LIGHTWEIGHT 155 mm HOWITZER

LIGHTWEIGHT 155 mm HOWITZER

By Glenn W. Goodman, Jr.

U.S. Marines from Artillery Battery, Lima Company, Battalion Landing Team 2, fire a round from an M777 155 mm Lightweight Towed Howitzer during a training mission as part of sustainment training at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Jan. 7, 2009. The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit is deployed to the U.S. Central Command area of operation.

The Lightweight 155 mm Howitzer (LW155) is a highly successful joint U.S. Army/Marine Corps acquisition program that entered full-rate production in 2005. The prime contractor for the LW155, which is designated the M777, is the U.K.’s BAE Systems. It has delivered more than 600 of the towed howitzers to the Army and Marine Corps. The M777 will become the Corps’ sole howitzer.

The proven combat performance in Iraq and Afghanistan of the M777, or “Triple 7,” has earned it the reputation of being the most effective towed howitzer of its kind.
The goal of the LW155 program was to develop a more capable replacement for the aging and heavy M198 155 mm towed howitzer in both the Marine Corps and Army, one that weighed less than 10,000 pounds. That goal was achieved.
The weight of the M777 is 9,700 pounds, compared with more than 16,000 pounds for the M198. This was made possible by the use of titanium and aluminum alloys in all of its major structures except its steel gun tube, as well as hydraulic systems to operate several components.
This weight reduction translates into greater strategic deployability – two M777s can fit into a C-130 transport, compared with one M198 – and greater tactical mobility. Unlike the M198, the M777 is light enough that it can be airlifted by all Marine Corps medium- and heavy-lift helicopters (CH-53Es, CH- 46Es, and CH-53Ds) as well as new MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, providing commanders with significant operational flexibility.
Christopher Hatch, the LW155 deputy program manager, noted, “An extremely valuable feature of the M777 has been its ability to be moved rapidly by rotary-wing aircraft to different locations that are inaccessible to ground transportation. It’s uniquely suited for Afghanistan, where it’s been light enough to be lifted into high-altitude forward operating base locations. We can’t lift an M198 into those places.”
The M777 features greater survivability than the M198 by virtue of its shorter emplacement and displacement times – both under three minutes compared with 10-12 minutes for the M198 – providing it the ability to “shoot and scoot.”
The LW155 fires standard unguided projectiles to a range of 15 miles and rocket-assisted projectiles to 19 miles. Its rate of fire is four rounds per minute maximum and two rounds per minute sustained.
The latest M777A2 version of the howitzer added a software upgrade and a Digital Fire Control System (DFCS) from BAE Systems that allows the gun to program and fire a longer-range and more accurate round – the M982 Excalibur Guided Projectile. The Excalibur munition, developed by Raytheon and BAE Systems, can reach ranges in excess of 25 miles while always landing within 10 meters of its target.

Marines from Kilo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, send a round down range with their M777 155 mm howitzer during artillery relocation training in the Yausubetsu Maneuver Area, Hokkaido, Japan.
The M777A1 Howitzer lights up the gun line as Bravo Battery 1/11 conducts a fire mission. Bravo Battery was then the only unit utilizing the M777 in combat, and also the first unit to do such.

