Army Explores Anti-Ship Howitzers & Anti-Air Strykers

Breaking Defense ^ | February 12, 2016 | SYDNEY J. FREEDBERG JR.

[sukhoi-30mki]

ARLINGTON: New threats from Russia and China mean the Army must take on new missions — but it’s got almost no new money so the Army is looking at ways to modify existing systems to do some radically new things.

So imagine howitzers firing precision-guided cannon shells to shoot cruise missiles out of the sky or to sink ships on the South China Sea. Imagine networking existing sensors in new ways to counter Russian heavy jamming. Imagine eight-wheel-drive Stryker armored vehicles acting as mobile anti-aircraft guns.

“One of the highlights that I was trying to emphasize is repurposing existing capability,” said Maj. Gen. John Rossi, head of the Army Fires Center at Fort Sill, speaking to me after his remarks to the Association of the US Army’s annual air and missile defense conference. “I see very promising potential for using something we already have” in new ways, he said, for less money and time than developing new weapons.

If this economy-minded “teach old dogs new tricks” approach sounds a lot like Secretary Ash Carter’s Strategic Capabilities Office, that’s not an accident. SCO is pushing the Hyper Velocity Projectile (HVP), a BAE Systems cannon shell with precision guidance that can be fired from Navy 5-inch deck guns or Army 155 millimeter howitzers. The Navy side is further along, but the Army has test-fired the 155 version of the HVP, Carter boasted recently.

“This is a high [priority] Secretary of Defense, DepSecDef interest item,” said David Markowitz, the Army’s assistant deputy chief of staff for operations, during an AUSA panel. HPV is even becoming a test case: Can we really field ground breaking disruptive technology fast?” he asked. “We need this type of capability….We realize it’s a high risk.”

[Daniel Ramsey]

I like synthetic biologicals, drone whales, they look like whales, they have an exact acoustical signature as a whale, they can blend in with a herd.

But they can launch rocket powered anti ship torpedoes, nuclear tipped if needed.

Or syn dolphins, but instead are themselves anti ship mines.

And if you truly want to demoralize the enemy you create a huge robotic Kraken, ship sized.

[bill1952]

This is sad.
The army under funded and looking for strange solutions to well known problems

[Daniel Ramsey]

I remember how paranoid Iran was when they heard Israel was making robotic spy cockroaches, or even camels with implanted radios and cameras.

[catbertz]

Haha the kraken pushed me over the edge. I was chucking already, but lost it at that moment. I like your style.

[Daniel Ramsey]

Yeah that was my Jules Verne moment.

But there was an author, might have been Dale Brown, anyway they use local superstition combined with high tech, in fighting with muslims they used huge atmosheric projectors to broadcast Allah speaking to them, huge scale, miles wide.

And they fell for it.

[catbertz]

Fun idea. Very Sun Tzu.

[Daniel Ramsey]

Hey my day job is to be an out of the box thinker.

Any nation can build a better bigger, faster bomb or missile but smart thinking is what you need, they are terrorists to us, we need to terrorize them.

[enduserindy]

Don’t forget the transvestite crew.

[DannyTN]

But there was an author, might have been Dale Brown, anyway they use local superstition combined with high tech, in fighting with muslims they used huge atmosheric projectors to broadcast Allah speaking to them, huge scale, miles wide"

Too close to the "strange fire" scenario of the Old Testament for me. That's where two of the priests decided to help God out by tossing chemicals into the fire to help convince the people. God had the strange fire consume the two priests. You don't impersonate God.

Now I know in this case we're talking impersonating Allah not God, but still, if it works you've lent credence to a false god. And you risk God taking offense.

[GreyFriar]

The Army is looking at ways to modify existing systems to do some radically new things like howitzers shooting shells at ships....

Been there, done that: it was called Coast Artillery Branch.

[PIF]

Yep. Most of the funds which would have gone into upgrades, R&D, increased production of existing or modifications, and new weapons, have been soaked up by building female sanitation facilities, paying lactivism experts, lactation training, pregnancy awareness training, as well as monies to seamlessly and invisibly jigger female training scores up to male equality.

[Navy Patriot]

Imagine ballistics research that was thrown away.

[The Antiyuppie]

“they are terrorists to us, we need to terrorize them.”

I like bombs from planes that don’t explode immediately but detonate later when remotely commanded to do so, and are tamper-proof.

[Bull Snipe]

If I remember correctly, the Marines on Wake Island had some experience sinking/damaging Japanese war ships with howitzers.