M109 Howitzer: America's Self-propelled Artillery 

Thank you for your service!🇺🇸

Not only were you on a crew, you were there when the wall came down! What a historic event. Balls of steel. Just like the nuclear USAF guys constantly flying 2-3 planes 24/7/365 with payloads going up to the Warsaw pact and back around Greenland, up to Canada then back around to the south of the US, man all of you guys could stay awake some crazy hours. Especially the guys attached to SAC. I forget what happened but one had to make an emergency landing in either Greenland or Iceland and they weren't too fond of having a nuclear bomber halfway crashing in the snow, I think the landing gear didn't come down either, not that it would've helped in those days. Thank you for your service! 🇺🇸

If I may ask, What was your favorite memory related to the SPH?

W.Germany, 85-87 M109a2 Pinder Barracks. I was in 1/22Fa, 1AD. Pinder Barracks was Div Artillery Headquarters. I loved this system. I moved around in my unit, from Officer Driver to Gun Dog, to Armorer, and NBC slave...but the best thing I ever saw was 6 guns, firing 3 rounds of ICM. We shot alot, but I didnt often get to observe impacts. I have been screaming for YEARS, we NEED the ICM or DPICM. Watching that hillside just disappear in multiple explosions and dirt... WOW. Where were you? Neuremberg here, but we deployed alot. Graf, Hoenfels....

Impossible. The title says it’s new. Lmao just kidding red leg

Some of the Iowa-class battleships also served fire support in both wars, did you happen to get the chance to call in fire support from those old battlewagons too?

The issue with the open crew area in the 175 mm and 8” howitzers against counter fire is obvious. In the 80’s FA toyed with adding a ballistic shield, but went with MLRS for that mission.

We will probably never again use naval caliber guns because we're not fun anymore. But to be real about it, all the M110 barrels became MOABs. The remainder are demil'd museum pieces. There's probably less than a battalion's worth of functional 8in guns in the US.

@@doughudgens9275 Well with the shoot n scoot model, that doesn't really matter too much because you should already be set up and firing in another position before shells even land where you were when you first shot.

I doubt it makes sense to use 8" guns given ever increasing accuracy and ammo technology. The vehicle will be a lot heavier and less nimble, a drawback with shoot-and-scoot tactics.

The problem is rate of fire and NATO ammo commonality.

I was a Commo Chief in a M110 8-inch self-propelled howitzer battery in the mid 1980s while station in in Germany. I did not get to see it fired often because of obvious reason but when I did, I was very impressed.

The 203 has a bigger/more powerful shell, the problem is that there are no modern extended range rounds for it as there are for the 155, it needs a crew of 8 instead of 4 and more importantly, it can't shoot and scoot

During OSUT training at Ft. Sill I had to carry those big rounds around the barracks when my battle buddy screwed up. Those rounds must of weighed 250 lbs.

Too late already…..the Russians have built one that can reach 80km. It’s now to be tested in Ukraine. NATO will lose the counter battery duels since it’s shots will fall short. It seems NATO is behind the 8 ball on everything!

I believe 30 million rounds would be nice because it would allow for 82k(nearly three times as many as was used at the hight if the Ukraine war)to be fired a day in a war if need be but it would cost a good bit to store the rounds. But that could be fixed by selling the oldest rounds as new ones are produced. And best to have them at every base that has artillery for each size 105,155,and 227 rockets and ATACMS

Yes i gree 100%

You know it will for sure

I was sad to see the NLOS cancelled

Depends.... ....on how much the production company pay to key Congress people!!

@@jerrypadilla4384 with a possible conflict with China in the near future I don't think they will cancel it and the lessons learned in Ukraine

@@ameritoast5174A war with China would be fought with missiles and aircraft, not artillery. It just doesn’t have enough reach

Me to from 1976-1980, what about you ??!

@sgtmarkey my sister lived on post back on the 90s. It was always fun to go and stay. Breathtaking

Or a tablet.

@@rickmcintosh1771 Yeah, probably a cell phone now days.. 😛

It's the name for a program. As a former mechanic for these beasts, I guarantee that no 63 year old 109's are still rolling around. Like the joke about the man, who claimed to own the hatchet that George Washington used to cut down the cherry tree. That had 6 new handles, and 4 new heads, before he got it.

