thedrifter
10-05-07, 11:26 AM
Marines ship new howitzer to Iraq
By Kris Osborn - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Oct 5, 2007 5:44:15 EDT
The Marine Corps has begun shipping the new, lightweight M777 howitzer to Iraq, marking the first U.S. combat deployment for the higher-tech, more mobile and lethal artillery gun, Marine Corps officials said.
In addition, the Marines and the Army are acquiring more guns, adding to the 550 M777s they have already purchased.
“Right now, for the Marine Corps we’re looking at adding about 250 more, for the Army close to 275 more,” said retired Marine Master Sgt. Jeff Altman, M777 equipment specialist with the Army-Marine Corps joint program office.
Designed to be carried beneath a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft or a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, and to be carried aboard Navy ships, the M777 is intended for a mobile expeditionary force that needs to deploy quickly and move around the battlefield, Altman said.
“This system is 7,000 pounds lighter than the M198 that it’s replacing, but still shoots a 39-cal, 155mm cannon, so you still get your same ranges, and are still able to shoot your standard NATO 155 munitions,” he said.
“Your rate of fires and displacement times are quicker,” Altman added. “The M198 has been in service for 20-plus years. It’s a heavy system mobility-wise, but it’s a great system.”
First delivered in 2005 to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., the M777 is now serving with Army and Marine Corps units. The gun is manufactured by BAE Systems.
Built with titanium, the gun brings improved firepower at roughly one-half the weight of the 15,000-pound, 36-foot-long M198 howitzer. In addition, the M777 has a digital firing system, inertial navigation and SINCGARS radios, Corps officials said.
“It enhances accuracy and takes a lot of burden off of the units, because you have a howitzer now that can locate itself with an inertial map,” said Lewis Stough, M777 software test lead at the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. “Units are able to be less dependent upon surveyors. Before, we would have one survey control point for a position, and you would have to have your position location based on that.”
The M777 also allows battery commanders to spread their weapons across more territory, making them less vulnerable, Altman said.
The 30-foot M777 fired the GPS-guided Excalibur artillery shell during testing to establish the initial operating capability for the new precision round, now being fired in Iraq.
Six M777s with Canadian forces fired on Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan during summer 2006. During the Battle of Panjwaii, just two guns killed as many as 72 Taliban fighters, Corps officials said.
“The Taliban nicknamed this gun, ‘Dragon Fire.’ They are scared to death of it,” Altman said.
Ellie
By Kris Osborn - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Oct 5, 2007 5:44:15 EDT
The Marine Corps has begun shipping the new, lightweight M777 howitzer to Iraq, marking the first U.S. combat deployment for the higher-tech, more mobile and lethal artillery gun, Marine Corps officials said.
In addition, the Marines and the Army are acquiring more guns, adding to the 550 M777s they have already purchased.
“Right now, for the Marine Corps we’re looking at adding about 250 more, for the Army close to 275 more,” said retired Marine Master Sgt. Jeff Altman, M777 equipment specialist with the Army-Marine Corps joint program office.
Designed to be carried beneath a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft or a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, and to be carried aboard Navy ships, the M777 is intended for a mobile expeditionary force that needs to deploy quickly and move around the battlefield, Altman said.
“This system is 7,000 pounds lighter than the M198 that it’s replacing, but still shoots a 39-cal, 155mm cannon, so you still get your same ranges, and are still able to shoot your standard NATO 155 munitions,” he said.
“Your rate of fires and displacement times are quicker,” Altman added. “The M198 has been in service for 20-plus years. It’s a heavy system mobility-wise, but it’s a great system.”
First delivered in 2005 to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., the M777 is now serving with Army and Marine Corps units. The gun is manufactured by BAE Systems.
Built with titanium, the gun brings improved firepower at roughly one-half the weight of the 15,000-pound, 36-foot-long M198 howitzer. In addition, the M777 has a digital firing system, inertial navigation and SINCGARS radios, Corps officials said.
“It enhances accuracy and takes a lot of burden off of the units, because you have a howitzer now that can locate itself with an inertial map,” said Lewis Stough, M777 software test lead at the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. “Units are able to be less dependent upon surveyors. Before, we would have one survey control point for a position, and you would have to have your position location based on that.”
The M777 also allows battery commanders to spread their weapons across more territory, making them less vulnerable, Altman said.
The 30-foot M777 fired the GPS-guided Excalibur artillery shell during testing to establish the initial operating capability for the new precision round, now being fired in Iraq.
Six M777s with Canadian forces fired on Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan during summer 2006. During the Battle of Panjwaii, just two guns killed as many as 72 Taliban fighters, Corps officials said.
“The Taliban nicknamed this gun, ‘Dragon Fire.’ They are scared to death of it,” Altman said.
Ellie