This gives the Marine Corps’ and the Army’s towed artillery the ability to deliver precision fires, allowing them, according to BAE Systems, “to targeta specific room within a building, reducing the chance of innocent casualties and allowing supporting fire to be brought down much closer to friendly troops.” U.S. forces have used the Excalibur projectile effectively in Iraq.
The M777A2’s onboard DFCS is used to accurately locate and aim the gun. With the majority of its components mounted on and underneath the gun’s main cradle section, the DFCS includes a GPS receiver; an inertial navigation unit; a vehicle motion sensor; a mission computer; a battery power supply; secure voice and data radios for communicating with and passing data to and from the fire direction center; and separate displays for the gunner, assistant gunner, and chief of section.
The hand-held Chief of Section Display is connected to the DFCS by a cable and shows the details of a fire mission transmitted from the fire direction center – the firing azimuth, elevation, and propellant charge – on its screen.
Hatch noted that the DFCS has made the LW155 guns more autonomous. “We’re finding that, at many of the forward operating bases in Afghanistan, only two guns are being deployed instead of an entire battery of six. Commanders are actually getting greater coverage by dispersing the guns more geographically,” he said.
The M777 achieved an initial operational capability in December 2005. All USMC guns are now M777A2s and Excalibur-capable. The Marine Corps has fully fielded the LW155 to its 10th, 11th, 12th, and 14th Marine Regiments and to its schoolhouses. Additional guns are outfitting the Maritime Prepositioning Ships and war reserve stocks.
The Marine Corps’ Approved Acquisition Objective is 511 M777A2s (its original plan was to buy 356). The service had ordered 489 as of this past July, with 372 delivered. The Corps is slated to receive its final deliveries in November 2012. The prime mover towing the Marine Corps’ M777A2s is the 7-ton Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) truck.
The M777A2 is exceeding its reliability requirement of 800 mean rounds fired between system aborts – achieving 880, Hatch said. Ironically, the biggest reliability issue to date, he noted, has been the wear and tear incurred by the cables that run to the gun, such as from the Chief of Section Display, and are out in the open.
An under way LW155 software upgrade effort aims to allow all of the ballistic computations to be done on the howitzer itself rather than relying on a fire direction center to transmit firing data to the gun. A forward observer would call in a grid location that would come directly to the gun instead of to the fire direction center, reducing the time to fire.
Another M777A2 upgrade in the works designed to reduce logistics costs involves removing the DFCS mission computer from the gun and embedding its functionality into the Chief of Section Display.
Canada acquired 12 M777s for its forces deploying to Afghanistan in February 2006 through U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS). It has ordered 25 more. Australia is buying M777s through FMS. The first of 35 weapons was delivered in August 2010. The U.S. government also has been discussing with India an FMS sale of M777s.
The M777 program is managed by the Army/Marine Corps Lightweight 155 mm Joint Program Office at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. BAE System’s facility at Hattiesburg, Miss., is responsible for final integration and test of the weapon system. The manufacture and assembly of the complex titanium structures and associated recoil components are carried out at Barrow-in- Furness in the U.K.

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LOGISTICS VEHICLE SYSTEM REPLACEMENT

LOGISTICS VEHICLE SYSTEM REPLACEMENT

By Glenn W. Goodman, Jr.

The Logistics Vehicle System Replacement (LVSR) is a new Marine Corps heavy payload truck. The 10-wheel tactical vehicle offers greater mobility and off-road payload capability that the existing Logistics Vehicle System (LVS), which the Corps initially fielded in the mid-1980s. The LVSR also offers reduced life-cycle costs.

The Logistics Vehicle System Replacement looks similar to its predecessor, but the new logistics vehicle’s capabilities include a whole new suspension and 50 percent better fuel economy. The truck can travel up to 300 miles on a tank of gas and has a load capacity of 45,000 pounds when traveling improved roadways.

Both vehicles can carry 22.5 tons on the highway, but the more powerful LVSR can transport 16.5 tons off road, compared with 12.5 tons for the LVS. The LVSR can travel up to 65 miles per hour on paved surfaces and has a cruising range of 300 miles. It can ford 5 feet of water.
Built by Oshkosh Corporation, the new tactical-distribution heavy hauler carries fuel, water, ammunition, standardized containers, palletized cargo, and heavy equipment.
The earlier-vintage LVS, also built by Oshkosh, is a two-piece truck-trailer, with a four-wheel-drive front power unit and five categories of trailer rear-body units. In contrast, the all-wheel-drive LVSR has a straight body design in three different variants – cargo, wrecker, and tractor. The wrecker performs heavy wrecker/recovery missions. The tractor variant will tow heavy engineer equipment and combat vehicles with the 40-ton Medium-Heavy Equipment Trailer.
“The LVSR will help address one of the biggest challenges we face in Afghanistan – getting supplies, fuel, water, and heavy equipment into areas where our Marines have to go,” said Marine Corps’ Program Executive Officer for Land Systems Bill Taylor. “This vehicle is disproportionately mobile compared to its size,” he added.

The LVSR is redefining logistics performance and exists in three variants: cargo, wrecker and fifth wheel.

