Quote Originally Posted by SethB View Post
The EFSS is a rifled mortar. It is very heavy, well over 1,000 pounds. An 81, in contrast, is man portable.

Similarly, the USMC is banking on computer simulations that show that four M777A2s have enough firepower to replace the six that you would find in an older Battery. Whether this has to do with better fire direction, better target location, improved control with DFCS or even better lethality with M795... that I can't say, but all those things have gotten better since the six cannon battery was standardized.
I've worked on enough simulations to know that you can basically "simulate" any way you want to achieve the pre-ordained "results" that you have been told to get. Not to disagree or agree with the topic at hand, but I imagine that the simulations were "dialed-down" to reflect more recent experience - I seriously doubt that they took into account the massive firepower used in say, Korea (or, for that matter, even during the Marines drive to Baghdad...)

Personally, given the current conditions, I think eight 81mm and 4 M777 or 120mm is fine, considering that they won't get much of a workout anyway. In the long run, cutting batteries down to 4 from 6 (or to 6 from 8), while at the same time shedding artillery battalions from the OOB like fur from a furry cat on a hot day won't serve us well...