Long-Range Artillery

Summary

Artillery is any weapon that projects power from afar, striking an enemy over distance with decisive destruction at great rates of fire. Historically, artillery has been the technological advancement driving the evolution of warfare. Over the centuries, artillery, in one form or another, has been the weapons system either deciding a battle's outcome or offering the necessary support required to win a victory.

Definition and Basic Principles

In war, the ability to strike an enemy from afar is paramount: If an army can project power from a distance, its soldiers can stay farther from harm's way. Artillery evolved as a means to this end. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the role of explosive-force artillery—as field, siege, naval, or fortress guns—was largely unchanged. In World War I, additional specialized artillery was developed. Explosive propellant artillery pieces are classified according to their projectile trajectories: Mortars lob objects in high arc parabolas; guns tend to have straight, high-velocity trajectories; and howitzers are a compromise, propelling large shells at slower speeds over moderate distances.

The history of artillery is the quest for precision and accuracy. Ballistic science is concerned with the properties of classical physical mechanics governing the motions of bodies under force. With artillery, these motions involve the mechanics of gun machinery, the dynamics of propellants, and the trajectory of discharged projectiles. The basic dynamics of artillery fire—whether bow and arrow, catapult, howitzer, or railroad gun—are based on Newton's second law of motion: net force is the product of the mass times the acceleration. Traditionally, for artillery, this has meant that the amount of destruction was equal to the weight of the projectile times how fast it could be propelled. In modern warfare, this destructive force is multiplied by adding explosives and submunitions to the projectile.

Newton's third law of motion—for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction—also plays a role in the history and development of artillery. Explosions propelling projectiles out of barrels result in recoil, moving the entire gun, carriage and all, backward. Until barrel recoil could be countered, guns had to be aimed after each shot, disrupting their accuracy and consistency to target. Accuracy requires the ability to calculate an object's trajectory, path geometry, and position over time. Knowledge of projectile weight, the force of acceleration, the forces of gravity, the Earth's curvature, atmospheric conditions, and the effects of friction are necessary to accurately predict a projectile's parabolic arc and subsequent impact point. The result is the proper angle of elevation required to propel an object to a specified location at a certain distance.

Background and History

Before the invention of gunpowder and its practical application in launching projectiles, four types of mechanical advantage were used to increase the range of missiles. During the Middle Ages, volley-fired archery dominated battlefields, and great siege engines were required to attack large, fortified cities and castles. The first form of practical artillery used in battle was the bow and arrow. The bow is a tension device capable of launching an arrow farther than a person could throw a dart. Arrows became the fastest, farthest flying, and most accurate of historical artilleries, delivering great destructive power, but they could not bring down fortifications.

Large mechanical devices were used to overcome the limitations of archery. Although these machines could not match the distance and accuracy of the bow and arrow, they brought massive destructive power to the battlefield. Counterweight lever weapons had a short range and slow velocity but could propel massive missiles. The best-known counterweight lever weapon is the trebuchet, the most powerful weapon of the Middle Ages. Spring-powered artillery used either an oversized double-stave bow or a series of laminated leaf springs to store energy released when the missile was shot. The spring's power was limited to the elastic strength of the materials used to build it. The most well-known spring artilleries are the giant crossbow, the spring engine catapult, and the spring engine strike-hurler. Torsion artillery used the elasticity of a twisted bundle of fiber to store energy until it was released to hurl an object. Torsion artillery—such as engine catapults, ballistas, and onagers—throw objects with great accuracy and high velocity.

Using the explosive force of gunpowder to launch projectiles was the greatest step forward in weapons technology. Although gunpowder was invented in China during the eleventh century, it was not exploited as a weapons propellant until the early thirteenth century in Europe. Early gunpowder mixtures burned slowly, resulting in less explosive force. The development of grained gunpowder by corning produced a fast-burning powder with more explosive force, equating to greater velocity, range, and smashing power. Since the inception of propellant-based artillery, engineers have sought to improve it by maximizing the rate of fire, lengthening the flight distance, perfecting accuracy, and increasing the lethality of munitions. They have also striven to minimize discharge signatures, barrel fouling, overheating, recoil, and concussion.