The LVSR, with a two-person cab, uses Oshkosh’s TAK-4 independent suspension system for improved mobility and off-road maneuverability. The suspension system allows each wheel to move up and down separately in response to uneven surfaces, reducing the stress on the axle and keeping the vehicle more level on rough terrain. The LVSR appears to move like a giant caterpillar.
Thanks to Oshkosh’s mechanical rear-steer technology, in which the rear wheels actually steer separately, the LVSR makes a complete 360-degree turn in only about 84 feet. This tight turning radius facilitates vehicle storage aboard ship.
The LVSR has a 600-horsepower Caterpillar diesel engine and an Allison 7-speed automatic transmission.
The vehicle is 35.5 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 12 feet high. It has a “cabover” design, in which the cab hangs out over the front wheels fairly low to the ground.
The vehicle features factory-installed, integral underbody armor for cab floor mine-blast protection. To counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the Marine Corps has fitted the LVSR’s cab with a removable, add-on armor package developed by Israel’s Plasan Sasa. The vehicle was designed with the extra weight added by armor in mind.
Fielding of the LVSR cargo variant began in early summer 2009; the vehicle achieved an initial operational capability in September of that year. The program received approval for full-rate production for the cargo variant in December 2009. Tom Miller, the MTVR/LVSR program manager within the Program Executive Office for Land Systems, said the LVSR program is ahead of schedule and under budget.
As of July, about 700 LVSRs had been delivered to the Marine Corps, Miller said, and fewer than 100 were in Afghanistan and Iraq. After delivery, the vehicles are fitted with additional government-furnished warfighting equipment before being shipped overseas.
The LVSR wrecker and tractor variants began initial operational test and evaluation in September 2010. A full-rate production decision for both vehicles is scheduled in April 2011, Miller said, and fielding of them will begin in the summer of 2011.
The wrecker variant is able to easily recover heavy Mine-Resistant Ambush- Protected (MRAP) vehicles, which have given the 7-ton Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) wrecker some difficulty, he noted. The Marine Corps’ LVSR Approved Acquisition Objective (AAO) is 1,699, including 1,322 cargo variants, 105 wreckers, and 272 tractors, and the service has requested funding for the final 468 vehicles in fiscal year 2011. Miller said that a fiscal year 2012 budget initiative includes funding to increase the LVSR’s AAO to 2,246.
Miller said the Marine Corps began deploying the first four LVSR Cargo vehicles to Afghanistan in September 2009 in support of urgent fielding of the Mobile Trauma Bay. The latter is a fully enclosed and armored surgical unit with three operating stations in modular pieces that are mounted on the back of an LVSR. The Mobile Trauma Bay allows a five-person shock trauma platoon to treat severely wounded Marines earlier at forward casualty- collection points instead of making them wait for a medevac helicopter or ground vehicle.
The LVSR’s in-cab vehicle electronic diagnostics system lets the driver monitor the engine, transmission, brakes, central tire inflation system, and other critical components. The vehicle’s simplified maintenance features a single-source lubrication system, which houses the engine oil, transfer case, hydraulics, and transmission in the same reservoir.
The LVSR will be employed throughout the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) in the Marine Logistics Group, Marine Division, and Marine Aircraft Wing. Deployment of new LVSRs will reduce the cargo hauling burden of the Marine Corps’ MTVR convoys, Miller said.
The LVSR and the MTVR, also built by Oshkosh, form a formidable logistical tandem. (see separate MTVR article) They also share common parts and similar maintenance, which streamline service and support while reducing downtime.

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MPC(Marine Personnel Carrier

MARINE PERSONNEL CARRIER

By Glenn W. Goodman, Jr.

The Marine Corps has established a requirement for a new Marine Personnel Carrier (MPC), an advanced generation eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier that would provide general support lift to marine infantry in the ground combat element based maneuver task force. The MPC requirement is shaped to provide a balance of performance, protection and payload in order to set the conditions for fielding a combat vehicle that will be effective across the range of military operations.

