How is an M777 Howitzer Aimed?

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Most artillery is aimed by looking through a sight at an candy-striped aiming post. The sight is then offset from the aiming post as ordered by the Fire Direction Center.

When the artillery is fired, the sight is rechecked to make sure the gun hasn't moved. If it has, the post is re-sighted before firing again.

References:
TM-9-1025-211-10

[RyanMcBethProgramming]

Join the Discussion at:



Follow me on Twitter at:
@ryanmcbeth


Most artillery is aimed by looking through a sight at an candy-striped aiming post. The sight is then offset from the aiming post as ordered by the Fire Direction Center.

When the artillery is fired, the sight is rechecked to make sure the gun hasn't moved. If it has, the post is re-sighted before firing again.


References:
TM-9-1025-211-10

[bernadmanny]

The mighty stick, the cutting edge of technology right there.

[deusvult]

Please don't spread misinformation on the internet. Everyone knows FDC doesn't put their coffee down

[SethKotta]

"Guys! Someone stole the stick!"
"For fuck's sake, get that dog off the artillery team!"

[FormedBox]

The stick was mankind’s first weapon and it will be its last

[thebiggeststarwarsfan]

“From the type of shell fired to the spinning of the earth.”
“Remember what I taught you, at this distance you’ll also have to take the Coriolis effect into account” from COD4

[sohammitra]

The stick, the mighty weapon, from the spears of the Greeks, to the pikemen of Europe and now the guiding force of the field artillery.

[Mohojo]

"FDC then puts down their hot coffee and sandwich"

Right as I put down my coffee and look up at the math homework. I need a sandwich.

[brownstonecustomcabinetry]

I failed every math class I took in high school. Took them all twice, every year summer school. Then a buddy of mine came back from Fort Sill and explain trigonometry to me as an artillery man. I never failed another math class and now I do math for a living. So they may never put down a sandwich and coffee but they know that damn math

[crapphone]

The most dangerous thing on the battlefield, the guy with the radio. He can rain hell on you.

[jeremyjohnson]

I'm addicted to your in-depth analysys of various military tactics and how you break down complicated situations

[Burneth_]

Humans went from "stabbing sticks into animals" to "using sticks to aim artillery"

*Sticks are the Absolute Pinnacle of Technological Advancement.*

[roberthanson]

As a infantry rifleman that ended up accidentally getting into a battery and being thrown into the position of FDC I can indeed say we do indeed have coffee and sandwiches and it was the best mistake of my career except for the math

[crusaderanimation]

0:56 "They are looking at low tech stick"
*SHAD HEAVY BREATHING*

[redlegpainting]

Aiming poles are used as a secondary aiming reference. When firing degraded (no digital/electronic capability) you will normally use a collimator which is much closer to the howitzer, has internal illumination (if it’s not a busted POS) and is more accurate than aiming poles. Just an FYI.

[The_Sapphire_Fox]

Ryan! I'm a 13B and I can give you the best description of how we aim our pieces! He's more likely looking at his Collimeter instead of the aiming poles because the aiming poles are our last resort of the multitude of fallback aiming references that we have!

[EireHammer]

Former artillery Marine here, this was an outstanding quick peek into how arty works. My gun is now in Ukraine It blows my mind that's how life has gone, we expected to be firing against the Chinese back in 2010. Himars was the future when I was serving glad to find someone wanted our boondoggle. I find it odd to see triple sevens dug in and emplaced, static positions were considered a death sentence when I was still ramming life was all about the shoot and scoot back then. Oh how times have changed!

[dwaynemadsen]

"The FDC then puts down their hot coffee and sandwich!" HA Ha ha! I was a "Gun Bunny" for a while, and the FO's and FDC's always tried to get our goat with the phrase, "Pull string; get cookie!" Stay safe and thank you for sharing.

[juanmanuelpenaloza]

US Military: The most technologically advanced in the world with the most sophisticated equipment

Also US Military: You use these sticks to aim.

[easternag]

My uncle was the spotter for a Howitzer cannon during the Gulf War. He helped to liberate Kuwait