The first explosive-force artillery were muzzle-loading guns. These required a charge of powder to be pushed to the bottom of the gun barrel, followed by a wad, and then a projectile. An ignition source applied to a vent would explode the powder and propel the missile. Muzzle-loaded cannons had a relatively short range and were aimed directly at their targets. The smooth bore of muzzle-loading guns required the shot to be round, causing the shot to be unstable and tumble in flight, resulting in relative inaccuracy. However, sustained bombardment of massed ranks of infantry and cavalry by multiple muzzle-loading guns produced devastating effects. Maintaining accuracy with muzzle-loading guns requires readjusting them after each firing to compensate for recoil. In the 1860s, the rifling of cannon barrels allowed muzzle-loading guns to put spin on projectiles, giving them gyroscopic stability. Point-first ammunition was designed to take advantage of this stability, providing for larger, heavier shells that could fly greater distances with high accuracy.

The next step forward in artillery technology was the breech-loading mechanism: a system of sealing blocks, screws, or interrupters designed to allow loading from the rear of a gun and prevent the escape of propellant gases on firing. Combined with self-contained ammunition (a metal casing containing explosive propellant, fuse, and projectile was loaded into the gun's breech), it allowed for rapid firing. As quickly as one round was fired and its casing ejected, another round could be placed into the gun and discharged. Recoil had to be countered to exploit the advantages of breech-loading guns. The development of a reliable recoil-suppression mechanism in combination with breech-loading technology resulted in artillery capable of sustained, accurate firing beyond the line of sight. In the 1890s, French engineers designed a 75-millimeter field gun with a hydropneumatic recoil-suppression system: rates of fire for artillery doubled from ten rounds per minute to twenty. Furthermore, recoil suppression meant the gun did not have to be readjusted after each round to stay on target.

During World War I, the application of indirect artillery fire on static enemy positions transformed war forever: Mass bombardments and indirect artillery barrages became the driving force in ground warfare until the end of the twentieth century. World War I also saw the development of three new types of artillery designed to counter advances in military technology and doctrine: antiaircraft guns, mechanized armor (tanks and tracked artillery), and antitank guns.

In World War II, artillery's role changed again. Fast-moving operations equipped with mobile infantry and armored targets became difficult to destroy with indirect bombardment. Artillery technology changed to reflect a need for direct-fire guns to take out designated targets. The United States (US) began to establish centers to coordinate artillery operations, allowing multiple gun batteries to accurately bombard targets designated by forward observers either on the ground or in the air. Since World War II, automatic data processing, digital communications, lasers, radar, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and satellite technology have made it possible for a targeting sensor to communicate with artillery units and pinpoint fire directly. These technological applications reduce the time needed for targeting and increase accuracy.

How It Works

Artillery pieces are large, unwieldy, and complex, with multiple components, making their operation a team effort. Specialized training, organization, and team cooperation are required to deploy, target, and fire artillery effectively. Modern artillery bombardments are mostly indirect fire support of ground operations. Gunnery teams' striking their target involves a series of coordinated actions that are organized and timed for maximum efficient use of valuable ammunition and human force. Forward observers on the ground or in the air, usually senior artillery officers, determine targets and communicate them to a fire direction center. The center sets priorities, selects ordnance type, directs fire control, and selects the battery units to complete the mission against priority targets. The gun battery calculates the firing data needed to hit the target with the proper gun or rocket launcher. The forward observer gives the order to fire the battery and can communicate the corrections required to register the target. The battery continues to fire until a cease-fire order is given.

Applications and Products

Throughout history, artillery guns have been designed to accomplish specific tasks. Field guns, such as howitzers, are designed to accompany a military force on a campaign. They were towed by horses and trucks and later became self-propelled gun platforms. In World War I, arms manufacturer Krupp designed and built the Big Bertha (Dicke Bertha), a massive howitzer, so the German army could destroy forts along the Belgian frontier. Krupp also built the massive traversing railroad cannon, the Paris Gun (Paris-Geschütz), which bombarded Paris from 75 miles away. The gun had poor accuracy but was never meant to destroy Paris but rather to terrorize the populace. After World War I, antiaircraft artillery became a highly specialized weapons system with the sole purpose of destroying aircraft and guided missiles largely replaced this type of artillery.

