These look super useful, but the range is pretty limited:
>firing range with standard ammunition is 11.6 kilometers
I’m sure Ukraine will take anything that shoots at this point. Wonder what the shell situation looks like for 105 mm. Looking forward to more reports about these.
Very interesting piece, I like it
11km with standard ammo and 19 with ro let assist ammo. And this little tidbit: vertical aiming from -5 to +72 degrees.
So in other words, it can fire straight on, and act like a light tank, blasting away at 8 rounds per minute directly at fortified areas.
Could be an interesting, and maybe very effective, addition to front line, or near front line, weaponry; able to move fast in either direct fire support or artillery support out to 19km.
Why make any form of a tactical and not put it on a Toyota platform?
This is actually a pretty cool article. I recall when they 82nd Airborne Division (US) trialed one of these. There was the usual pushback from general officers about its “limited use in a big conflict”, well, we’re about to see how limited it is and I’m sure the Ukrainians will figure out how to squeeze every ounce of performance out of this, or shelve it.
Sounds like they only sent a few for testing. Now if you want real battlefield cred they need to send in a couple of hundred. I know wishfull thinking but if it is useful I do hope Ukraine gets as many as they can use.
These are probably very useful, light and lethal and fast
So this is interesting… I have to first outline some thoughts about this system.
– The system is not the HUMVEE. It’s the stabilization, targeting, and the howitzer. This means that it could be mounted on any vehicle. Apparently, AM General did make test cases that were mounted on variety of vehicles, even Toyota trucks (they always come up in a war).
– This system can use a plethora of ammunition that the article doesn’t mention. There are HE, tear, smoke, cluster, and so on. The ammunition, in general, is 1/3 of weight and smaller in size which reduces logistic footprint while it doesn’t sacrifice much of effectivness.
– It requires 2 people to setup, shoot, and drive away. With manpower shortage, this might translate into 3x more guns firing with the same number of soldiers.
Now, to why it’s interesting… UA could attach them to units that needs artillery support, but also mortar support. The 105mm and mobility of this system allows for fulfilment of both roles without sacrificing much from this compromise. It seems like a good fit for mobile companies and for any company that needs to dig in (the platform is small and it’s easy to move it when there is a danger of a drone or artillery).
Looking at possible ammunition/charge types the platform would be used at 10-14km ranges for artillery/smoke missions without rocket assisted projectiles. I have a feeling that the system and ammunition is way cheaper than any 155mm system and it could be produced (or converted) quicker than 155mm self-propelled guns. However, there is more 155mm guns than suitable 105mm guns out there.
While it’s a cool system for shoot and scoot missions, I have doubts that using it for sustained operation during an advance or probing actions would be problematic. The system by itself is light and by default it’s mounted on a HUMVEE the ammo isn’t included. You can throw a case or two of 5 rounds in the back, but that’s all. Max 10 rounds on the system. So to give it more bang you would need to ferry ammo constantly or have a bigger truck with ammo feeding it. I guess the idea of feeding 3 of such guns with 2 additional HUMVEES from a more central location with bigger supply could work, but it’s problematic. Especially, if we are talking about this system taking slack from mortar systems also. The last concern I am looking at is durability. Aparently, during tests the additional stabilizers and HUMVEE’s suspensions didn’t like each other and they tend to break. This means that the system could fail when it’s needed and that’s a problem.
So, as much as I think it’s a cool and useful system, I wonder how much of an effect it could have and what kind of organization and logistics it would require around.
9 comments
Nice piece of kit.
These look super useful, but the range is pretty limited:
>firing range with standard ammunition is 11.6 kilometers
I’m sure Ukraine will take anything that shoots at this point. Wonder what the shell situation looks like for 105 mm. Looking forward to more reports about these.
Very interesting piece, I like it
11km with standard ammo and 19 with ro let assist ammo. And this little tidbit: vertical aiming from -5 to +72 degrees.
So in other words, it can fire straight on, and act like a light tank, blasting away at 8 rounds per minute directly at fortified areas.
Could be an interesting, and maybe very effective, addition to front line, or near front line, weaponry; able to move fast in either direct fire support or artillery support out to 19km.
Why make any form of a tactical and not put it on a Toyota platform?
This is actually a pretty cool article. I recall when they 82nd Airborne Division (US) trialed one of these. There was the usual pushback from general officers about its “limited use in a big conflict”, well, we’re about to see how limited it is and I’m sure the Ukrainians will figure out how to squeeze every ounce of performance out of this, or shelve it.
Sounds like they only sent a few for testing. Now if you want real battlefield cred they need to send in a couple of hundred. I know wishfull thinking but if it is useful I do hope Ukraine gets as many as they can use.
These are probably very useful, light and lethal and fast
So this is interesting… I have to first outline some thoughts about this system.
– The system is not the HUMVEE. It’s the stabilization, targeting, and the howitzer. This means that it could be mounted on any vehicle. Apparently, AM General did make test cases that were mounted on variety of vehicles, even Toyota trucks (they always come up in a war).
– This system can use a plethora of ammunition that the article doesn’t mention. There are HE, tear, smoke, cluster, and so on. The ammunition, in general, is 1/3 of weight and smaller in size which reduces logistic footprint while it doesn’t sacrifice much of effectivness.
– It requires 2 people to setup, shoot, and drive away. With manpower shortage, this might translate into 3x more guns firing with the same number of soldiers.
Now, to why it’s interesting… UA could attach them to units that needs artillery support, but also mortar support. The 105mm and mobility of this system allows for fulfilment of both roles without sacrificing much from this compromise. It seems like a good fit for mobile companies and for any company that needs to dig in (the platform is small and it’s easy to move it when there is a danger of a drone or artillery).
Looking at possible ammunition/charge types the platform would be used at 10-14km ranges for artillery/smoke missions without rocket assisted projectiles. I have a feeling that the system and ammunition is way cheaper than any 155mm system and it could be produced (or converted) quicker than 155mm self-propelled guns. However, there is more 155mm guns than suitable 105mm guns out there.
While it’s a cool system for shoot and scoot missions, I have doubts that using it for sustained operation during an advance or probing actions would be problematic. The system by itself is light and by default it’s mounted on a HUMVEE the ammo isn’t included. You can throw a case or two of 5 rounds in the back, but that’s all. Max 10 rounds on the system. So to give it more bang you would need to ferry ammo constantly or have a bigger truck with ammo feeding it. I guess the idea of feeding 3 of such guns with 2 additional HUMVEES from a more central location with bigger supply could work, but it’s problematic. Especially, if we are talking about this system taking slack from mortar systems also. The last concern I am looking at is durability. Aparently, during tests the additional stabilizers and HUMVEE’s suspensions didn’t like each other and they tend to break. This means that the system could fail when it’s needed and that’s a problem.
So, as much as I think it’s a cool and useful system, I wonder how much of an effect it could have and what kind of organization and logistics it would require around.