Next Gen Artillery

In my Army career I was Artillery, AKA The King Of Battle. Yeah, I so went there. With that in mind you'll understand how much this pains me. The Navy is fielding a Super Gun, the Advanced Gun System.

It fires a 155mm projectile called the LRLAP or Long Range Land Attack Projectile. It utilizes GPS and Inertial Guidance and can send rounds as far as 63 miles. 63 fricking miles. Let me put that in perspective.

Back when I was a Fire Direction Specialist, computing Artillery firing data with plotting charts, Logarithmic tables, slide rules, FADAC (go to the link and click on photo if you want a look at a circa 1960 Army computer) and pencil & paper the newest thing in our inventory was Copperhead and ICM (Improved Conventional Munition including DPICM, APICM and FASCAM). The newest 155 self propelled howitzer, the M109A5 has a range of about 14 miles, 18 with rocket assist rounds. That's pretty good but not quite 63 miles.

No word that I can find on accuracy but considering it's use of accuracy enhancing technology and just how far we've come our smart munitions I'd expect it's probably fairly good, Range Probability Errors notwithstanding.

But still. The Navy has this bad boy? I know they need it, that new DDG1000 is going to be steady kicking ass, but the Navy!? This cannot stand. The Navy cannot have a bigger penis, er gun, (yeah that's what I meant gun) than the Army. My boys in the Redleg community must be aghast, chafing at the bit and planning a midnight visit to a certain naval facility where a certain large boat like object resides to do a late night requisition of a pretty dang cool brand spanking new long range World O' Hurt Delivery Device. Heck guys, give me a call. I've got a trailer.

So if you see a big ol' gun on a redneck trailer being pulled behind a crappy green pickup truck being wildly driven by a disreputable crew of drunken rapscallions and cutthroats wearing cutoff camouflage pants and Budweiser t-shirts please pay it no mind. And if anyone sees Old NFO, ORPO or NavyOne, tell them not to read this post.

You never saw me. I was never here. This post will self destruct in 5...4...3...2...1...

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Fun With Stuff That Goes Boom

Is that a......Tire?



I'm an old Cannon Cocker. I've worked with and around everything from SP to Towed to Mortars. 4.2 inch, 105mm, 155mm even the old 8 Inch guns (which were beasts in every sense of the word). I've never seen an artillery piece quite like this one but anything that shoots a tire with a resounding boom and a cloud of smoke is flat out awesome.

I think I need it. I at least have to shoot one though perhaps with a slightly longer fuse. I gotta drop an e-mail to The Redneck Engineer and put a bug in his ear.

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