M109 Self Propelled Howitzer: A Shell Slinger That Refuses to be Replaced or Retired
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“The shells would eviscerate any human being within roughly 150 meters of the airburst but spare the overpasses and the highway any serious structural damage. Gantt was confident his crews could pull it off. The Paladins had performed well just the night before, when Stephen Twitty’s China battalion was harassed by [Iraqi] mortar fire. They had swiftly and efficiently destroyed every last mortar position.” — Lt Col Kenneth Gantt, 1/9 Field Artillery ‘Battle Kings’, 3rd Infantry Division in the advance into Baghdad, from Thunder Run (David Zucchino, Atlantic Books 2004).
Ever since mankind discovered the efficacy of slinging large stones, metal balls and later, explosive shells for cracking open castles and pounding large numbers of people into mushy pulp, artillery has been a staple of land warfare. While artillery has permitted armies to see off numerically superior foes, the delivery platforms — catapults, ballista and cannon — were constrained by mobility…