An MPC company lifts an infantry battalion in conjunction with the infantry’s organic wheeled assets. Like the planned Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV), MPCs will be assigned to the Assault Amphibian Battalions of the Marine Division currently outfitted with Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAVs). The reconstituted Assault Amphibian battalion would tentatively consist of one MPC company (nominally 88 vehicles) and three EFV companies (about 45 vehicles each).
The MPC family of vehicles will consist of a base vehicle and two supporting mission role variants. The MPC-Personnel will be the base vehicle, two of which carry and support a reinforced rifle squad of 17 Marines (one EFV would do the same). Each vehicle would carry 9-10 combat-equipped Marines and a two-man crew. This meets the need to transport more Marine infantrymen than the existing Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) or Humvee platforms while providing greater protection. The eight-wheeled LAV is not employed as an armored personnel carrier and usually carries a four-person Marine scout/reconnaissance team in addition to its crew. The MPC-Command will be equipped to serve as a mobile command-echelon/ fire-support coordination center for the infantry battalion headquarters. The MPC-Recovery will be the maintenance and recovery variant of the MPC.
The MPC supports expeditionary maneuver by enhancing the Marine Air Ground Task Force’s (MAGTF) tactical and operational protected mobility. Conceptually, the MPC will complement the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) and will be delivered to the fight as part of the reinforcing echelon of the MAGTF during forcible entry operations and in of support sustained operations ashore. The MPC will enable the GCE to maintain lift capacity requirements and provides an additional balanced platform that will be capable across the range of military operations.
The Marine Corps leadership deferred a Milestone A go-ahead for the MPC program in May 2008, saying the delay would allow it “to effectively prioritize near-term investment decisions, in order to provide a synchronized mobility strategy with respect to the capabilities the MPC, the EFV, and the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) offer in the future.” (See the separate EFV and JLTV chapters of this publication.) MPCs would be supported by JLTVs carrying heavy weapons, communications equipment, and cargo.
The MPC will be designed to cross rivers and inland bodies of water in a Marine Air-Ground Task Force’s littoral operational area. The MPC likely would have a remotely operated weapon station turret fitted with a .50 caliber machine gun, a 7.62 mm machine gun, or an automated Mk. 19 grenade launcher with a thermal sight. The MPC crew could provide direct fire in support of dismounted Marine infantrymen.
The program has built an MPC Technology Demonstrator test bed vehicle at the Nevada Automotive Test Center, Carson City, Nev., which is being used to evaluate all required performance attributes, including mobility (powerpack, drive train, and suspension system), survivability, electrical power generation and distribution, vehicle health monitoring, and the communication system.
A Capabilities Development Document (CDD) for the program is in development. The MPC test bed vehicle effort will inform the CDD with respect to achievable operational performance requirements and inform the program office of potential integration risks.
The MPC may be a pilot program for cooperation between the Marine Corps and the Army’s Tank Automotive Research and Development Engineering Center in Warren, Mich., as part of the program’s risk-reduction efforts before it becomes a formal acquisition program.
The Marine Corps’ 2010 Posture Report, released last spring, stated, “We are planning, programming, and budgeting toward a balanced fleet of vehicles. Our chief considerations are mobility, survivability, payload, transportability, and sustainability. Our goal is a portfolio of vehicles that is able to support amphibious operations, irregular warfare, and operations ashore across the range of military operations. We envision a blend of Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles, Marine Personnel Carriers, Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected [MRAP] vehicles and replacements for our Humvees.”

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JLTV

JOINT LIGHT TACTICAL VEHICLE

By Glenn W. Goodman, Jr.

The Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) is a major Army-Marine Corps acquisition program for a new-generation wheeled vehicle that would replace a portion of the services’ High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) fleet. The program’s aim is to develop a new multi-mission light vehicle family with superior crew protection and performance compared to the HMMWVs. The JLTV family will balance critical weight and transportability constraints within performance, protection, and payload requirements.

