C3 Howitzer Replacement

[daftandbarmy]

We should really be looking at the more high tech options for today's modern battlefield.

If adopted, it would be the only EMP-proof indirect fire support asset in our arsenal.

 

[medicineman]

If adopted, it would be the only EMP-proof indirect fire support asset in our arsenal.

Have to use signal flags and semaphore to send back fire corrections though...unless using tracers such as Loachman suggested.

MM

 

[daftandbarmy]

Have to use signal flags and semaphore to send back fire corrections though...unless using tracers such as Loachman suggested.

MM

We'll have hundreds of serfs per battery though, so can extend a human chain from the target to the battery to pass messages by voice.

 

[George Wallace]

We'll have hundreds of serfs per battery though, so can extend a human chain from the target to the battery to pass messages by voice.

>

Having remembered that "Party Game"; the end result of the message may not be the exact same at the receiving end as it was initially sent by the originator. 

[

 

[medicineman]

>

Having remembered that "Party Game"; the end result of the message may not be the exact same at the receiving end as it was initially sent by the originator. 

[

Agreed - you'll end up with a serious blue on blue if you do that...maybe even a premature.

MM

 

[Rick Goebel]

And it should be cheap too.  Just think of all that hemp rope that will be available as a by-product after marijuana is legalized.

And just think of the low carbon footprint.

 

[a_majoor]

For very modern, apply modern mathematics like the Murlin Trebuchet:

Edit to add: Since spring is coming, here is a site where you can find plans and videos for this and other types of catapult fun.

http://kirkwoodhomeblog.com/murlin-trebuchet-blueprints

 

[cupper]

In a pinch you can build one with lumber and use only duct tape to hold it together. Oh, and an engine block for the counterweight.

https://youtu.be/bHs5KC0SafU

A clip from the final season of Mythbusters, the lost duct tape episode.

 

[MattGotts]

Good spit balling boys, glad to see the situation seems normal all across the board.
In regards to the siege weapons and such, I'd hope we can do some counter battery fire on some during this summer's exercises. We need to get back to the fundamentals.

 

[Kirkhill]

I believe the intent is still to replace the 105's with 120mm mortars for the reg/reserve. As of the last we were briefed the key hold up on that plan was honourary colonels and ceremonial openings for parliaments (provincial and federal).

As for HIMARS, there is currently no intent on procurement of that system. If it were procured it would go to 4 Arty Regt and definately not to the reserves.

WRT HIMARS/MRLS there is a new round in the works, being developed by Boeing and Saab.  It sticks a Small Diameter Bomb on top of an MRLS booster rocket and generates a system that can ripple off 6 rounds and hit 6 independent 1 meter targets within a 150 km radius - flying into tunnels on non-ballistic trajectories and taking out reverse slope targets.

Just what every peace-keeper should have at their beck and call

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkkfE5yHejc

 

[daftandbarmy]

WRT HIMARS/MRLS there is a new round in the works, being developed by Boeing and Saab.  It sticks a Small Diameter Bomb on top of an MRLS booster rocket and generates a system that can ripple off 6 rounds and hit 6 independent 1 meter targets within a 150 km radius - flying into tunnels on non-ballistic trajectories and taking out reverse slope targets.

Just what every peace-keeper should have at their beck and call

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkkfE5yHejc

But can seeds be added to sew legal dope fields across Canada? If we can convince the current bunch, then maybe we can procure the 'Marijuana Launching and Roto-tilling System' to use for other things too

 

[Kirkhill]

Plants need phosphorus.....

 

[ueo]

Easy peezy, altho a bit messy.

 

[sunrayRnfldR]

On a more serious note, The Royal Australian Artillery equip some of their reserve units with 81 mm mortars and retain, in the same unit, several C2 howitzers for saluting duties. One example is 7 Bty of 3 Field Regiment, a part of 13 Reserve Brigade in Karrakatta, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Perhaps this model would work for the RCA.

 

[Petard]

In due time I expect something similar will happen with Canadian Reserve Artillery units, i.e they will end up training live just with 81's, and their C3's will be used for salute purposes.  The only exception being a few C3 kept for Avalanche control in Rogers Pass, although that task can be (and for a short while already was) done by LG1. Besides which Parks Canada might well find a more cost effective and less risky or intrusive solution in the next few years.

Besides the current fiscal climate limiting any major procurement for years, I doubt there's any plan to replace the C3 at all

 

[MeinBob]

When last at the School of Excellence in Gagetown, (summer of 2015) the IG's and Ack IG's informed my course that the plan was (or is) to keep the C3 going for as long as possible. (The LG1 is almost finished, and will be done soon.) This solution could work for the next 10 years or so. Then the plan is to procure a 120 mm mortar system to replace the C3.

This seems to be the plan, such as there is one, for the future of Reserve Artillery. However, this solution has its challenges, and I am not at all sure if this "plan" is going to stand the test of time. It makes sense as far as it is a good low-cost system that the Reserves could maintain, train, and even take into combat. The problem arises when you look at the Reg force's need to draw gunners for operations. Conversion training on a M777 is much more difficult when the Reservist being called up has only trained on mortars.

I think it is possible, given the current level of funding for new weapons systems, that the Reg Force Artillery will be given a 120 mm Mortar to replace the M777 and C3, with the Reserves getting 81 mm Mortars. Given that the cost of maintaining and training on the M777 is so high, it might be the low-cost way of keeping some indirect fire capability in the Canadian Army. I hope this does not happen, but it is the kind of thing I have come to expect. Alas, maybe I have become too much the cynic. 

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Sad way to cut capability that we can't easily source a replacement howitzer. I like the 120mm idea for the Reserves, replacing 155's with it is a bad idea facing anyone who looks a bit like a real army and can counterbattery. 

 

[MilEME09]

I cant see them tossing the 777 unless someone really hit their head hard, you can't have arty regiments without arty, and IMO mortars aren't the best arty.

 

[PuckChaser]

You don't need artillery to peacekeep, and we're about to see a defense white paper by a government that was against using airpower to stop genocide.

 

[Kirkhill]

One artillery system that IS NOT at odds with peace-keeping is GBADS-CRAM.  It fits nicely into the R2P (Resposibility to Protect) paradigm of creating safe-havens.

It allows, to follow on from Colin's rapier analogy, the defender to parry - constantly countering the rapier, not attacking the swordsman.

An added benefit is that a system base on launching ESSM missiles to knock down other missiles, is equally capable of launching NSM missiles to take out stationary targets on the ground - should the need, and the inclination, arise.