Despite supply problems, British Commonwealth forces used the M7 throughout the campaigns in North Africa and Italy . During

3042-484: The StuG III, and the immense 152 mm howitzer-armed, Soviet ISU-152 , both fully casemated in their design, are examples of this type of self-propelled artillery. All major nations developed self-propelled artillery that would be able to provide indirect support while keeping pace with advancing armoured formations. These were usually lightly armoured vehicles with an open-topped hull; the American M7 Priest ,

3120-507: The War. This mounted an 18-pounder field gun, capable of both the usual artillery trajectories and high-angle anti-aircraft fire , on a Vickers medium tank chassis. It was designed and built for investigations into a general approach to warfare where all arms, infantry and artillery included, would be able to operate over the same terrain as tanks. The Red Army also experimented with truck- and tank-mounted artillery, but produced none in quantity. At

3198-422: The ability to observe one must attack the observation assets. Because most counter-battery radar is active, the location can be determined electronically from listening to the beams. If one suspects one's position is being observed by a covert FO then a mission, either artillery or infantry, will be raised to deal with this threat. Alternatively one can choose to make their observations obsolete by repeatedly moving

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3276-491: The advance party conducts a security sweep and prepares the position for occupation. The purpose of the advance party security with METT-T and the absence of enemy troops, mines, booby traps, NBC hazards, and so on. If these threats or conditions are present in the proposed position area, the advance party breaks contact with any enemy forces or marks minefield and hazards and moves on to find another position area. The battery commander can coordinate for additional assets, or augment

3354-489: The advance party with internal assets, to provide the additional ability to clear areas of small enemy forces, obstacles, and minefields. Natural cover must be used to the maximum. Security is continuous throughout advance party operations. Once a location is determined to be safe the advance party prepares the position for eventual howitzer emplacement. This consists of several procedures such as escorting each howitzer to its prepared position, setting up communications, providing

3432-511: The advantage of being relatively cheap to build and mounting a larger gun compared to the conventional tank that they were derived from, but at the expense of flexibility. Heavily armoured assault guns were designed to provide direct-fire support to infantry in the face of enemy defenses. Although often similar to tank destroyers, they carried larger-caliber guns with weaker anti-armor performance but capable of firing powerful HE projectiles. The German 105 mm howitzer-armed StuH 42 based on

3510-454: The battlefield. Most of the time enemy batteries are too far away for the infantry to engage, so it falls to artillery to do this job. The battery uses a variety of techniques to calculate the position of the enemy battery, then can lay fire upon it. If possible, a FO can access a position to call fire on enemy guns directly; either on the ground or in the air, or a battery can be located using counter-battery radar , which can be used to observe

3588-403: The chassis of a tank . In lieu of the standard tank's general-purpose main gun that fired both high-explosive and anti-tank ammunition, direct-fire vehicles had specialized roles, with assault guns providing close fire-support for infantry and tank destroyers mounting an anti-tank gun to take on enemy armour. Modern self-propelled artillery vehicles often mount their main gun in a turret on

3666-413: The crews and transporting the ammunition. Modern artillery has also advanced to rapidly deployable wheeled and tracked vehicles and precision delivered munitions capable of striking targets at ranges between 15 and 30 kilometers. Early artillery was unsuited to the battlefield, as the extremely massive pieces could not be moved except in areas that were already controlled by the combatant. Thus, their role

3744-465: The curvature and rotation of the Earth . In most cases, some corrections are omitted, sacrificing accuracy for speed. In recent decades, FDCs have become computerized, allowing for much faster and more accurate computation of firing data. The FDC at the battalion level is responsible for recording friendly and enemy positions, tracking available battery munitions, and determining the optimal response for engaging

3822-421: The duties and responsibilities is FM 6‑30, Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Observed Fire . Typically, there is one FDC for a battery of six guns, in a light division. In a typical heavy division configuration, there exist two FDC elements capable of operating two four-gun sections, also known as a split battery. The FDC computes firing data—fire direction—for the guns. The process consists of determining

3900-404: The earlier TOT ( time on target ) concept. The necessary rapid reloading is made possible by an automated ammunition feed system. Rockets have greater ranges and carry much more complex " shells " than guns, since there is less restriction on size (calibre). A multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) can be used to saturate a large area with sub-munitions. Towed artillery Field artillery

3978-640: The earliest documented uses of field artillery is found in the 14th-century Ming Dynasty treatise Huolongjing . The text describes a Chinese cannon called a "thousand ball thunder cannon", manufactured of bronze and fastened with wheels. The book also describes another mobile form of artillery called a "barbarian attacking cannon" consisting of a cannon attached to a two-wheel carriage. Before World War I , field artillery batteries generally fired directly at visible targets measured in distances of meters and yards. Today, modern field batteries measure targets in kilometers and miles and often do not directly engage

