Comments on: The M777’s lightweight construction isn’t just valuable for air transport

By: McChuck

McChuck — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 14:42:54 +0000

The M198 has a longer range with the same shells, and was always more accurate. But if you really want longer range and greater accuracy, we need to bring back the old 8″ (203mm) guns.

By: Bob Sykes

Bob Sykes — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 23:50:12 +0000

If you’ve ever seen film of it firing, the gun jumps all over the place. Its weight is completely overcome by the impulse of the 155 mm shell. The gun has to be completely reaimed after every round, and the extreme recoil requires frequent maintenance and repair.

This was fine against militias with no artillery, but not against a full peer with superior artillery.

By: Pseudo-Chrysostom

Pseudo-Chrysostom — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 21:05:47 +0000

Tangentially, the main problem with using aluminum as a structural material is that, unlike steels, its fatigue limit is effectively zero. That is to say, even slight loads and cycling will cause microstructure deformations that weaken the material and eventually cause failure. That is why aeroplane fuselages, for example, many of which tend to be primarily composed of aluminum alloys, have strict time limits on their lifecycles, even on light duty.

By: Pseudo-Chrysostom

Pseudo-Chrysostom — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 20:31:32 +0000

It is also distressingly prone to just exploding and killing all the crew when you try to fire it. Doubtlessly the Poindexter’s and McNamara’s on the design committee (and you better believe it’s all designed by committee) thought it was a great idea to shave a few extra pounds off by literally shaving off from the breech as well. The radio electronics it uses to communicate with other units in the battery were also easily trackable by the Russian forces, so use of them in the field often resulted in quickly coming under countery-battery fire, sometimes even before they actually opened fire.

It’s a trend and you see much the same kind of problems with other GAE equipment as well, such as the Javelin. They were so finicky and prone to being damaged by the slightest rough treatment (things being banged, dropped, and bumped into while in a rush is an inevitability) that very few were actually operational when they needed to be used, and those that did technically manage to fire off very rarely resulted in a telling effect. In fact it’s not certain if there is even a single case where a javelin actually successfully knocked out a tank; in a war where everything is being recorded on video, cases where you cannot find any video examples at all is notable.

The conflict is full of examples like this. The preaching class spends a month talking about a different NATO wunderwaffe that will Turn The Tide In This War, then quietly forget about it once banal operational realities sour expectations, then it’s on to the next one to keep the goldfish perpetually distracted. Happened with Javelins, happened with Bayraktars, M777s, JDAMs, Patriot, and soon we will add Leopards and Challengers to the list too.

You know that one program on that one operating system by that one company? That is full of ‘features’ that make things more difficult and doesn’t let you do what you actually want to do? I’m sure everyone who has used computers in the last 20 years has had the pleasure of this experience at least once.

Well imagine that same clade of people, except they are selling you weapons to fight in a war instead.

By: Gavin Longmuir

Gavin Longmuir — Thu, 08 Jun 2023 15:21:07 +0000

Interesting! There have been contrary reports from the Ukraine that the M777 has been disappointing in actual use against a peer opponent. The light weight of the gun means that it tends to get bent when towed in frequent moves over rough territory — a problem which the US avoids by mainly moving the gun by helicopter lift. Of course, helicopter lifts become impractical against a peer opponent.

But the big smile is reducing the weight of the gun by using titanium — imported from Russia! That sounds sustainable in the kind of aggression our Political Class so desperately wants.