SULG301992 LD - Defense Technical Information Center

1 AD-A258 51511111l1I1111 1111 111111111 111 1 1111lliI~Ill)-DEFLECTION OR AZIMUTH;WHICH DIRECTION SHOULD THEUNITED STATES FIELD ARTILLERY FOLLOW?A thesis presented to the Faculty of the ArmyCommand and General Staff College in partialfulfillment of the requirements for thedegreeDTIC_"D TIC MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCES ELFCTESULG301992 LDbyJAMES M. MCDONALD, MAJ, , University of Tennessec at Chattanooga,Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1980 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas1992 Approved for public release; distribution is ,oREPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE FoanN 0104 Suit# 1104.

2 AriIngton. VA. )11014102. 10 t the Office of and8- et PeoeDt riP t 1'ogt 00- a ,l~lj~l UC ( 01. AGENCY USE ONLY (Ledveli blank) I. REPORT DATE 3. REP ORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED1 5 June 1992 IMaster's Thesis 1-Aug -5 Jun 924. TITLE AND SUBTITLE S. FUNDING NUMBERS reflection or Azimuth; Which DirectionShould The United States Field ArtilleryFolIlo W?6. AUTHOR(S)VIAJ James M. McDonald, USA7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING Army Command and General Staff College REPORT NUMBERAttn: KS 66027-69009.

3 SPONSORING, MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING/ MONITORINGAGENCY REPORT NUMBER11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES12a. DISTRIBUTION / AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODEA pproved for public release; distribution ABSTRACT (Maxim um 200 wof'W)This study investigates the use of deflections in the United Statesfield artillery. Deflections are used to align howitzers ontotargets during indirect fire. The deflection system is based onazimuths and uses a 6400 mil circle. Howitzers are initially alignedusing azimuths and the value of the azimuth is converted to adeflection prior to firing.

4 The point of this study is to determineif there is a need to convert azimuths to deflections. In orderto evaluate the system of deflections this study examines the de-velopment and adoption of that system. Rlesearch was conducted todetermine if another different system was available. A comparisonof systems was conducted upon the determination that the only twodistinct systems for aligning howitzers are deflections and comparison consisted of gathering Information from recordsand from interviews with senior United States artillerymen.

5 Thecomparison of systems indicated that azimuths are the better of thetwo systems and recommendations are made to adopt a system of azimuths14. SUBJECT TERMS Deflection, Pire Control,, Azimuth, Fire 15. NUMBER Of PAGESDiJrection, Alignment, Laying, Indirect Fire, History reflections SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 20, LIMITATION Of ABSTRACU0'( f~\nTFTPD U NW g f ETh UC, ~Jfi SRfDEFLECTION OR AZIMUTH;WHICH DIRECTION SHOULD THEUNITED STATES FIELD ARTILLERY FOLLOW?)

6 A thesis presented to the Faculty of the ArmyCommand and General Staff College in partialfulfillment of the requirements for thedegreeMASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCEbyJAMES M. MCDONALD, MAJ, , University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Accesion ForChattanooga, Tennessee, 1980 NTIS CRA&IDTIC TAB ; CJostification ..By ..Dist ibutio' IAvalabiiity CodesAvai! aiid/orFort Leavenworth, Kansas Dtst 5pe;cidl1992 AAA;Approved for public release; distribution is OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCETHESIS APPROVAL PAGEName of candidate: Major, James M.

7 McDonaldTitle of thesis: Deflection or Azimuth; Which DirectionShould The United States Field Artillery Follow?Appro~vad by--Thesis Committee ChairmanMember(Re) ames N. Bell, _ __ MemberLTC Gary ,ovl __ _ __ _ Consulting FacultyCOL W. Stuart Towns, this 5th day of June 1992 by:V _" __ , Director Graduate DegreePhilip J. Brookes, ProgramsThe opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those ofthe student author and do not necessarily represent theviews of the Army Command and General Staff College orany other governmental agency.

8 (References to this studyshould include the forgoing statement.)iiABSTRACTDEFLECTION OR AZIMUTH; WHICH DIRECTION SHOULD THE UNITEDSTATES FIELD ARTILLERY FOLLOW? by MAJ James , USA, 85 study investigates the use of deflections in the UnitedStates field artillery. Deflections are used to alignhowitzers onto targets during indirect fire. The deflectionsystem is based on azimuths and uses a 6400 mil are initially aligned using azimuths and the valueof the azimuth is converted to a deflection prior to point of this study is to determine if there is a needto convert azimuths to order to evaluate the system of deflections this studyexamines the development and adoption of that was conducted to determine if another differentsystem was available.

9 A comparison of systems was conductedupon the determination that the only two distinct systemsfor aligning howitzers are deflections and azimuths. Thiscomparison consisted of gathering Information from recordsand from interviews with senior United States comparison of systems indicated that azimuths are thebetter of the two systems and recommendations are made toadopt the system of azimuths for the United States OF CONTENTSAPPROVAL PAGE ..iiABSTRACT PAGE ..iiiLIST OF TABLES ..viLIST OF FIGURES ..viiChapter1.

10 INTRODUCTION ..1 Orienting howitzers for direction .. 2 Azimuths ..7 Deflections ..9 Research question ..10 Limitations ..12 Delimitations ..12 Significance of the study ..13 Chapter one endnotes ..152. DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF DEFLECTION ..16 Early systems ..16 Indirect fire .. 17 Advances in fire direction techniques ..19 Post world war II ..21 New weapon systems ..26 Use of the term deflection ..28 Chapter two endnotes ..313. METHODOLOGY ..34 Chapter one ..34 Chapter two ..35 New research..37 Chapter four.