[GreyFriar]

Back to “charts and darts.” Very good. I lamented when they let computers take over the calculation of firing data WITHOUT maintaining a manual back up. I took basic FDC (13E) training in 1973 and went through the early years of TacFire and the introduction of the Battery Computer System of the mid-80s, when the “word” was that manual fire direction was a relic of the past.

During my recent move, I found my set of “sticks,” aka Graphic Firing Tables, that I had ordered in the mid-70’s from Ft. Sill, for M-109A1 155mm guns. I didn’t find the manual firing tables though.

[Alas Babylon!]

I retired from active duty in the late 1990s. Much of what I knew then is out-of-date.

I will not condemn progress that's been made.

Those who do condemn and criticize, based on PAST experience's, perhaps decades old, are full of it.

Without computers, the B-2 CANNOT fly. That's just the way it is. I don't think computers are the issue here, just having multiple capabilities, including the old manual ways. The increased rate of fire and accuracy that advanced systems provide is a GOOD thing for American forces, no?

Yet because of this article, a select few have just to chime in how wrong it is to “rely” on computers like it's some kind of disaster that some idiots don't see.

To me, the article says no such thing, except to be prepared incase certain advanced technologies fail, even if that scenario is unlikely. Otherwise, there's a lot of advantages for us to use these new technologies. That's how warfare generally evolves. We could not fight with massive attacks and barrages like WWII. Those days are over; precision wins far more.

[zot]

Good! Thanks for the ping.

[PROCON]

I too was a 13E in 1976-82.

A good SP/4 13E could derive manual firing data faster than the old FADAC.