"USMC Field Artillery, Doctrine to Procurement Mismatch"
Abstract
The U. S. Marine Corps artillery forces, both active and reserve, now employ only one type of howitzer. The current procurement plan is to replace the M198, towed 155mm howitzer with another towed 155mm howitzer. Although an admittedly a better howitzer, it still does not provide Marines with the full spectrum force structure required by the guidance found in National Strategy and National Military Strategy. This paper describes a method to evaluate the proposed howitzer against the current howitzer (as a baseline) and four other systems using a weighted model with 20 different criteria that are measures of effectiveness for artillery. The model weights are adjusted for three different scenarios (Marine Expeditionary Unit, Forced Entry, and Major Theater War) and the scores are provided in the appendices. The primary conclusion is that one type of artillery system cannot satisfy the full spectrum of requirements. Recommendations are provided for a near term and future artillery force structure that includes a combination of cannon and rocket systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 15, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA358278
Entities
People
- Robert W. Strahan
Organizations
- Naval War College