Traversing, stabilized, high-velocity, quick-firing rifled cannons were developed for armored fighting vehicles, specifically tanks, and specialized oversized high-velocity rifled guns were developed to counter tanks. Large-caliber naval rifles were designed to defeat the armor of battle fleets before airpower rendered their use obsolete. Multiple launch rocket systems were developed as a cost-saving means of providing indirect artillery fire. The ballistic missile is self-propelled artillery that can reach any place on the planet. In the twenty-first century, one of the most advanced artillery guns was the US M777 howitzer, which used a digital fire-control system to shoot a 155-millimeter GPS-guided M982 Excalibur fire-and-forget projectile. When fired from a distance of 24 miles, the round will land within 30 feet of its target.

As the twenty-first century progressed, technological advances continued to influence artillery development and usage. Better sensors and automation allowed for more efficient launching of long-range artillery. Artificial intelligence (AI) was increasingly employed to assist users in identifying targets. The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence predicted several developments in warfare that could completely change the landscape of battle by 2040 through a combination of advances in hardware, software, and users. Experts expected technology to strongly impact how users located and targeted adversaries and increase the lethality of weapons. Long-range artillery was only expected to become more powerful and precise through the use of improved propulsion methods, more powerful munitions, enhanced network integration, and technology that took into consideration environmental conditions.

Careers and Course Work

Careers in artillery are limited to the military and weapons research, development, and testing. The US Army Field Artillery School teaches military members to use cannons, rockets, and missiles in coordination with combined arms operations. Nonmilitary careers in artillery design and testing require degrees in engineering, physics, or materials sciences. Most jobs are with large defense contractors, such as Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems Bofors, or Raytheon, or governmental agencies like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), part of the US Department of Defense.

Social Context and Future Prospects

The modern design and application of artillery is a direct by-product of the interdependence of political and military doctrine and technological advances. Substantial technological advances since the end of World War II have improved the accuracy and lethality of artillery fire and increased the mobility of both guns and support crews. Stronger and lighter alloys have been adopted to manufacture modern artillery, reducing weight and allowing for greater mobility. Advances in the chemical composition of propellant charges and the development of self-propelled rounds have increased missile velocities, equating to longer ranges. These chemical changes and the introduction of caseless ammunition result in less corrosive barrel wear, increasing barrel life. Innovations in recoil suppression reduce fatigue to gun parts and allow for increased rates of fire with minimal aiming corrections. Using laser systems to measure range has created nearly pinpoint artillery accuracy. Laser, electro-optical, infrared, GPS, radio-beam, and radar target acquisition and designation systems eliminate almost all errors in target allocation, increasing the likelihood of first-round accuracy. Computer fire-control systems allow modern artillery to be electronically aimed, with computers making any necessary corrections in range, elevation, azimuth, and depression. This increases accuracy and reduces the time between target acquisition and firing.

Modern artillery consists of mounted, self-propelled weapons, reflecting the contemporary military's preference for fast, mobile fighting forces. Modern field artillery can advance, stop, set up, target, fire, and move on in minutes, all before it can be located and counterattacked. The US military is testing the non-line-of-sight (NLOS) cannon, a lightweight, self-loading, highly computerized, self-propelled gun that requires only two people to operate it. The gun can fire four shells in sequence at differing trajectories and land them all on target simultaneously. Russia claimed to have succeeded in developing a hypersonic weapon. It claimed to have launched it during its war against Ukraine in early 2022, although military experts concluded they launched ballistic missiles that, like most ballistic missiles, reached hypersonic speeds. Future advances in artillery technology will likely be linked to changes in mobile rocket launchers, electronic targeting systems, projectiles, propellants, self-propelled gun carriages, and tactical changes on the battlefield. Precision-guided aerial munitions, or smart bombs, replace many long-range artillery missions. As the accuracy of aerial attack munitions grows and mechanized armor and armored personnel carriers increase their speeds over the battlefield, mobile artillery will need to keep pace technologically. The US, as well as China, with its truck-mounted howitzer, and Russia, with its Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled gun system, have focused on growing road-mobile weapons to ensure their forces remain nimble.

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