Single Gun, Multiple Round, Time-on-Target Capability for Advanced Towed CannonArtillery

摘要

At the request of the Advanced Towed Cannon System (ATCAS) Program Manager, theU.S. Army Research Laboratory conducted a study that addressed the technical feasibility of a single gun, multiple round, time-on-target (TOT) capability for advanced towed cannon artillery. The study was conducted under the ATCAS test bed program created to conduct studies and tests to support the rationale for the joint operational requirements document for a new lightweight, towed, 155mm howitzer for the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps. Rate of fire, projectile loading restrictions, and projectile mix within a fire mission were varied to determine the maximum benefit to the single gun, multiple round, TOT capability. With a tube elevation rate of 30 mils per second and a capability to load at all elevations, a towed howitzer can achieve a four-round TOT capability at 65% of the 20 1-kilometer range intervals between 5 and 24 kilometers when firing the M107 or M549A1 (rocket on) within a given fire mission. A towed howitzer with the same elevation and loading capabilities plus the ability to shoot a mixture of M107 and M549A1(rocket on) within the same mission can achieve a four-round TOT capability at 75% of the range intervals between 5 and 24 kilometers. When introducing the MS49Al rocket off to the projectile mix, a four-round TOT capability can be achieved at 85% of the range intervals. (MM).