Artillery advances

Technological advances have made major and sometimes dramatic changes to warships and aircraft in recent years. The advances made for our ground forces have been less newsworthy but no less dramatic.

Artillery is a critical element in ground warfare, and effective range and accurate targeting are two issues that are constantly being studied for improvements. There are two types of artillery weapons in use in the U.S. arsenal. Towed artillery weapons are moved by being towed behind trucks or by being carried into position by helicopters. These are the most common types of artillery cannons and are used in support of infantry forces or as defensive weapons firing indirect or direct fire against enemy forces.

The artillery pieces used by the U.S. military also include self-propelled artillery cannons. These pieces have tracks like tanks and as such have the ability to move off roads and over uneven ground. These vehicles are enclosed with armor to offer some protection for the artillery crew.

In evaluating our artillery weapons, it is essential to compare their capabilities to the artillery weapons of our potential enemies. In that vein it must be noted that the former Warsaw Pact countries, including Russia, have heavily armed weaponswith artillery that have been used effectively in combat operations going back to World War II. The Department of Defense is working to keep our ground forces armed to meet our enemies in battle.

Fox News produced an article by Kris Osborn on Aug. 28. Quoting from that article: "The Army is starting formal production of a new Self-Propelled Howitzer variant engineered for faster movement, better structural protection, improved drive-train ability, new suspension and advanced networking tech, service and industry developers said.

The new vehicle is built with a more capable, larger chassis, designed as an initial step toward building a next-generation cannon able to outgun existing Russian weapons."

The modified howitzer will go from being one of our slowest moving track vehicles to one of our fastest. It will have a range of 43.5 miles with its 155mm cannon. A modified self-propelled howitzer is not flashy enough for most news broadcasts, but it is an important change to protect our forces.

Jack Dragoni attended Boston College and served in the U.S. Army in Berlin and Vietnam. He lives in Chaffee, Missouri.