M777A2 Explodes in training at Fort Bragg (US Marines) 15 Mar 2011

[Dissident]

I looked for a thread to put this in, my search did not come up with a good match.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/03/15/Ten-injured-as-artillery-piece-explodes/UPI-66101300224209/

FORT BRAGG, N.C., March 15 (UPI) -- Ten military personnel were injured when an artillery cannon exploded at Fort Bragg, N.C., a U.S. Marines spokesman said.

An apparent in-bore explosion of an M777A2 -- a new lightweight howitzer cannon that fires 155mm artillery rounds -- occurred during a live-fire exercise, injuring eight Marines and two Navy personnel, The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer reported.

The Marines have halted all firing "until safe training can resume," Staff Sgt. Jayson Price, a spokesman for the base, said.

Two of the injured troops were flown to University of North Carolina hospitals in Chapel Hill, and eight were taken to the Womack Army Medical Center emergency room.

The troops were part of Camp Lejeune's 10th Marine Division, a unit of which travels to Fort Bragg every spring for artillery training, Price said.

The Marines have been using the M777A2 since 2009.

The new weapon weighs less than half that of a traditional howitzer and can fire precision-guided rounds that can be programmed to land within 30 feet of a target more than 25 miles away, the Observer reported.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/03/15/Ten-injured-as-artillery-piece-explodes/UPI-66101300224209/#ixzz1GiBcU0Ad


(Moderator edit to add date to title.)

 

[Infanteer]

The troops were part of Camp Lejeune's 10th Marine Division, a unit of which travels to Fort Bragg every spring for artillery training, Price said.

A small point of accuracy - they were from the 10th Marine Regiment.  There isn't, nor has there ever been, a 10th Marine Division.

 

[Old Sweat]

Two or three causes come to mind. I will keep all of them to myself until there is more information available. Suffice to say that as a second lieutenant I was on a gun position when there was a nasty ammuntion accident involving a gun firing, and I still have (minor) flashbacks.

Hopefully all the troops will recover.

 

[muskrat89]

Suffice to say that as a second lieutenant I was on a gun position when there was a nasty ammuntion accident involving a gun firing, and I still have (minor) flashbacks.

I've been around for some interesting events as well. Probably most notable was when the M109 next to me fired at loading angle; the projectile detonated a few hundred metres in front of the gun position.

 

[Craig B]

I've been around for some interesting events as well. Probably most notable was when the M109 next to me fired at loading angle; the projectile detonated a few hundred metres in front of the gun position.

Yep, seen that in G-town in '86.

 

[medicineman]

Two or three causes come to mind. I will keep all of them to myself until there is more information available. Suffice to say that as a second lieutenant I was on a gun position when there was a nasty ammuntion accident involving a gun firing, and I still have (minor) flashbacks.

Hopefully all the troops will recover.

My dad told me of an accident where a round detonated just after leaving the muzzle - any relation?

MM

 

[Flap Jack]

An unfortunate incident. A speedy recovery to all injured.

 

[Old Sweat]

My dad told me of an accident where a round detonated just after leaving the muzzle - any relation?

MM

The incident involved F Tp, C Bty 1 RCHA on 17 May 1963 in Gun Area 4 in Gagetown. A 105mm HE round detonated about 15 metres out of the muzzle (Charge 4, Elevation about 863 mils in a high angle mission) and wounded six of the seven members of the gun detachment. I had left F Tp's position a few minutes before and was about 200 metres away and was just entering the battery CP.

 

[medicineman]

My dad told me of a similar incident that happened in Shilo when he was an apprentice (roughly the same time IIRC) - round detonated as it left the tube, wounded 6 of the gun numbers and killed one of them.

MM

 

[Old Sweat]

My dad told me of a similar incident that happened in Shilo when he was an apprentice (roughly the same time IIRC) - round detonated as it left the tube, wounded 6 of the gun numbers and killed one of them.

MM

We had a series of prematures that spring and summer, starting with the one in Gagetown. I assisted the ATO with the investigation of this one, and he pinpointed the cause as a failure of the delay pellet in the fuze just after the booster armed and opened the flash channel. The grown ups either did not buy it, or were paralyzed by inaction, as there was one in Petawawa shortly after in which at least one milita gunner was wounded. Finally the death in Shilo prompted the army to act.

The solution was a new booster, which armed after the delay pellet would have functioned. Thus what had been the M51 fuze became the M577 fuze. I cannot believe that somebody in the technical world in Army HQ was not aware of the problem and solution, but maybe budget imperatives overruled troop safety. That is just my opinion, and is not fact based.

Interesting sidebar. Firing was immediately halted across the artillery. When the restriction was lifted, the first round was fired from a gun at the School in Shilo. The gun detachment was commanded by the Commandant, Colonel EMD Leslie, father of Andrew, while the rest of the detachment were senior officers from the school.

Back on the main issue, it will be interesting to see the cause of the Ft Bragg accident.

 

[eurowing]

In 76 I was on a Gun that had a round detonate about 100 metres out the barrel. I can't remember if it was on my TQ3 course or on exercise.