The JLTV program is aligned with a joint program office under the management of the U.S. Army’s Project Manager Joint Combat Support Systems, which falls under the leadership of the Program Executive Office Combat Support and Combat Service Support. In October 2008, the Army awarded three industry teams – BAE Systems, General Tactical Vehicles (General Dynamics- AM General), and Lockheed Martin – Technology Development (TD) contracts to design and fabricate competitive prototypes for testing and evaluation.
The three industry teams began delivering their prototypes in June 2010 for government testing at the Aberdeen Test Center, Md., and the Yuma Test Center, Ariz. The prototypes are undergoing ballistic protection, system performance, and reliability and maintainability tests to gauge technical potential against JLTV requirements, with an emphasis on system weight.
In July 2010, industry teams delivered “right hand operation” vehicles which will be tested with our Australian partners. BAE Systems and GTV right hand operation vehicles have arrived in Australia and will undergo additional RAM (reliability and maintainability) and ballistic testing, culminating with user evaluations in early 2011. Lockheed Martin’s vehicles will arrive in Australia for the user evaluations.
International participation in the JLTV program will reduce overall program risk through the testing and evaluation of additional prototype vehicles. As our military prepares for future coalition operations, similarity of tactical vehicle solutions across allies will enhance global interoperability and reduce the maintenance and logistical burden. The U.S. and Australian governments continue ongoing discussions regarding Australia’s potential participation in the EMD phase.
One of the outcomes of the TD phase will be a firm set of refined and achievable JLTV operational performance requirements – a Capabilities Development Document – to take into the EMD phase.
Following the completion of the TD phase, the Army and Marine Corps plan to hold a full and open completion with the selection of two industry teams for the Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase. The two services were finalizing their acquisition strategy for the EMD phase as of late August 2010.

Crew Protection Imperative

The advent in Iraq and Afghanistan of remotely-controlled improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has taken its toll on the U.S. military’s unarmored flat-bottom HMMWVs, which were never designed to withstand IED or mine blasts. Up-armoring of HMMWVs through the addition of armor plates provided increased protection, but the increased weight reduced the vehicle’s payload capacity, maneuverability, off-road mobility, and air transportability. With the JLTV, the Army and Marine Corps hope to regain the performance once offered by the HMMWV while adding inherent crew protection against IED-like threats.
Some of the JLTV industry TD designs feature a V-shaped hull similar to the MRAP vehicles, as well as a semi-active independent suspension system with a variable ride height which allows the underside of the hull to be raised, to facilitate IED blast deflection. (High ground clearance also is essential for off-road mobility.)
The JLTV will feature A-kit and B-kit scalable armor. The vehicle’s inherent A-kit protection levels, sufficient for non-combat humanitarian operations, will be supplemented by the addition of bolt-on B-kit armor for enhanced protection on combat missions. All three industry teams are using modular B-kit armor panels made of advanced lightweight composite materials instead of metal to keep weight down while providing ballistic, mine, and IED protection.

Vehicle Configurations

The JLTV family is currently slated to include up to 10 different mission configurations in three categories (A, B, and C) – payload of 3,500 pounds, 4,000-4,500 pounds, and 5,100 pounds, respectively – and a companion trailer for each category. The final mission configurations and categories are being assessed.
The three industry TD teams each delivered seven vehicle prototypes in all of the payload configurations – two Category A vehicles, four Category B (two Army and one USMC infantry carrier and a Marine C2OTM variant), and one Category C vehicle (shelter carrier) – and three companion trailers. In October 2010, the teams will each deliver a single Enhanced Protection Category A vehicle with B-kit armor.
Each JLTV variant must be light enough, with integrated B-kit armor, to be transported as an external sling load underneath an Army CH-47 or Marine Corps CH-53 helicopter. In addition, two Category A vehicles, or a single Category B or C vehicle, must fit inside a C-130 transport.
High commonality among the JLTV variants through modular designs is a key objective. The Army and Marine Corps want to minimize the life-cycle ownership costs of their JLTV variants by maximizing commonality of components, spare and repair parts, tools, maintenance procedures and training.
Also lowering life-cycle costs will be the JLTV family’s higher reliability and maintainability, as well as more fuel-efficient engines.
The Army and Marine Corps have minimized their unique requirements. In cases where one service has a more stringent requirement, the JLTV program has adopted it as the threshold requirement. A good example is the Category A general-purpose vehicle. It is being designed so that its size and weight meet both services’ transportability requirements while maintaining a height that also meets Marine Corps-specific shipboard stowage constraints.
The JLTV will feature an open electronics architecture that will facilitate integration of future sensor, communications, and navigation systems as they become available. As a result, the JLTV’s crew will have significantly improved battlefield situational awareness compared with vehicles today.
The Army currently plans to procure 60,000 JLTVs and the Marine Corps 5,500; those numbers are subject to change as each service refines its tactical wheeled vehicle strategy.

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