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C3 Howitzer Replacement

Possibly we need a National Defense Tax to make Cdn citizens aware of our deficiencies and that we even have a military. I can see one province that would opt out, no matter how many of it's citizens are employed in the industry.

,,,,,,,,,,,Seoul initiated a National Defense Tax to pay for the development of a modern military, including the armored systems and other military equipment that Korean defense companies are marketing today.
 

The M777 was originally marketed as the Ultra Light Field Howitzer and as a light alternative to the FH70 and the AS90 SPH.

Much like the L5 was an ultra light version of the M101/C1/C3. The Light Gun was more akin to the old 25 pdr in terms of durability.

I understood a number of compromises were incorporated in the design to make it airportable. The small wheels stand out for me.

Corrections welcome.
 
All the more reason to give them more of our M777's and order replacement M109A7's for ourselves...
I'm firmly in the camp of keeping every M777 that we have BUT - to concentrate them in one regiment (whether 18 or 24 gun) in a light brigade (plus spares and training stock). There will come a time where we will need a light weight 155mm for something - mountain op, heliborne assault, peacekeeping fire base - whatever. There is no need to throw these guns under the bus. Make the Regt with one Reg F battery and two or three ResF batteries all relatively closely located so that one maintenance facility can deal with them (2 RCHA Petawawa, 30 Fd Ottawa, 42 Fd Pembroke) - Bob's your uncle. Gibb's Rule #5 - You don't waste good. The limitations that the M777 has are not a capability gaps; they are a characteristic inherent in light guns; they are a trade off to provide different capabilities that an SP doesn't have.

I'm not against giving the Ukrainians more of our M777s if a replacement is clearly on the way for us, BUT in no circumstances should we go below - lets say 25 guns of the 33 we still have - 18 for a regiment plus spares.

🍻
 
The M777 was originally marketed as the Ultra Light Field Howitzer and as a light alternative to the FH70 and the AS90 SPH.
The M198 was the primary 155mm howitzer at the time and the FH70 had a place in the European market. There were other towed 155mm systems at the time around the world as well all of which were quite heavy. The AS90 is an SP gun so there was no intent to be an alternate to that.
Much like the L5 was an ultra light version of the M101/C1/C3. The Light Gun was more akin to the old 25 pdr in terms of durability.
The basis behind the L5 was as a light mountain pack howitzer which could be broken down into 12 pack loads for mules without the need for any tools. It did that brilliantly. I was in the Italian Alps for a few weeks with a mule based regiment. The AB battery also used it in Jamaica "donkey drawn" once using the harness frame that comes with the gun. The L5 worked well as an airdropped gun but it was not designed for much road travel which is why we had both 2 1/2 ton and M548 portee kits for them for long travel.

Their durability wasn't bad in general although on a March "end of fiscal year ammo blow out shoot" I had two guns pack it in while firing 400 rds of WP - one with a mashed trunnion bushing which caused the barrel to slam left against the shield and the other going "out of battery" after a round and the recoil mech giving up the ghost and not bringing it back in.

A good gun for what it was designed for but routinely misused.
I understood a number of compromises were incorporated in the design to make it airportable. The small wheels stand out for me.
The big weight factor for the M777 is through extensive use of titanium components. I'm not aware of any purpose with respect to the wheel size. If I was to speculate (as I never worked on one) I would say it's more a function of the interrelationship and clearances needed of various components (especially the stabilizers) as the gun changes configuration from "travel" to "in action".

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I love the way everyone runs away from the gun just before its fired and uses a honking long lanyard. :ROFLMAO: Not in my day, baby. #'s 2 and 3 stayed at their post by that wheel and got the gun re-laid fast. With us the #2 - that's the guy on the right, doing the elevation as we're looking at the gun, who fires it and not some random ammo loading #.

There's also the distinct absence of a detachment commander (#1) who should be standing between the trails and ensuring that the right round and charge is going up the spout and checking that the gun is properly laid by the # 2 and 3. All-in-all a goat rodeo.

That's a long recoil - charge 7 is my guess - which indicates they're firing close to max range.

All that said, the puppy's working which is more than I can say for many of our C3s.

🍻
 
I love the way everyone runs away from the gun just before its fired and uses a honking long lanyard. :ROFLMAO: Not in my day, baby. #'s 2 and 3 stayed at their post by that wheel and got the gun re-laid fast. With us the #2 - that's the guy on the right, doing the elevation as we're looking at the gun, who fires it and not some random ammo loading #.

There's also the distinct absence of a detachment commander (#1) who should be standing between the trails and ensuring that the right round and charge is going up the spout and checking that the gun is properly laid by the # 2 and 3. All-in-all a goat rodeo.

That's a long recoil - charge 7 is my guess - which indicates they're firing close to max range.

All that said, the puppy's working which is more than I can say for many of our C3s.

🍻

I wouldn't want to get too close to gun that old either ;)
 
HIMARS-GLSDB combination getting closer to the field?

But why string Ukraine along until Spring 2023? Unless there is actually a production issue? Unloading M26 pods. Removing warheads. Replace warheads with SDBs, reload pods. Distribute pods?



 
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