The Fight Begins Before Soldiers and Marines Ever Roll on to the Battlefield
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A joint publication for U.S. Artillery professionals November-December 2017 Battle Ready The fight begins before Soldiers and MarinesFires ever roll on to the Battlefield Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Headquarters, Departmenthttp://sill-www.army.mil/firesbulletin of the Army. PB 644-17-6 • 1 Table of contents 5 The return of Army short-range air defense in a changing environment Editor By Brig. Gen. Randall McIntire FiresMarie Berberea 9 Howitzer technology Art Director Changing the culture of field artillery Rick Paape, Jr. By Lt. Col. Daniel Blackmon, Maj. Bryan Fanning and Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Kimble Assistant Editor Monica Wood 12 Positioning air defense for re-introduction of The Fires staff can be reached by email at usarmy. M-SHORAD [email protected] or by By Maj. Trey Guy phone at (580) 442-5121. 14 Operation Tobruq Legacy 17 showcases capabilities Disclaimer range Fires, a professional bulletin, is published bi- monthly by Headquarters, Department of the Army By 1st Lt. Josef Danczuk under the auspices of the Fires Center of Excellence, 17 Forward observer 455 McNair Ave., Fort Sill, OK 73503. The views ex- A lost art pressed within are those of the authors and not the By Sgt. 1st Class Robert Hance Department of Defense or its elements. The content contained within Fires does not necessarily reflect the 21 Distributed alternative U.S. Army’s position or supercede information in oth- Training in the National Training Center from home station er official publications. Use of new items constitutes By Lt. Col. G. Damon Wells and Capt. Ryan D. Hamilton neither affirmation of their accuracy nor product en- dorsements. Fires assumes no responsibility for any 25 The battalion chief fire control sergeant unsolicited material. By order of Mark A. Milley, Gen- By Master Sgt. Luis Alicea eral, United States Army, Chief of Staff. 30 How to properly change inventory from commander to Official: commander By Capt. Matthew Johnson 32 When four eyes are better than two Gerald B. O’Keefe Administrative Assistant to the Integrating the AH-64 Apache into a Fires observation plan in the Secretary of the Army post-COIN era Auth. 1513304 By Capt. David Williams and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Keith Eastman 37 A lethal combination F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and M142 HIMARS sensor-to-shooter Brian J. McKiernan integration Major General, United States Army By Col. Joe Russo Commanding General, Fort Sill, Okla. 43 FCoE, Ukrainian leaders talk Fires defense Purpose By Marie Berberea Originally founded as the Field Artillery Journal, 44 Untying the Gordian Knot Fires serves as a forum for the discussions of all Fires A tiered approach to radar coverage revisited professionals, Active, Reserves and National Guard; disseminates professional knowledge about progress, By Maj. Andrew Johnston development and best use in campaigns; cultivates a 46 10th AAMDC demonstrates new capabilities during common understanding of the power, limitations and Tobruq Legacy 2017 application of joint Fires, both lethal and nonlethal; fosters joint Fires interdependency among the armed By Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kevin Kruthers services; and promotes the understanding of and in- 48 Countering future threats by maintaining manual teroperability between the branches, all of which con- gunnery proficiency tribute to the good of the Army, joint and combined forces and our nation. By Capt. Michael Wish Fires is pleased to grant permission to reprint; 50 Calling for improvements on US Army’s cannon artillery please credit Fires, the author(s) and photographers. By Capt. Joseph Schmid and Capt. Adam Wilson, Jr. On the cover: 56 ‘Wait one’ Marines with Battery B, 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Developing the brigade fire support officer Regiment, fire the M777 towed 155 mm howitzer during By Maj. Gregory Tomlin the assault support tactics 1 exercise in support of Weapons and Tactics Instructors course 2-17 at Fire Base Burt, Ca- 60 In the next issue of Fires lif., April 17. (Lance Cpl. Clare Shaffer/U.S. Marine Corps) 2 • Fires, November-December 2017, Battle ready THE JOINT PUBLICATION FOR U.S. ARTILLERY PROFESSIONALS FiresYou don’t have to be an expert writer. You are an expert in your field. Share your knowledge with the Fires community. READ. WRITE. BE RELEVANT. http://sill-www.army.mil/firesbulletin http://sill-www.army.mil/firesbulletin • 3 FIRES KNOWLEDGE NETWORK A world of knowledge at your fingertips HTTPS://WWW.US.ARMY.MIL/SUITE/PAGE/130700 4 • Fires, November-December 2017, Battle ready Air Defense Artillery Mud to Space The return of Army short- range air defense in a changing environment The continuing Russo-Ukrainian conflict and