I hope the wounded recover quickly.

Ubique

 

[Petard]

No word yet on the cause, hopefully an easy recovery for those injured.

A similar incident happened not too long ago with a premature in the bore of a US M777, although no one is certain this incident is due to the same reason (and I'm very doubtful it is)
The previous incident occurred because a hot gun was charge bag only unloaded, but was eventually reloaded and fired using the heated and unstable projectile. Sitting that long in the barrel, it is believed, made the HE fill change unevenly, and the subsequent G loading in firing "diesled" the energetic material into a low order detonation; resulting in catastrophic failure for the gun. St Barbara must've mercifully been nearby, there were only minor injuries on the gun det that time.

 

[Old Sweat]

Petard

Assuming it was an HE round, any word if it was a M107 or a M795? Your comment gives me another option for my list, which totals four at this time. (One is a very long shot, no pun intended.)

 

[Northalbertan]

The worst I had seen was also the 109 next to me.  They had set the time setting incorrectly on a Time fuse when trying to set it for PD.  It too exploded a couple of hundred meters out.

 

[SteveM63]

During or just after (not sure which now 30 years later) TQ3, we had a round ground out about a hundred meters from the gun during direct fire with the 109's. Apiece of shrapnel  about 4" across cut through the combat jacket sleeve and shirt leaving only a very small scratch on the bicep of one of the guys waiting outside to fire. I figure a quarter inch closer and Cassel would not have had an arm left. Turned out someone did not properly calibrate the direct fire sight. What remember most , I was loading at time, was that the bang seemed to be louder then it should have been and the sound of stuff bouncing off the gun. Something big hit the gun as there was about a 6" gash it the turret just above the drivers hatch. Playing with high explosives can be dangerous no matter how many precautions you take. We got lucky that day because of a shortage of sights that had been calibrated we had 4 crews using one gun for the direct fire. I don't remember ever practicing direct fire  again after that. 

 

[Petard]

I expect it will take some time yet to try and get to the actual cause of this incident, but so far the M777 fleet has not been grounded, nor have any ammunition advisories been sent out.

There were many theories on why the premature in bore happened that I described earlier in this thread. The incident occurred in Jan 2009, but because of all the possibilities, like an aircraft accident investigation, it took time to examine and cross reference each. So it was not until the end of the year that something of a reasonable conclusion was reached. For Canadian gunners this resulted in CIG Directive 26, and its main goal was to provide better guidance on monitoring barrel temperature, especially with the thermal warning device, and respecting ammo operating limits.

I've seen/heard many times gunners call CIG Directives, derisively, as CIG suggestions. Sometimes this becomes the actual outllook towards them, and IMO more often than not they are ignored out of complacency.
I would attribute the main cause of the failures described in the majority of the anecdotal stories shared in this thread, to that kind of false confidence.

 

[ArmyRick]

Hoping for speedy recoveries to all.

Considering how many rounds the M777 have fired in our military and the US military, I hate to say it, but murphys law was bound to pop up sooner or later.

Hopefully this is an isolated incident.

BTW what makes an M777A2 an A2?

 

[Petard]

in the report from the 2009 incident, it had said in the US service there were over 300 ammunition malfunctions with 155mm since 1960 to 2009, ~116 of them in or near bore; the causes vary considerably (murphy's everywhere)

M777 = has only optic sights
M777A1 = digitized (has GPS/inertial nav system that drives the automatic pointing system; on board radio provides digital 
              comm's with CP)
              the Canadian equivalent has a LINAPS system and off carriage micro light radio
M777A2 = same as above + Excalibur fuse setter
              Canadian system is similar, but I would argue better; whereas the US system can only work linked to the CP, the Cdn Excalibur
              setter can work stand alone

M777C1 newer version being developed with EPLRS radio and better laying system

 

[Kreslin01]

Intresting to note, as i just taught misfire drills for the M-777 today, there is a small chance that if the temperature indicator is in the yellow or red, you cannot fire the round after 5 minutes as there is a chance for the round to explode in the barrel when fired.

DRILL If the tube goes yellow - (Macs +63 to +177) (Charge Bags +52 to 177)
The No.1 will notify the CP the cannon tube it "Warm". There is no restriction on loading. The time limit betwen the moment the projectile is loaded and fired is 5 Minutes. A heated projectile may cause an in-bore explosion if fired after 5 minutes.

If the tube goes red the gun will only be loaded for Fire combat emergency missions only. Charge cook off is possible after 1 minute.]

I also know that if your tube is warm or hot and you unload the round is not to be fired, it is to be placed to the side, labeled and sent back to the ASA.

Not saying this is what happened but its a possible explanation as it says in the book it could happen.

 

[Petard]

I'm no longer directly involved with the M777 project, but last I heard (2 years ago) there was a problem with the thermal warning device, in that it under reads barrel temperature(and may have contributed to the accident the US had). Consequently the School was going to develop a procedure to take temperature readings using the IR thermometer (taking readings near the temp probes that are on the underside of the barrel, just forward of the breech ring)

Kreslin, do you know if the TWD is corrected now, or any procedure from School to correct it if its not?