“Aaaaarmy training, sir!”
Posted on 03/15/2011 8:15:50 PM PDT by smokingfrog
Fort Bragg, N.C. — Eight Marines and two Navy sailors received shrapnel wounds and deep cuts in an explosion at Fort Bragg Monday night while conducting an artillery live-fire exercise, according to Staff Sgt. Jayson Price.
Fort Bragg has not released the names of the Marines, who are with Camp Lejeune, nor the names of the sailors. Their conditions were also not available.
Two were taken to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, while the remaining eight were being treated at Womack Army Medical Center, Womack spokeswoman Shannon Lynch said.
The units were firing 155mm ammunition, which can be associated with loud explosions and reverberations upon detonation. Fort Bragg is the closest military training area that can accept the 155mm weapons systems.
Price said the firing has stopped until officials deem it safe to resume training, but it's unclear when that might be.
The explosion happened around 8 p.m. Monday and was being investigated. No other information was released.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
‘Loud explosions on detonation’. Ya think?
Terrorist action
It’s been known to happen...
Proud to have brothers in arms sharing the ranges on Bragg. Many around the area complain about the noise...but to me it is the sound of freedom...just like the C-130s and the C-17s flying overhead....
Pray for our troops....
Why weren’t they using the new totally silent version of ammo?
I can hear them from my house. Sounds like...FREEDOM!
I know it’s early since the time of the incident but this article is sorely lacking in any detail. There are so many possibilities for accidents and I pray for the recovery of those injured.
At a minimum, a Captain and an LT can submit their letters of resignation at any time. Might even get the S-3 and an LTC.
Don’t jump to conclusions. It sounds like it may have been a weapon malfunction.
An apparent in-bore explosion of an M777A2 — a new lightweight howitzer cannon that fires 155mm artillery rounds — occurred during a live-fire exercise, injuring eight Marines and two Navy personnel, The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer reported.
That’s the trouble with the M777 - the measures taken to make it so lightweight also make it seriously unstable when firing. If you thin out the thickness of the bore to reduce weight, you take the chance of the bore blowing apart when subjected to the pressure of the gases releases when the poweder is ignited. This was a major danger to artillerymen for centuries and is why the traditional color of cannoneers is red (blood) and why St Barbara is their patron - those who fear a sudden and violent death.
Isn't it also possible that a round could have detonated before it got out of the barrel? We had that happen with one of our 5"/54 mounts on a DDG I was on in 1972. It split from the muzzle about halfway down the barrel into 4 sections. Three of them remained attached, the fourth went bye-bye.
Waiting for this headline: "Leftists call for silent artillery"
I hope there was no individual malfeasance so those involved can continue serving our nation.
Also surprised to learn that this howitzer is only 1/2 the weight of the weapon it replaced.
The explosion happened around 8 p.m. Monday during an artillery live fire exercise. Officials said the troops were firing an M777A2 howitzer when an "in-bore" explosion occured.
To me, the term "in-bore" explosion indicates that the round itself detonated before it had exited the muzzle. I'd expect that a failure of the barrel from firing pressure would be described as a "barrel rupture" or some similar term.
Faulty ammunition is certainly a possibility. Investigators will also certainly be looking into the procedures used in this exercise. Since I was only peripherally involved in our ship's gun batteries, I'm not fully aware of many details of artillery fire. I do know that our gunner's mates had a lot of concern over a powder can sitting in a hot breech "cooking off" and firing. While I'm not sure, I'd presume that there were similar concerns about the round itself.
As to the weight reductions of the weapon speculated as being the cause of the incident, I'd fully expect that an in-bore explosion of a round would have had exactly the same effect on the previous, heavier version of the weapon. (There could possibly even have been more injuries and more serious ones with the additional shrapnel from the heavier barrel.)
Maybe "smart" ammunition is not so 'smart' if it's not programmed correctly or there are bugs in the software?
“Aaaaarmy training, sir!”
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