5 ms·

a JAM sniper occupied and fortified one of the few five-story buildings north of the Gold Wall was being constructed and at a key intersection where he was able

a JAM sniper occupied and fortified one of the few five-story buildings north of the Gold Wall was being constructed and at a key intersection where he was able to engage the wall-building team. Direct fire placed on the building did not affect the sniper’s fortified position. 1-68 CAB’s solution was to drop the building using the GMLRS. There's companies that are researching or selling very precise indirect fire weapons. Basically, they're like the smart naval turret guns scaled down to around 20 or 30mm. You can fire a shell through a window and tell it to explode just inside. One of these on an APC, perhaps? (For all I know, these weapons were present, but the building was also fortified against them.)

jacobush 8y ago
Iv'e seen rounds with that feature (explode 1 meter past wall) for carbine use.
- stcredzero 8y ago
  It's been a few years, and technology moves fast.
dsfyu404ed 8y ago
>There's companies that are researching or selling very precise indirect fire weapons. Basically, they're like the smart naval turret guns scaled down to around 20 or 30mm. You can fire a shell through a window and tell it to explode just inside. These exist and are slowly becoming more mature. There was one that was tested in the early phases of what became the XM8 program in the early 2000s. So far the weapons that fire them seem to always wind up being too bulky/clunky/finicky for adoption by any military.
- openasocket 8y ago
  Yeah, you're thinking of the XM29 "Objective Individual Combat Weapon," which was an assault rifle with the 20mm programmable grenade launcher on top. H&K essentially removed the smart grenade system to create the XM8. They also made the XM25, which was just the smart grenade launcher bit. All of those weapons never got past prototype, though all of this research eventually produced the M320, which is a non-smart under-barrel 40mm grenade launcher. There's also South Korea's K11, which is the same concept as the XM29, and seems to actually be used, though I can't find much info about its effectiveness. The conclusions from the failure of the XM29 I believe was that it isn't trivial to operate a smart grenade launcher, and the 20mm grenade doesn't have as much lethality as you would like. But perhaps the K11 was able to rectify these issues. I personally think this need for precise, powerful fires could be filled by a crew-serviced weapon mounted on an APC/IFV. Doesn't even have to be a smart grenade, could be a special autocannon or something.
  - jki275 8y ago
    The Mk-19 has been in service since Vietnam.
    - openasocket 8y ago
      Of course, but it doesn't have programmable grenades. Though apparently in the last few years some air-burst grenades have been developed for it. The idea of these programmable grenade systems is being able to lay down very accurate fire, where you can program the grenade to punch through a wall and detonate 1m after it comes out the other side.
      - ranger207 8y ago
        There's also the Mk-47 grenade launcher which has smart munitions. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mk_47_Striker https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mk_47_Striker
        openasocket 8y ago
        I didn't know they had smart munitions, interesting. I guess what I'm picturing is a Mk-47 with smart munitions mounted on a remote weapons station on an APC/IFV. Putting it on an armored vehicle makes it more maneuverable of course, but it also provides protection to the gunner. Unlike warfare in a more open setting, due to the presence of buildings you may have to get well within the range of small arms fire to have line of sight to your target. And apparently there's some work being done on equipping Stryker's with the XM813, a 30mm Bushmaster autocannon that can fire programmable air bursting rounds. Which might accomplish the same thing.
        stcredzero 8y ago
        In the article, the Strykers proved to be too vulnerable in the urban environment. They brought in Bradleys and M1 Abrams tanks instead.
edraferi 8y ago
Interesting. Not sure if that would have worked here or not. The article doesn’t say how much direct fire they laid down, but it IS a pretty big jump up to a MRLS.
aristophenes 8y ago
Reading between the lines, they didn’t want to fight whoever was in the building, they wanted the building gone and were given a great excuse. It would have been a permanent place of strength and intelligence for the enemy.

jacobush 8y ago

Iv'e seen rounds with that feature (explode 1 meter past wall) for carbine use.

stcredzero 8y ago
It's been a few years, and technology moves fast.

dsfyu404ed 8y ago

>There's companies that are researching or selling very precise indirect fire weapons. Basically, they're like the smart naval turret guns scaled down to around 20 or 30mm. You can fire a shell through a window and tell it to explode just inside. These exist and are slowly becoming more mature. There was one that was tested in the early phases of what became the XM8 program in the early 2000s. So far the weapons that fire them seem to always wind up being too bulky/clunky/finicky for adoption by any military.

openasocket 8y ago
Yeah, you're thinking of the XM29 "Objective Individual Combat Weapon," which was an assault rifle with the 20mm programmable grenade launcher on top. H&K essentially removed the smart grenade system to create the XM8. They also made the XM25, which was just the smart grenade launcher bit. All of those weapons never got past prototype, though all of this research eventually produced the M320, which is a non-smart under-barrel 40mm grenade launcher. There's also South Korea's K11, which is the same concept as the XM29, and seems to actually be used, though I can't find much info about its effectiveness. The conclusions from the failure of the XM29 I believe was that it isn't trivial to operate a smart grenade launcher, and the 20mm grenade doesn't have as much lethality as you would like. But perhaps the K11 was able to rectify these issues. I personally think this need for precise, powerful fires could be filled by a crew-serviced weapon mounted on an APC/IFV. Doesn't even have to be a smart grenade, could be a special autocannon or something.
- jki275 8y ago
  The Mk-19 has been in service since Vietnam.
  - openasocket 8y ago
    Of course, but it doesn't have programmable grenades. Though apparently in the last few years some air-burst grenades have been developed for it. The idea of these programmable grenade systems is being able to lay down very accurate fire, where you can program the grenade to punch through a wall and detonate 1m after it comes out the other side.
    - ranger207 8y ago
      There's also the Mk-47 grenade launcher which has smart munitions. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mk_47_Striker https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mk_47_Striker
      - openasocket 8y ago
        I didn't know they had smart munitions, interesting. I guess what I'm picturing is a Mk-47 with smart munitions mounted on a remote weapons station on an APC/IFV. Putting it on an armored vehicle makes it more maneuverable of course, but it also provides protection to the gunner. Unlike warfare in a more open setting, due to the presence of buildings you may have to get well within the range of small arms fire to have line of sight to your target. And apparently there's some work being done on equipping Stryker's with the XM813, a 30mm Bushmaster autocannon that can fire programmable air bursting rounds. Which might accomplish the same thing.
        stcredzero 8y ago
        In the article, the Strykers proved to be too vulnerable in the urban environment. They brought in Bradleys and M1 Abrams tanks instead.

edraferi 8y ago

Interesting. Not sure if that would have worked here or not. The article doesn’t say how much direct fire they laid down, but it IS a pretty big jump up to a MRLS.

aristophenes 8y ago

Reading between the lines, they didn’t want to fight whoever was in the building, they wanted the building gone and were given a great excuse. It would have been a permanent place of strength and intelligence for the enemy.