Towed Artillery

[GGG]

Can anyone enlighten me regarding whether or not the ADF still has towed artillery. I saw the post last year about the 105s and 155s going but did they all go and were they replaced with anything?
Geoff.

[Mike C]

The L118/L119 Hamel gun and M198 155mm Howitzer were replaced with the M777 towed 155mm:

From the Defence (Army) website:

M777 155mm lightweight towed howitzer
M777 155 millimetre Light Weight Towed Howitzer
The M777 lightweight towed howitzer (LWTH) is the latest artillery piece to be employed by the Australian Army.

The M777 is the latest artillery piece to be employed by the Australian Army. The M777 replaces the L119 105mm light gun and the M198 155mm medium gun in Royal Australian Artillery units.

This new equipment is a significant advance in Army’s capabilities as the gun has a much higher level of digital connectivity allowing more rapid, safe and accurate application of effects across the battlespace. The M777 can link with Australian and coalition networks providing accurate and timely responses as required to support ground forces in all weather conditions, day or night.

The M777 provides direct support to combat troops through offensive and defensive fires with conventional and precision-guided projectiles. It can also employ illuminating and smoke projectiles.

The M777 will be towed behind the Mack gun tractor and the Mack replacement procured under Project Land 121. It can also be lifted by the Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter and carried in the Air Force C-17A Globemaster III and C-130J Hercules aircraft. The M777 is deployable by Navy watercraft and amphibious vessels.

Calibre - 155mm
Weight - 4100kg
Length - 10.7 metres in deployed configuration or 9.5 metres in towed configuration
Rate of fire - 2 x rounds per minute (sustained) or 5 x rounds per minute (rapid)
Effective range - 24km for conventional rounds or 30km for improved rounds

[GGG]

Thanks for your comprehensive reply Mike. Sounds like an impressive weapon, particularly if you have the misfortune to be on the wrong end of it. With a range of 30 Km I guess that we can no longer call the gunners "9 mile snipers."
Geoff

[AGAS 5]

.... until you add up the numbers

[Chazza]

"The M777 provides direct support to combat troops through offensive and defensive fires ..."

When you are on the receiving-end of one of these shells, it would be interesting to know whether the "fires" was fired in an offensive, or defensive spirit!

The weasel phrases used today, especially euphemistic phrases to describe violent-death, never cease to amaze me!

Charlie

[Mike C]

RE Chazza's post:

Only the first line only comes from the defence website and was quoted/posted by me: the rest is NOT quoted from me.

Mike

[Chazza]

Apologies Mike for appearing to quote you - my mistake completely,

Cheers Charlie