AMMUNITION mortar with improved rate-of-fire capabili- bly, the M9 baseplate and the M67 sight. ties. The M224 consists of the following The 120 mm battalion mortar system pro- The Program Executive Office for Am- components: M225 cannon (tube), M170 vides close-in and continuous indirect-fire munition (PEO Ammo) has the mission to bipod assembly, M7 baseplate, M8 auxil- support to maneuver forces and can rap- develop and procure conventional leap- iary baseplate and the M64A1 sight unit. idly respond to threats. The battalion mor- ahead munitions to increase combat power The M224 fires the complete family of 60 tar platoon must move frequently to avoid to warfighters. Project managers within mm ammunition, such as high explosive, counterfire and maintain continuous fire the PEO include: Combat Ammunition smoke, illumination, infrared illumination support to advancing friendly forces. Systems, Close Combat Systems Maneu- and practice cartridges. With ranges from The XM326 Stowage Kit (Quick Stow) ver Ammunition Systems and Joint Ser- 70 meters to 3,500 meters, the M224 meets is a 120 mm mortar improvement. The vices. lethality, range and weight requirements powered device will allow a 120 mm mor- Project Manager Combat Ammunition for light forces without an additional trans- tar to be carried as a single unit. Systems (PM CAS), for example, is respon- portation requirement. The M313 Training Insert is a subcaliber sible for equipping soldiers with all tube- insert used to reduce the life-cycle training launched, indirect-fire munitions and mor- costs of the M120/M121 battalion mortar tar weapons systems for the Army’s cur- system. rent, Stryker and Future Forces. The M95/M96 Mortar Fire-Control Sys- Organizations within PM CAS include tem (MFCS) is an improvement in mortar Product Manager Excalibur, Product Man- fire-control capability, linking mortar fires ager Mortars Systems, the Conventional with the digital battlefield. MFCS provides Ammunition Division and the Business digital fire-control capability for mortar Management Division. carrier vehicles. A planned improvement for the MFCS is Product Manager Excalibur the M150 Mortar Fire-Control System- The Product Manager Excalibur (PM Ex- Dismounted (MFCS-D). The M150 MFCS- calibur) is developing Excalibur, a preci- D is similar to the M95 120 mm, M121 car- sion, autonomously guided, long-range ar- rier mounted mortar system in that it will tillery system. be an add-on system to an already fielded The XM982 Excalibur is a 155 mm preci- mortar system: the 120 mm M120 towed sion-guided artillery round with extended mortar system with the Humvee fire direc- range. Already being fielded to warfight- tion center vehicles. It will also serve as a ers and successfully employed in combat platoon-level digitally integrated fire-con- operations, Excalibur uses GPS precision- trol system consisting of position/naviga- guidance technology to provide accurate, tion, weapon pointing and ballistic com- first round fire-for-effect capability in an putation. urban setting. The M32 Lightweight Handheld Mor- M252 81 mm mortar system Excalibur is approximately 1 meter in tar Ballistic Computer (LHMBC) is a joint length and weighs 106 pounds. Its 40-kilo- service Marine Corps/Army system that meter range and high accuracy result in in- The M252 81 mm Mortar System is a calculates the ballistic solution for the en- creased lethality through a decrease in re- smooth-bore, muzzle-loaded weapon that tire family of fielded U.S. mortars and quired volume of fire per engagement. replaced the M29A1 mortar. It features a their complete inventory of ammunition. Excalibur 1b is currently in competitive high-rate-of-fire, extended range, improved development and testing. lethality and improved overall system char- Product Manager Close Combat acteristics. The entire family of 81 mm am- Systems Product Manager Mortars Systems munition can be fired by the M252. The The Project Manager Close Combat Sys- The Product Manager Mortars Systems M252 consists of the following components: tems includes Product Managers for Intelli- (PM Mortars) is the life-cycle manager for M253 cannon (tube), M177 bipod, M3A1 gent Munitions systems (IMS), Counter- the full range of mortar systems, including baseplate and the M64A1 sight unit. mine and EOD, IED Defeat/Protect Force, weapons, fire control and advanced am- The M120/M121 120 mm Battalion Mor- Networked Munitions, Force Application, munition. tar System is a smooth-bore, muzzle-load- Special Projects and Shoulder Launched Mortar weapon systems include the 60 ed, high-angle-of-fire weapon that re- Munitions and Pyrotechnics. mm, 81 mm and 120 mm mortars and re- placed the M30 4.2-inch mortar, providing Representative program examples from lated equipment. increased range, lethality, illumination and Product Manager Special Projects and The M224 60 mm Mortar Weapon Sys- smoke screening effectiveness over the Shoulder Launched Munitions include the tem is a lightweight, high-angle-of-fire, previous system. It consists of the M298 M136 AT-4 and AT4-CS. smooth-bore, manportable, muzzle-loaded barrel assembly, M190/M191 bipod assem- The M136 AT4 Light Antiarmor Weap - on is the Army’s primary light antitank weapon. It is a recoilless rifle used primar- ily by infantry forces for engagement and defeat of armor threats. The rifle’s design permits accurate delivery of an 84 mm high-explosive antitank warhead provid- ing excellent penetration capability and lethal after-armor effects. The system weighs approximately 15 pounds and is manportable. The AT4 sys- tem consists of a free flight, fin-stabilized XM982 Excalibur rocket packed in an expendable, one-piece,