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4056-649: The early 18th century. While not forming large batteries and employing only lighter 2- and 3-pound guns, they were still effective and inflicted serious losses to Prussian units in the Seven Years' War . This inspired Frederick the Great to organize the first regular horse artillery unit in 1759. Other nations quickly realized the capability of the new arm and by the start of French Revolutionary Wars in 1790s Austria, Hannover, Portugal, Russia, France, Great Britain and Sweden had all formed regular units of horse artillery. The arm

4134-456: The early 1960s. A British self-propelled gun armed with the Ordnance QF 25-pounder in design from 1941 was nicknamed Bishop as its appearance was said to resemble a bishop's mitre and a replacement, the US 105 mm howitzer motor carriage M7, was called "Priest", as part of its superstructure was said to resemble a pulpit. Following this line of names, a 1942 self-propelled gun armed with

4212-678: The end of World War II , the assault gun fell from use with a general trend towards a single heavy gun-equipped vehicle, the main battle tank , although some wheeled AFVs such as the South African Rooikat , the Maneuver Combat Vehicle of the JGSDF , and the US M1128 MGS , among others, are still developed with large-caliber, direct-fire weapons. Self-propelled indirect-fire artillery remains important and continues to develop alongside

4290-571: The end of World War II. During the North African campaign , 90 M7s were received by the British Eighth Army in North Africa, which was also the first to use it, during the Second Battle of El Alamein , alongside the Bishop , a self-propelled gun based on the 87.6 mm calibre Ordnance QF 25-pounder gun-howitzer. The British Commonwealth armies had logistical problems in supplying

4368-489: The enemy with observed direct fire . The hundredfold increase in the range of artillery guns in the 20th century has been the result of development of rifled cannons , improvements in propellants, better communications between observer and gunner, and technical improvements in gunnery computational abilities. Most field artillery situations require indirect fire due to weather, terrain, night-time conditions, distance, or other obstacles. These gunners can also rely upon

4446-422: The fall of enemy shells and thus calculate their trajectory. A correctly calculated trajectory will reveal the location from which the shell was fired, which information can then be passed on to a friendly battery command post as a fire mission. To defend against counter battery fire there are two points of attack: either remove the enemy's ability to observe or make his observations irrelevant/obsolete. To remove

4524-473: The fire can be called down very quickly when it is needed. The advance party consists of the battery commander, his driver, first sergeant, gunnery sergeant, FDC guide, gun guides, and communications representatives. Initially the Party looks to find suitable positions for an artillery unit to perform fire missions from. Then they perform what is known as route reconnaissance. The primary purpose of this reconnaissance

4602-509: The general-purpose field gun. Many vehicles have used ancillary smoke mortars for local defense, which project one or more smoke grenades in a pattern that allows them to lay down a smoke screen some distance in order to conceal the vehicle from enemy observers. Mortar carriers are vehicles which carry a mortar as a primary weapon. Numerous vehicles have been used to mount mortars, from improvised civilian trucks used by insurgents , to modified infantry fighting vehicles , such as variants of

4680-408: The gun and its crew. Many of the early designs were improvised, and the lessons learned led to better designs later in the war. For example, the first British design, " Bishop ", carried the 25 pdr gun-howitzer on a Valentine tank chassis, but in a mounting that severely limited the gun's performance. It was replaced by the more effective Sexton . The first battery of self-propelled artillery guns

4758-434: The guns: hence self-propelled guns . Ordinary towed guns can take a while to emplace and re-limber and are not armoured, so they are vulnerable to counter battery fire and take a while to engage when at a new location. Self-propelled guns do not suffer from these restrictions. They can drive up, drop their trails, fire and move on. Because of their armour they are less vulnerable to counter-battery fire. However, this armor

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4836-521: The increased firepower provided by modern mobile howitzers is the latest version of the 155 mm G6 howitzer , the G6-52. It can fire up to six rounds in quick succession that will land nearly simultaneously. This is achieved by firing the shells at different trajectories so that the first round has the longest flight time and the last round the shortest. This is an improvement of the concept of multiple-round simultaneous impact (MRSI), itself an enhancement of

4914-524: The next higher parent battalion that "owns" two to four artillery batteries. Once again, an FDC exists at the U.S. Army brigade or USMC regimental level that "owns" the battalions. These higher level FDCs monitor the fire missions of their subordinate units and will coordinate the use of multiple batteries or even multiple battalions in what is called a battalion or brigade/regimental mission. In training and wartime exercises, as many as 72 guns from 3 battalions may all be coordinated to put "steel on

4992-399: The observer's command to fire relayed through the FDC. The crews load the howitzers and traverse and elevate the barrel to the required point, using either hand cranks (usually on towed guns) or hydraulics (on self-propelled models). Fire aimed at disabling or destroying enemy guns is known as counter-battery fire . Removing the threat posed by enemy artillery is an important objective on

5070-525: The other guns in their battery. These capabilities also increase survivability manyfold as modern SP artillery can displace and avoid counterbattery fire much more quickly and effectively and, if desired, more frequently than previously possible. In conjunction with modern logistic systems (where the SP gun's systems can track and report on ammunition consumption and levels) with similar navigation systems and palletized load dropping / lifting capabilities mean that