important to operations by both sides has seen a transformation of the Russian in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. Low, slow military and the need for short range air de- and small UASs, in particular, present con- fense with our maneuver forces. Included in siderable threats to maneuver forces and the overall Russian transformation, per the are difficult to detect and defend against Russian New Generation Warfare Hand- by maneuver units. These UASs are consis- book, is the blending of unmanned aircraft tently enhanced with surveillance, targeting Brig. Gen. Randall McIntire systems (UASs), electronic warfare jamming and attack capabilities. Surveillance-capable U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery equipment, and long-range rocket artillery. UASs are commercially available through- School commandant The synchronization of effects of these el- out the world and can be modified with ex- ements has produced devastating conse- plosive devices to create lethal attack plat- quences to Ukrainian forces. In addition, it forms. was noted that the integration of self-pro- While UASs are more common on the pelled air defense systems and man-porta- battlefield, attack helicopters continue to ble air defense systems in maneuver forces constitute the greatest single threat to ma- “shot the Ukrainian air force out of the sky.” neuver forces. Some potential threat nations Short-range air defense artillery units are growing their manned aerial fleets in were historically embedded in Army divi- both quantity and quality. Improved fire sions, providing them with an organic capa- control and weapons capabilities enable bility to protect their critical assets against them to fire from longer standoff ranges. fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft. How- More capable fixed-wing aircraft and cruise ever, in the early 2000s, these ADA units missiles are also being proliferated world- were divested from the Army to meet force wide. New aircraft versions feature such en- demands deemed more critical at that time. hancements as on-board jammers and lower Decision-makers accepted the risk that threat radar cross sections. More capable cruise aircraft might have on maneuver forces and missiles are being developed and fielded other critical assets because we believed the in larger quantities. These cruise missiles Air Force could maintain air superiority. feature longer ranges, lower altitude flight Thus, the short-range ADA force post-2005 paths and increased accuracy. Each of these was reduced to two battalions of active com- aerial platforms, by itself, presents a formi- ponent Avenger and counter-rocket, artil- dable threat to the maneuver force. Future lery and mortar batteries and seven Nation- threat tactics will likely see a synchronized al Guard Avenger battalions; none of which mix of platforms in complex and massed are organic divisional elements. Defense attacks, particularly against the less mobile against air threats in maneuver forces is cur- fixed and semi-fixed assets of maneuver rently limited to that provided by organic forces. weapons and maneuver personnel. The divestment of divisional ADA, The last few years has seen an influx of continuing asymmetric threats, and the threat capabilities in air and missile plat- re-emergence of peer and near-peer adver- forms globally with corresponding threats saries have left our maneuver forces and key to the maneuver forces. The development, assets vulnerable to enemy air surveillance, fielding, and use of UASs has also increased targeting and attack from aerial platforms. exponentially. UASs, as noted in lessons Additionally, enemy indirect Fires threaten learned, have become increasingly common our ability to protect and sustain the force, http://sill-www.army.mil/firesbulletin • 5 SHORAD vision The SHORAD vision embraces three complementary, concerted Army efforts that address defense of the maneuver force, fixed and semi-fixed assets, and combined arms for air defense. These efforts encompass what we can do now, and where we want to be in the future. Our goal over the next few years is to develop and field capabilities across all three efforts that will mitigate the current vulnerability to our maneuver for- mations. The first effort, defense of the maneuver force, is entitled M-SHORAD – Maneuver SHORAD. Today’s divisional formations have no organic SHORAD capability and only a limited ability to detect aircraft in the air (two Sentinel radars in the division artillery). Without such capabilities, maneu- ver formations are exposed to potentially Soldiers from the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment practice target engagement with a continuous surveillance by threat UASs and Stinger Missile weapon system, an element of short-range missile defense. (Staff Sgt. Kathleen subsequent devastating attacks by fixed- Polanco/U.S. Army) wing and rotary-wing aircraft and