U.S. Army Trains To Fire Howitzers From Landing Craft For The First Time In Decades
The combination offers flexible fire support for amphibious and other littoral operations, which could be valuable for future missions in the Pacific.
By Joseph TrevithickApril 29, 2019
The War Zone
The Virginia Army National Guard recently conducted an extremely unusual artillery exercise involving firing a 105mm M119 howitzer from on board a U.S. Army landing craft. The combination effectively provides a mobile fire support system for amphibious operations and during missions in riverine and other littoral environments.
Between Apr. 24 and 25, 2019, elements of the Virginia Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment conducted the waterborne artillery exercise, nicknamed Operation Gator, at the U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The active duty 11th Transportation Battalion, part of the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary) based at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia, provided a number of Landing Craft Mechanized Mk 8s (LCM-8) for the drill. The 11th is part of what is often described as the “Army’s Navy,†an obscure, but important array of different watercraft, which you read more about in detail here and here.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/27726/u-s-army-trains-to-fire-howitzers-from-landing-craft-for-the-first-time-in-decades
