Lord Jim wrote: Both Excalibur and the Precision Guidance kit are in service with the US Army and other nations. The latter is far cheaper being fitted to existing rounds in a similar manner to how Paveway kits were added to dumb bombs in the past. The accuracy isn't as good as Excalibur but a substantial improvement over standard rounds.
As for "sensor" rounds, Bonus or similar would be a great bonus in peer-to-peer situations?
mr.fred wrote: Light gun and towed Exactor plus mortars for them.
Quite right, esp. for the RM as the mortars can arrive also in LCVP, not in the slow-slow LCUs that will come in later.
The previous page had a lot of discussion about counter-battery by light formations (half of our artillery is light and at a range disadvantage). However, rather than ditching that half, complement them en-masse (on the lines Mr. fred was suggesting) with Exactors
- this is exactly what S. Korea got their Exactors for: hitting well emplaced artillery/ rocketry positions (their SPGs lost one such match; we could take "lessons learnt" without having to learn them the hard way? Their SPGs are well protected and have an excellent 155 mm piece on them - did not change the result.)
Heliportable "insurance": as we have them now, on a light-weight trailer
For counter-battery/ anti-tank "gun line":
https://cdn2.desu-usergeneratedcontent. ... 126372.jpg
Very mobile artillery (the more protected Apaches can do the scouting for them, and the Wildcats could finally come in useful for the Army, too):
https://u0v052dm9wl3gxo0y3lx0u44wz-wpen ... ildcat.jpg
mr.fred wrote:Maybe 155mm towed might find a home in motorised formation (i.e. not mech, Armd or light) with MRV(P) as its primary transport.
Halfway house should be considered; eg. Nexter's 6x6 or the one using a Tatra 8x8 chassis: protected while in transit, not couped up while in a fire position, Ability to keep up with wheeled formations more than compensates for the drawback vs. turreted SPGs that can fire 360 degrees, without interruption.
Lord Jim wrote: the 120mm RMs at battalion level are equal to the 105mm LG in most ways and exceed in some such as also having greater flexibility in munitions, a larger payload but at a slightly reduced range. It is only my opinion as I am a great fan of the Brandt 120mm Rifles Mortar
+
mr.fred wrote:you’ll need bigger tractors to move both (the 81mm can be man packed, if you’re a sadist)
An ATV can carry the 120mm (you would need a second one for meaningful supply of rounds)... this could be the "chinooky" special, with the most of them carried as per LJ, in the below:
Lord Jim wrote: the Coyote TSV can tow a 120mm "Rifle" and its ammo would be ideal, as would a sledge for the BV206 or BV210.
Lord Jim wrote: However the effects of 120mm [and 155mm] over 81mm
- no doubt about the artlilery comparison, but mortars (in the main) are area suppression weapons and from a ton of rounds you get twice as many splinters as from a ton of 120 mm rounds => hence, at the company level I would retain the 81 mm
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)