5148-545: The outbreak of World War II, virtually all artillery was still being moved around by artillery tractors or horses. While the German Blitzkrieg doctrine called for combined-arms action, which required fire support for armoured units, during the invasion of Poland and France this was provided by the Luftwaffe using Junkers Ju 87 'Stuka' dive-bombers effectively acting as artillery. Conventional towed howitzers followed. As

5226-411: The precise target location based on the observer's location if needed, then computing range and direction to the target from the guns' location. These data can be computed manually, using special protractors and slide rules with precomputed firing data. Corrections can be added for conditions such as a difference between target and howitzer altitudes, propellant temperature, atmospheric conditions, and even

5304-460: The radio and transmit a request for fire in the format of CFF. The FDC calculates the CFF and send a deflection and elevation to the gun line. The gun line cranks the specified elevation and deflection on the howitzers, punch the artillery shell followed by the bag (powder). Depending on the CFF, the gunline will fire the round when they are ready or when the FO calls and tells them to fire. The FO spots

5382-452: The rapid displacement can occur without significant disruption to actually firing missions as it is possible for the ammunition to keep up with the guns. A modern battery of six guns, each firing 43 kg projectiles with a burst firing speed of four rounds per minute, can deliver over a tonne of ordnance per minute for up to four minutes. This is an immense weight of fire , which can be delivered with very high accuracy. One example of

5460-491: The round and sends a correction back to the FDC and the process starts all over again until it's done. The batteries are many kilometres behind the FLOT (Forward Line of Troops). They plan a location where they can be Fire Capability for some certain amount of time and do multiple fire missions before needing to displace. In normal operations the FOs locate targets and transmits the CFF to

5538-673: The target" in what is called a "brigade/regimental time on target" or brigade/regimental TOT for short. The rule is "silence is consent", meaning that if the lower unit does not hear a "cancel the mission" (don't shoot) or even a "check firing" (cease firing) order from the higher monitoring unit, then the mission goes on. Higher level units monitor their subordinate unit's missions both for active as well as passive purposes. Higher-level units may also get involved to coordinate artillery fire across fire support coordination boundaries (often parallel lines on maps) where one unit can not fire into without permission from higher and/or adjacent units that "own"

5616-473: The unit with its initial azimuth of fire, and providing each gun with an initial deflection. In the case of the U.S. Army, this entire process is covered in U.S. Army Field Manual 6-50 Chapter 2. Because artillery is an indirect fire weapon, the forward observer (FO) must take up a position where he can observe the target using tools such as binoculars and laser rangefinders and call back fire missions on his radio or telephone. The FO usually establishes

5694-518: The vehicle, or removed and set up as normal. In effect, the carrier replaced the use of a separate horse team or internal combustion engine-powered artillery tractor , and allowed a new way for the gun to be used. The next major advance can be seen in the Birch gun developed by the British for their motorised warfare experimental brigade (the Experimental Mechanized Force ) after the end of

5772-486: The war progressed, most nations developed self-propelled artillery. Some early attempts were often no more than a field gun or anti-tank gun mounted on a truck—a technique known in the British Army as carrying portee . These were mobile, but lacked protection for the crew. The next step was to mount the guns on a tracked chassis (often that of an obsolete or superseded tank) and provide an armoured superstructure to protect

5850-544: Was created when Hauptmann Alfred Becker , a mechanical engineer and battery captain in the 227th Infantry Division , mounted his 10.5 cm leFH 16 howitzers on the chassis of captured British Vickers Mk.VI light tanks to mobilize his guns. His 10.5 cm leFH 16 Geschützwagen Mk VI 736 (e) was the forerunner to German tracked field guns such as the Wespe and Hummel . The Germans also mobilized their anti-tank guns, using light, obsolete or captured tracked vehicles. Examples include

5928-457: Was employed throughout the Napoleonic Wars and remained in use throughout the entire 19th century and into the first half of the 20th century, when advances in weapons technology finally made it obsolete. Zamburak was a specialized form of self-propelled artillery from the early modern period . It featured small swivel guns to be mounted and fired from the back of camels. It was used by

6006-567: Was limited to such functions as breaking sieges . Following the beginning of the gunpowder era , the first field artillery came into being as metallurgy allowed thinner cannon barrels to withstand the explosive forces without bursting. However, there was still a serious risk of the constant changes of the battlefield conspiring to leave behind slow-moving artillery units – either on the advance, or more dangerously, in retreat. Artillery units were particularly vulnerable to assault by light cavalry , which were frequently used in this role. Only with

6084-460: Was useful for fighting nearby infantry, as a mortar is shorter-ranged and cheaper to shoot than the large main gun, as well as being better suited to wounding enemy infantry taking cover behind objects. However, since the mortar is only a secondary weapon in this case, the Merkava is not considered a mortar carrier. Self-propelled artillery remains important in the equipment of many modern armies. It saw

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