What does a gun layer do?
A Gunlayer (or Layer — Pointer in American parlance) is the person who controls the angle of elevation of a gun. Typically, he does this by rotating a hand-wheel or working a hydraulic lever in the case of a larger gun.
What is the gunnery problem?
The gunnery problem is an indirect fire problem. Solving the problem requires weapon and ammunition settings that, when applied to the weapon and ammunition, will cause the projectile to achieve the desired effects on the target.
How was artillery aimed?
The aiming circle must be set up in two minutes, then Soldiers use magnetic north to orient it. From there they use three known points to change the aiming circle’s orientation from magnetic north to grid north to fire on a target.
How does an aiming circle work?
The aiming circle is used to measure horizontal clockwise angles from the line of fire to the line of sight to a given aiming point.
Are howitzers still used?
The M198 is currently in active service with both the US Army and the Marine Corps though it is being replaced by the M777 ultra-lightweight 155mm howitzer in selected units.
What is artillery deflection?
Deflections are used to align howitzers onto targets during indirect fire. The deflection system is based on azimuths and uses a 6400 mil circle. Howitzers are initially aligned using azimuths and the value of the azimuth is converted to a deflection prior to firing.
How did cannons aim?
After ramming, the cannon would be aimed with the elevation set using a quadrant and a plummet. At 45 degrees the ball had the utmost range – about ten times the gun’s level range. Any angle above the horizontal line was called random-shot. The officer of artillery had to ensure the cannon was diligently served.
What is a gun line?
Definition of gunline : a line or cable (as a towrope) one end of which can be shot (as from one ship to another) by a gun device.
What is the goal of the firing battery?
The mission of the firing battery is to destroy, nuetralize, or suppress the enemy by cannon, rocket, and missile fires and to help integrate all fire support assets into combined arms operations.
How heavy was the largest shell that a Big Bertha fired?
1,785 pounds
At the time of their construction, the Big Berthas were the largest, most-powerful mobile artillery pieces in use by any army. The gun could fire projectiles weighing up to 1,785 pounds (810 kg) to a distance of almost six miles (9 km).
How accurate is a howitzer?
The non-precision guided munitions have a maximum range of 18.6 miles, while the Excalibur precision-guided rounds have a maximum range of 25 miles and are accurate to within 30 feet. The howitzer can also fire up to five rounds per minute, or two rounds per minute sustained.
What does it mean to lay a gun?
Gun laying means moving the axis of the bore of the barrel in two planes, horizontal and vertical. A gun is “traversed” (rotated in a horizontal plane) to align it with the target, and “elevated” (moved in the vertical plane) to range it to the target.
What is the difference between gun laying and gun traversing?
A gun is “traversed” (rotated in a horizontal plane) to align it with the target, and ” elevated ” (moved in the vertical plane) to range it to the target. Gun laying may be for direct fire, where the layer sees the target, or indirect fire, where the target may not be visible from the gun. Gun laying has sometimes been called “training the gun”.
What is the alignment of a gun?
This alignment is in the horizontal and vertical planes. A gun is “traversed” (rotated in a horizontal plane) to align it with the target, and ” elevated ” (moved in the vertical plane) to range it to the target. Gun laying may be for direct fire, where the layer sees the target, or indirect fire, where the target may not be visible from the gun.
What is deflection gun laying?
This was called deflection gun-laying, ‘off-set’ angles for range and elevation were set on the gunsight and updated as their target moved. In this method when the sights were on the target, the barrel was pointed at the target’s future position.