Hehe; while not 63years old the M109s the Norwegian Army donated to Ukraine last year were bought from Germany in '69. While indeed updated versions they are now (at least) 54 years old and still wreaking havoc - proves age doesn't matter with a dedicated/ qualified crew + thoughtful tactics@@markcollins2666

Well the guided Excalibur 155mm compensates for that, though they ain't cheap. And for heavy stuff they have the heavier hitting Guided MLRS missiles....of course the 203mm could pop heavy stuff all day for cheaper. In the field gun side, the 105mm is being supported with 120mm vehicle mortars, for when they need heavier stuff and the 155mm stuff is too busy hitting stuff over the horizon.

When I was int he Marine Corps, the 105mm howitzers supported the infantry on the front lines such as mortar rounds did. Then the M109 & the M198 155mm howitzers were further back but still provided direct support to the infantry. The self propelled 8" howitzer which could change position at a moments notice to support the infantry or to provide counter battery support for 105mm,M109, % the M198 howitzers Also the 8" howitzer could also be used as counter fire or direct fire while the infantry & the other artillery moved. At this time, tanks were used as front line weapons which you see from footage from WW11. The tanks would not advance or carry troops & support the infantry. I learned all this while serving in the infantry & tanks. It gave me great insight on how the tanks were under under utilized at that time. I served with many infantry companies even while I had a 0811 MOS rating which is artillery canon crewman. That sure in shit didn't help my chances of landing o job after I was discharged. ".@@brokeandtired

@@brokeandtired Excalibur rounds are going to be a standard option to all NATO countries when the Swedish new factory's will mass-produce them in bulk. and its 20 000 $ and less the misconception is its was in Kronor and not in dollars.

Lol,when you fight Talibans,othervise they are all destroyed like in Ukraine

@@tony18662 at $20,000 that's a big improvement, but for area saturation attacks, i'm sure the old dumb and cheap shells will be used as well.

A6 and A7, both the gunner and chief can elevate and traverse. I'm a current howitzer chief

I guess paladin isn't a cool name even though the definition of paladin is trusted military leader also the us military has planet of cool vehicle names Apache, Blackhawk, viper, venom, stryker, avenger, guardian, hornet, super hornet, raptor, fighting falcon, eagle, spirit, lancer, cougar, thunderbolt, super stallion, king stallion ,Chinook, hercules there's plenty of cool names

The European artillery systems are very impressive and advanced but the US basically rules the Americas so they’ve had no ambition to create artillery systems like the the Europeans. You won’t be seeing an artillery war with the US in any conflict. With the advent of airpower trying to match artillery on equal footing with your artillery is considered obsolete. Western doctrine intends to fight massive artillery formations using far superior airpower. In terms of exact use, HIMARS and M270 are the American equivalent of Russian artillery and they’re highly flexible and fast systems with MLRS and short-ranged ballistic missiles in two systems.

Howitzers are basically cannons on wheels. They fire from fixed locations at targets out of line of sight, basically long range targets. A tank fires while moving or standing still at line of sight targets.

Armor.

Not true at all. We don't use spades anymore. The A7 doesn't even have them. The new gun laying system gets the gun on within tenths of a mil every time and we shoot very accurately

And the marines, they're the ones doing the frontline fighting on the ground. Army doing logistics and ground backup while the air force are their air support, navy their naval support and means of transport

Why? Serious question.

​@@OscarZheng50 it's not just marines doing Frontline combat. Ever hear of Army infantry and Rangers?

@@scottmclean1996 rangers are like a sneaky force that do specialized missions that normal troops cant accomplish and usually sneakily. marines just charge the beach, D-day style and shoot the bad guys. Army infantry units are basically less skilled marine infantry units; the marines hit the beach and start the invasion while the army comes later once the marines have the beach. the marines are the go to task force to use when invading another country while the army takes longer to gather its equipment and troops and maybe deploy its spec ops rangers. once the army arrives with its full power, they help the marines in the frontline with their tanks and stuff, and the marines would be weakened from the initial invasion so the army is considered the "backup" since marines start the invasion then is assisted by the army to finish it. they're also assisted by the air force and navy ofc

​@@OscarZheng50Then why arent Marines stationed mainly in Europe if they are sooo "great" ? you obviously dont know what you are talking about kid.