362 ARMY I October 2010 MIDS]) is a vast improvement over today’s sured mobility concept in forward areas, metallic handheld mine detectors. It em- the unit of action will need to conduct M136 AT4 light ploys a state-of-the-art metal detector and countermine operations. GSTAMIDS will antiarmor weapon ground penetrating radar, which are cou- be installed on two multifunction utility/ pled with an advanced microprocessor ar- logistics equipment (MULE) countermine ray and software to achieve a high proba- (CM) vehicles. GSTAMIDS will detect and bility of detection (in excess of 95 percent) mark mines, temporarily mark the lane for both large and small metallic and low- and bypass or neutralize antitank mines metallic antitank and antipersonnel mines. along a 4-meter path on primary and sec- It also significantly reduces the number ondary roads at a speed of 5 to 15 kph. of false targets or alarms. If a mine is de- Each MULE-CM contains a complete set tected, audio cues alert the operator. of detection, marking and neutralization Built-in warning and test equipment capabilities. The two MULEs will be con- also alerts the operator of potential system trolled by a manned ground vehicle. The malfunctions and assists maintenance per- MULEs will proceed forward at maximum sonnel in fault identification. The result is speed to a region of interest (ROI) as de- a greatly improved system that protects fined by situational awareness. The GSTA- the soldier and enhances his/her ability to MIDS will perform its mission, then pro- detect land mines. ceed to the next ROI. The AN/PSS-14 weighs approximately 8 The Airborne Surveillance, Target Ac- fiberglass-wrapped tube. The launcher is pounds, uses standard batteries and can be quisition and Minefield Detection Sys- watertight for ease of transportation and operated by a single soldier. tem (ASTAMIDS) detects, locates and storage. The AN/PSS-14 is also being procured identifies ground targets, minefields and The M136 AT4’s warhead uses an ex- by the U.S. Marine Corps as their ad- obstacles; determines ranges to ground tremely destructive, 440-gram shaped- vanced mine detector. targets; and designates for attack by laser- charge explosive that can penetrate more The Ground Standoff Mine Detection guided munitions. than 14 inches of armor. PM CCS discon- System (GSTAMIDS) Block 0 is an up- ASTAMIDS provides support to the tinued purchase of the AT4 in favor of its grade of the current interim vehicle- brigade combat team (BCT) and the modu- newest iteration, the AT4 confined space mounted mine detector (IVMMD) system. lar BCT force on a single unmanned aerial system. Its primary mission is route clearance. The vehicle (UAV) payload. When integrated The AT4 Confined Space (AT4-CS) is a detection vehicle is teleoperated from a on the UAV, ASTAMIDS will provide the manportable, single-shot, disposable anti- mine-protected control/clearance vehicle, capability to conduct reconnaissance, sur- armor shoulder-fired munition that can be which automatically detects and marks all veillance and target acquisition (RSTA), fired from a confined space. It significantly metallic and nonmetallic antitank mines. target designation, and minefield and ob- increases the soldier’s ability to fight in an Antitank mine detection capability is en- stacle detection. urban environment. The AT4-CS consists hanced through maturing ground-penetrat- This multifunction capability is made of a fiberglass-reinforced launching tube ing radar, enhanced metal detection and in- possible by a multispectral payload of fitted with a firing mechanism, pop-up frared camera subsystems. The edges of the daylight TV, midwave infrared and multi- sights, a carrying sling, protective covers swept path are also marked. spectral imaging sensors operating in the and bumpers. The recoilless design is supe- With the advent of the Army’s objective visible and infrared spectrums. This multi- rior to that of rocket-type weapons for con- force transformation, the Ground Standoff functionality is augmented even further by fined space applications. Resistance to Mine Detection System (GSTAMIDS) an eye-safe laser rangefinder, laser illumi- shock damage contributes to the weapon’s Block 1 Program, built on GSTAMIDS nator and laser designator (LD). The hard- high reliability. Block 0, was restructured to meet the coun- ware is integrated into a highly stabilized The system weighs 7.5 kilograms and termine requirements for Army modern- gimbal that uses advanced “step and has an effective range of 300 meters. The ization. stare” technologies to scan the ground in AT4-CS is a self-contained weapon consist- In support of the Engineer School’s as- nadir or off-nadir modes. ing of a free flight, fin-stabilized, rocket- Advanced automatic detection software type cartridge packed in an expendable, processing of ASTAMIDS imagery allows one-piece, fiberglass-wrapped tube. There for near-real-time operations in various are two versions: high penetration and re- worldwide environments, day or night, by duced sensitivity. exploiting fused multispectral images and other advanced concepts. This develop- Product Manager Countermine and ment will provide a combined minefield EOD detection and an enhanced RSTA/LD capa- The Product Manager Countermine and bility that does not currently exist. EOD focuses on the Army’s ability to de- The IED Interrogation Arm provides tect, mark and neutralize mines, including standoff detection of improvised explosive planning and executing minefield clear- devices (IEDs) using a probing/digging ance. Developed products integrate state- tool to expose objects and a metal detec- of-the-art technologies into handheld, tor/visible camera to identify targets. It has ground and airborne detection systems as a working range of more than 26 feet and well as breaching, neutralization and is capable of moving objects up to 200 clearing systems to ensure soldier mobility pounds. This arm can be used on both the and provide force protection. One example, the AN/PSS-14 Mine De- tecting Set (formerly known as Handheld Standoff Mine Detection System [HSTA - AN/PSS-14 mine detecting set

October 2010 I ARMY 363 RG-31 and Husky counter-IED vehicles, having the same capabilities for each plat- form. Attached to either the RG-31 or JERRV mine clearance vehicles, the Vehicle Optics Sensor System (VOSS) is a powerful net- work of daytime TV, night-vision and ther- mal capabilities that is able to locate IEDs, snipers and other threats at greater stand- off distances. A stabilized camera allows for the detection of IEDs while mobile, in day or nighttime conditions. The camera’s ability to record video of operations allows for after action review, training and mission briefing for route-clearance operations.

364 ARMY I October 2010