US-Army erprobt LKW-gestützte Artilleriesysteme
Verfasst: Do 8. Nov 2018, 20:44
A potential mobile artillery dynamic duo for the Army: ‘Hawkeye’ and ‘Brutus’
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-arm ... nd-brutus/
Army Tests Low-Recoil 155mm Howitzer Small Enough To Fit On The Back Of A Truck
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/24 ... of-a-truck
Potential future weapons analyzed at Fort Sill Maneuver and Fires Integrated Experiment (1. November 2018)
https://www.army.mil/article/213296/pot ... experiment
U.S. artillery on the Korean Peninsula then and now. Incorporating past lessons to posture future operations
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-arm ... nd-brutus/
Army Tests Low-Recoil 155mm Howitzer Small Enough To Fit On The Back Of A Truck
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/24 ... of-a-truck
Potential future weapons analyzed at Fort Sill Maneuver and Fires Integrated Experiment (1. November 2018)
https://www.army.mil/article/213296/pot ... experiment
U.S. artillery on the Korean Peninsula then and now. Incorporating past lessons to posture future operations
In light of the three Korean War artillery challenges we’ve highlighted above, we'll now examine how the Fires community can rapidly evolve in order to prepare for the semi-independent operations we can expect in the event of conflict on the peninsula. We’ll argue for the Army’s integration of the Mandus/AM General Humvee-mounted 105 mm self-propelled howitzer (SPH). We’ll touch on how the Picatinny Arms’ M777 extended range (ER) barrel postures the 155 mm towed artillery piece to better shape the division deep fight between the coordinating fire line (CFL) and the fire support coordination line (FSCL). And finally, we’ll conclude with recommending a change in force structure, consolidating all M777 howitzers with corps who will combine them with High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) battalions.
The Hawkeye, a 105 mm Humvee mounted SPH, boasts several Korean conflict specific advantages over the Army's
current M119A3 platform. Whereas other self-propelled howitzers such as the M109A6 rely on heavy armor to absorb large amounts of recoil, engineers at Mandus Group have leveraged soft-recoil technology, putting the guns on a much lighter Humvee chassis. The Hawkeye’s M20 cannon is encased in a recoil/cradle sub-assembly enabling 70 percent reduction in recoil force allowing for its firing from a M1152A1 Humvee chassis.
This gun-prime mover combination has enormous potential for service in mountainous Korean terrain. For example, we
can reasonably assume a brigade will perform large amounts of artillery air assaults to move guns over non-trafficable ridgelines, high peaks and dangerous valleys. In today’s military, a battery commander can sling-load two full howitzer sections (one towed M119A3 and one prime mover per section) with four CH-47 Chinook helicopters. However, with the Hawkeye platform, a brigade can double its ability to project indirect Fires forward in support of a maneuver formation by sling-loading one Hawkeye SPH under each CH-47. For the first time in history the U.S. military will be able to airlift a self-propelled howitzer able to infill, fire and displace all under its own power.
In the event of resumed conflict on the peninsula we can undoubtedly expect our adversaries, in an effort to delay progress
north towards Pyongang, to destroy key terrain such as load-bearing bridges able to transport our heavy armored formations. To this effect, in the recent Russian/Ukrainian conflict we watched Russia expertly canalize Ukrainian armored formations resulting in the eventual annexation of Crimea.
As the Hawkeye retains the title of lightest 105 mm SPH, it can traverse secondary bridges deemed un-trafficable by retrograding North Korean forces. The Hawkeye’s increased tactical maneuverability, when compared with other near-peer light SPH platforms, maximizes the potential routes available to it.
The gun-prime mover combination also lends itself to a smaller firing point "footprint" as each Hawkeye howitzer section
consists of 33 percent less rolling stock (gun-prime mover and ammo truck as opposed to prime mover, gun and ammo truck).
Yet another crucial advantage this new weapon system poses over its conventional 105 mm cousin is its ability to rapidly fire 360 degrees. Out-of-traverse missions can certainly be achieved with current M119A3 crews, but tend to cost a lot of time as Soldiers race to shift trails and find the correct gun target line. This creates large time differences between experienced and inexperienced crews.
In the Hawkeye weapon system, outof- traverse fire missions are conducted in an automated fashion, severely decreasing time between the crew’s receipt of fire mission and rounds fired. Due to the adversary’s exploitation of infiltration and envelopment tactics, an efficient out-of-traverse shooter with increased tactical maneuverability becomes critical to our howitzers survivability during a conflict on the peninsula.
Therefore, we suggest the Hawkeye 105 mm howitzer finds its place amongst the U.S. military’s direct support battalions in
order to support the brigade knife-fight between the FLOT and the CFL. In an effort to portray how the artillery community can better posture for shaping operations between the CFL and FSCL on the peninsula, we’ll describe how the Fires community can make the best use of Picatinny Arsenal’s Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) program.
http://sill-www.army.mil/firesbulletin/ ... Schmid.pdfOf note, upon realizing the Advantages of Mandus’ Hawkeye SPH, the Fires community can expect the production of “The Brutus,” a wheeled 155 mm SPH Version mounted on a medium tactical vehicle (MTV) chassis, to counter the inherent mobility flaw in the M777A2. Transitioning back to Picatinny Arsenal, following the final demonstration exhibiting the merits of their ER M777A2 howitzer system we can project if and/or when the U.S. military will begin incorporating this new technology.