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Artillerymen Use M777 Howitzer To Smash Taliban With Direct Fire
Published 3 years ago
A video from Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) shows members of the 321st Field Artillery engaging Taliban fighters on a mountainside using the M777 in direct fire mode.
Most often artillery is used to hit distant targets not visible to the gun team, and instead aim at reference stakes using computed data based on the target and gun location's positions to aim the weapon system. Additional factors like terrain and elevation also effect how the weapon is aimed. In this instance, the crew has direct line of sight with their target and uses the target itself as the aiming point. It's not often that an artillery team gets to observe the outcome of their work.