Transforming cannon artillery in support of the Army of 2030 and beyond
By Cobb Laslie, Director of Howitzer Programs at Elbit America
Imagine an operational scenario where a forward-deployed Infantry or Stryker brigade combat team is tasked with moving from a Divisional or Corps rear area to establish a screen along a forward boundary. Tensions are high between two dominant land powers who have already skirmished, causing both forces to reposition combat forces to gain positional advantage. Air cover is limited while this brigade conducts a tactical road march with its maneuver battalions and a field artillery battalion. The Brigade Commander directed his artillery battalion commander to provide persistent fires while the brigade moves, and the Field Artillery Battalion Commander decided to leapfrog his towed firing batteries in an attempt to provide indirect fires coverage to the brigade.
His challenge of regulating the speed at which the brigade moves while his towed firing batteries reposition and emplace multiple times has exhausted his battalion while slowing the brigade's movement, causing it to fail to accomplish its objective and gain a position of advantage over the adversary. This fictitious scenario illustrates the real-life challenges of mobility, survivability, and lethality that towed artillery battalions face while supporting large-scale combat operations over a distributed battlefield. Fortunately, Elbit America is prepared to answer the Army's expected call for a Next Generation Howitzer providing all of this and more to the field artillery battalions in Infantry and Stryker Brigades...
Read the remainder of this piece that appeared Nov. 21, 2023 in Issue 4 of the FA Journal, presented by the United States Field Artillery Association here.