Posted on 07/01/2005 11:51:18 AM PDT by spetznaz
Is this OUR "Harold Hutchinson," the Freeper?
Is this OUR "Harold Hutchinson," the Freeper?
In modern warfare, towed artillery is a one shot weapon, then it becomes the target of counter battery fire.
Q: What's the most commonly used word in and Artillery unit?
A: "WHAT?"
In Operation Anaconda, our troops were shelled by a D30 howitzer for a day and a half. We had complete air supremacy, but not a single artillery tube of our own. And obviously no fire-finder radar. As a result, we were unable to effectively suppress enemy air defense & got a bunch of helos shot up. We were also not able to hit identifed Al Qaeda outside the range of small arms except with air power which was not always available, timely, or able to hit the target.
We did that to ourselves with the goofy decision not to bring arty into Afghanistan. But the point is that there are a great many situations in which towed/air transportable artillery can be very useful. Unlike things that fly, it is available 24 hours per day, in any weather, can adjust fire in real time and provide sustained steel on target.
Both towed and self-propelled have their place.
There is a book out there on Gerald Bull. Very interesting. The gun for Saddam was detailed pretty well. Very powerful (remember that this guy originally wanted to get into space with a big gun).
Interestingly, there were small bulbs placed on each side of the barrel that were packed with gunpowder. As the shell passed the connection, the flame would ignite the new powder in the bulb and give it even more of a push. It was a clever attempt to keep the pressure up as the shell passed down the barrel.
HOWEVER, it was a joke. The entire gun was so large that it was being placed in a hole in the ground. It was bolted to the rock. It could not swivel. It was aimed right at Israel (shooting right over Jordan). According to the book, it was supposed to be able to shoot at different targets a few degrees on each side of the centerline of the bore (guidance located in the shell). This was enough to strike at most Israeli population centers. However, it was fixed. I wouldn't give it very long before the Israelis bombed it. Of course, killing Bull did the job easier and cheaper.
That was not the only thing that Bull did, though. He designed several advanced field weapons for countries that could (and may) use them against us. For that reason alone, I don't mourn his death. Bull was a genius, but when it decided not to work within the system, he sold out to whoever would pay him. And it was usually not people that like the US.
You turned me blue and centered me.
I'm, < valley girl >like, < / valley > so at peace>
my above comment was because the first time the thread loaded something in the HTML formatting made all posts in blue text and made them with centered formatting....by the time I posted, it no longer displayed that way in my browser.....oh well, its hard to make a joke
IIRC the gun used a manifold system in conjunction with the extra charges, also that platform tore up the barrel, so Bull developed a "liner" that could be replaced.
I can't remember if our paladin & crusader were cut under Army Transformation or just the Paladin, -man they both would be applicable/ useful in Iraq right about now.
IIRC, Bull was canadian, and royaly screwed over by the USA when he was sent to jail...
IMHO, the best piece of towed artillery was the German 88-and I was a tanker.
Bull was Canadian, but he spent his early years working in the US. I don't remember all the details in the book, but I got the impression he got screwed at the same time he was screwing us. Neither side came out looking very good on that one. After that, he went over to the dark side pretty fast.
The German 88 is the only anti-tank gun I have ever heard of...probably with good reason.
That was a bada** piece of machinery. Anti-vehicle and anti-aircraft (flak) gun. Germany made great equipment.
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