Quote Originally Posted by SethB View Post
Doctrinally ECR is twice the radius at which you can expect one shell fragment per meter. There are other measures of lethality now.
Number of fragments is a poor indicator of lethality; too many other variables. The old bursting radius criteria was obtained by popping off rounds in the center of concentric circles of silhouettes and estimating potential kills versus potential wounds. All such estimates are just that; munition effects are too unpredictable to be precisely stated. Not a prob, really, the estimates are adequate for planning purposes.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the M118 is just separate loading version the M119? And it looks like a longer tube...
Longer tube, different shell, greater range, British (original) version. We insisted on the shorter tube and the old chamber due to vast stocks of older 105mm Ammo on hand. Economic choice versus combat effectiveness choice. Logical on the surface but could have been better worked around IMO.
...but I think there is a lot of need for standard HE.
Agree.
What did you think of the LAV III with a howitzer attached?
Yes with the Denel 105 (or similar) in a turret, no for the M777 piggy back. Though I'm not a fan of the LAV. It was a stopgap purchase of the cheapest available system due to the US Army's failure to develop wheeled vehicles after WW II.

Our northwest Europe experience in 1944-45 left the Army with many bad legacies...