Because electronics can fail and it's artillery its way behind the Frontline there's not Ned for it to be remote controlled also controls can be jammed

these don't last long if their on the front line, better to have a lot of smaller and more mobile platforms.

true I support Ukraine but Ukraine dosnt know how to use these

they know how to export them around the world for resale...@@aburning_sherman2124

also lancet : it's my favorite food after m-777 & krab now m109 😋

​@@scpgaming-452i think for Ukraine Artillery Lancet are the same

​@@scpgaming-452except is not rly that powerful

one piece of lancet is enough)))

Soon it will become junk

T-72 is javalins favorite food ka-52 is stingers favorite food

the M-109 A7 biggest problem is thats its only has 39 caliber barrel lenght. When for other NATO countries the standard is 52 caliber guns - meaning using the same amunitions they shoot longer. Thats why the M-1299 is equiped with 58 caliber gun.

That's why it stays behind everybody

You can see 110km through trees and mountains? That's crazy.

allowed? its war right? why does it matter if i use a tank to roll em over but shoot a artillery round not ok? the job is to nuetralise , i feel having rules is stupid and a entitlment issue, the ffact you can pick and choose what bombs your gonna have land on you and ban it. makes my brain hurt, expecting your enemy to follow the rules like the rules of cluster bombs, i wonder if theres a ""stop!! dont attack when i yell out timeout rule"" it just convinced me the real goal iss to profit...woke thinking should be kept out of military politics

Though the 'Ma-deuce' was originally designed as an anti-vehicle/aircraft weapon, there is no 'law' that prevents the use of the .50 caliber M2 Heavy Barrel Machine Gun (HBMG) from being used against enemy ground personnel.

Look dosent determine ability the abrams looks old on the outside but it has some of the best tech money can buy

Well the f22 would beat it, the f22 has the signature or radar cross section of about a bumblebee, so we would need a plane with a signature about the size of an ant💀💀

Not even close

Yes and if war goes on for years there will be lots of shortages. It's back to the trenches

I guess you don't understand stuff gets destroyed in war aint no one saying its invincible

@@freedomefighterbrony9053 yes i do understand. Thats just the point, no matter who or what is made, someone will always come up with something better.

😆 BAE

Just like how 1 javilen and a t72 is finished or how 1 stinger and a ka-52 is finished or better yet How 1 spec ops team a s400 in crimea is finished

@@freedomefighterbrony9053 v‘

C‘est la guerre

It's not a tank.

Faster rates of fire wear the tube excessively and can cause a "cook off" from the resulting high heat. Most artillery pieces are capable of firing far faster than is safe.

No it does not Thats why they operate in groups 4

@@verdebusterAP Yes, it certainly does. Tube life is rated in full charge rounds fired. Other than basic training I spent my entire military career in an artillery battery.

@@chash7335 Again irrelevant I spent my entire military career in an artillery battery-.also not likely Artillery operates in groups of to maximize firepower as needed More the point, when you have 4 guns operating together, you reduce the strain on the individual guns funny someone who spent their life in arty doesnt understand that basic principal

In other words, if human beings were entirely different to the point of not being human at all, humans would be more successful. That's not the most coherent arguument. It's not a matter of intelligence. Our tribal and predatory nature are what made us successful in the first place.

@@Nerval-kg9sm I agree with you that “our predatory and tribal nature are what made us successful.” But at some point that murderous rage to protect what is mine, or I’ll kill you if I don’t get my way, needs to fade far back and we need to refocus that energy towards bettering all of humanity at the cost of no one. Look don’t get me wrong, I carry a gun everywhere I go and sleep with an M4 Carbine beside my bed. I live in a good neighborhood but the bad guys don’t live but a few miles away. I’m not going to see humanity evolve past killing each other in my lifetime. But I sure would like to see what the world looks like 100 years after that the last war or conflict when people finally get on the same page and turn their heads to the stars or curing all of our diseases and suffering.

Actually, the reason humanity is as advanced as it is today is directly tied to our constant need to kill each other en mass. If not for war and the never-ending attempt to succeed in overwhelming our enemies, we would be lucky in 2023 to possess 16th century technology. The fact that the U.S. military progressed from a front-line bi-plane in 1908 to a super-sonic spy plane (SR-71) that travels at rifle-bullet speeds in 50 yrs and traveled to space regularly by the 1960's is 100% attributable to the need to wage war and succeed. That being said, WAR SHOULD BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS, PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.