Netfires - Tube Artillery - MLRS
Been doubting the future of 155mm tube artillery for quite some time now. Think that the 120mm mortar on the one end, and MLRS on the other will take a considerable bite out of the 155's mission. Couple of thoughts below on how Netfires fits in:
M777 weight: 4400kg
Average Crew: 600kg
Typical pallet (45 shells, 60 MACS): about 2100kg (estimation)
Weight for one hour of sustained firing (@ 3 rounds/minute = 4 pallets): about 13500kg
Costs: USD3M for the M777, USD65k for a pallet of dumb ammo, USD80k for one Excalibur, USD260k for one hour of sustained dumb fire, or USD14M+ for one hour of Excalibur sustained fire (not including deployment and crew)
2D Mobility: MTVR
3D Mobility out: two CH-47 (gun, crew, ammo for one sustained hour)
3D Mobility back: one CH-47 hauling back gun and crew
Capabilities: traditional big boom shrapnel, cluster container, precision attack
Netfires CLU empty: 650kg
Netfires missile: 53kg
Loaded CLU: about 1450kg
Weight for one hour of firing (@ 3 rounds/minute = 12 CLU): about 17500kg
Costs: hard to say - Javelin USD75k, Hellfire USD60k, Spike USD5k, PAM shouldn't be more than USD20k per. CLU say USD350k per, USD4.2M for one hour sustained fire (not including deployment).
2D Mobility: MTVR with loader crane
3D Mobility out: three CH-47 (possibly with at small all-terrain forklift) to deploy the CLUs (CLUs for one sustained hour of firing); or six UH-60 with CLUs as ext load
3D Mobility back: one UH-60 with at least two guys to collect electronics packages
Capabilities: precision attack
Problem: sabotage, if unattended (same as with FCS' UGS)
That translates into:
# Role for 120mm Mortar: sustained (mostly suppressive) "dumb" big boom area shrapnel fire, short/medium range; precision mortar rounds will have a hard stand against PAM costwise, as with Excalibur only interesting if used sparingly
# Role for M777: sustained (mostly suppressive) "dumb" big boom area-shrapnelling, medium range, flexibly deployed; Excalibur cost effective only if not used more than ten times per hour or so (per battery)
# Role for Netfires: selective fire, precision attack, medium/long range, preferably road-deployed, optional unattended operation if airliftered to an unaccessible spot
# Role for MLRS++: massed technical targets, area targets, salvo assault, long range
Comments?
Hmmm, responsive, but max range ?
Touché !
The 120 teams are quick and get to 6 clicks... The 155 to 24 clicks, albeit slower :)
You can Run but you'll only die tired !
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BayonetBrant
don't forget that 120mm mortars live at the BN level, which makes one of their key attributes "responsiveness". It can take a while to get 155mm rounds - or anything else - fired as an immediate suppression mission. But the S3 can grab the mike and get mortar rounds in flight inside of 2 minutes.
Hate to be dense but I don't understand what this means:
Quote:
Originally Posted by
reed11b
...The negative is that 120's have limited self sustainmant ability compared to an arty battery.
Do you mean in logistic support?
They do; the 120 requires transport and support vehicles
Quote:
Originally Posted by
reed11b
Did I not just get done telling you to read what mean and not what I write? :confused:
Yes I mean logistic support, especially ammo resupply. Of course I was an 81mm mortar man and the 120 is vehicle based so they may have a more robust logistical support.
and they are in the 120 Platoon itself and in the HHC Support Platoon. Poor Rifle Companies don't have that luxury -- though they did when we had the Mule (this one LINK and not this one LINK). Those put the M-Gator to shame.
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