A Look Inside The Most Powerful Artillery Of All Time | Weapons That Changed The World | War Stories

it's the heaviest hitter on the battlefield with a punch so devastating it's been known as the king of battle that's right I'm talking about artillery artillery's tip the scales in some of history's most important battles and has evolved into today's Fierce monster of war the M7 Howitzer we're firing everything from Iron Canon balls to satellite guided rounds a hole our sights are set we've got serious destruction ahead this is a Howitzer a weapon that changed the world nothing has shaped history more than the gun I'm will Willis former Army Ranger and Air Force par rescan I've trained with modern weapons until firing them is second nature now I'm out to master the greatest military Firearms of all time and see how these weapons change the world this is the m 7 Howitzer one of the most potent pieces of artillery in combat today and yet it is a direct descendant of the simplest ancient Cannon bar Prim deflection I've come to Fort Sil Oklahoma the home of the US Army Field Artillery school to learn all about how the age-old cannon has been transformed with 21st century technology stand by and you can just see that sucker tracking across the sky that's 100 lb that you don't want to catch that's pretty badass the mle 7 Howitzer ranks among the most fearsome weapons deployed by the US and its NATO allies few artillery pieces anywhere on the planet can match its power and punishing accuracy this isn't your traditional point and shoot cannon that fires in a flat trajectory at Targets in a direct line of sight while a Howitzer can be used for direct fire its elevating Barrel is specially designed for indirect fire that means it can launch around into a high trajectory and take out a Target the Gunnery crew can't see because of distance or terrain that versatility pays off in mountainous combat zones such as Afghanistan in the spring of 20 soldiers stationed at this Ford operating base in the kunar province come under attack insurgents here have a history of using the cover of surrounding mountains to fire mortar rounds at the base but this time members of a US Airborne artillery unit armed with M7 howitzers fire back they track the Insurgent position on the mountain and in less than an hour eliminate the threat the M 7 fires 155 mimet projectile 155 mm refers to the size of the boore and the diameter of that is approximately 6 in and this thing weighs about 100 lb quad to 421 more than 5 Firepower sets the M 7 apart from its predecessors it's made from ultra light Space Age materials the benefit of these advances are not lost on its crew staff sergeant Lee Turner earned a purple heart for injuries he sustained in Iraq he Now commands an M 7 Gunnery crew do you think that the M 7 has changed the way that artillery is employed in combat yeah I do believe so because this weapon system weighs 9,000 lb it's made out of complete titanium it's easily to be air shipped or air dropped into a combat situation up in the mountains of Afghanistan or anything like that rapidly deployed unit so you can actually take this sling loaded underneath the helicopter and move it to someplace else on the battlefield exactly this weapon can be air dropped from a helicopter or even from an airplane once in position a crew of 10 is needed to run it at Peak efficiency many of them are trained at Fort Sil okay you guys I know that this is a creu serve weapon how much cohesion do you have to have within that unit to make this thing I'd say a lot it has to be like a well-oiled machine honestly with a section in order to get it operating at optimal levels check quadrant 27 check hook up H up if somebody's having an off day can you live without them every one of us is pretty much essentially trained to step in in the event that one of the individuals Falls outle 3297 3 297 what's the minimum number of personnel you need to operate this weapon system we could probably do it between six eight guys I mean we could do it with six it be a lot of work we can do it like all modern howitzers the M 7's primary mission is indirect fire to successfully hit a Target they can't see howitz or crewman rely on two other teams the first is known as the Ford Observer they're the eyes of the operation and work far from the howitzers close to or Behind Enemy Lines for this training exercise the Ford Observer post is 5 miles from the gun crew Direction 59 or 5 over this is the observation platform the position from which the Ford observers actually spot and make adjustments to the impact of the rounds down range one sniper in the tree line delaying effect over the forward Observer ident identifies the target then assesses the accuracy of the rounds fired the lay in effect two rounds Target number alpha lima 1 2 Z tree break Lieutenant Brian McCord teaches Ford observers what to expect in combat they're out there with the maneuver units the armor guys the Infantry guys and when trouble happens they need to be ready with their maps with their binoculars and they need to know where they're at and where their targets are and they need to quickly call for fire so we can get steel On Target is there any situation that you can think of where a forward Observer isn't required and you can put artillery rounds down range without those eyes you always need someone calling in those fires since it's an indirect fire system somebody on the ground who knows where the target's at and where the civilians are so we can minimize our casualties fire FDC this is op adjust fire over the Ford Observer radios its surveillance to the next team in the howitz are firing system right now we're outside of the fire Direction Center quadrant 284 we're going to talk to staff sergeant Romero about the relationship between the forward Observer the fire Direction Center and the guns and how they make all this work together to be effective the way it works sir uh the for Observer is going to call us down through the radio he's going to give us a Target description a Target location with that information we're going to process it here on our end the fire Direction Center functions like a brain interpreting data from the Ford Observer okay now this looks like something I could take into combat like medieval times and hack somebody to death with what are we looking at here this is what we tell the uh soldiers not to call the battle ax this is actually a a range deflection protractor if we were to have a Target right on this point right we will place our arm of the RDP next to that pin and we're going to extract the range to that Target specialized tools like the range deflection protractor and a graphical firing table were invented here at Fort Sill in the 1940s GD 625 in fact the US Army artillery branch is behind some of the biggest advances in mathematics over the past Century during World War II the very first electronic computer the ENC was designed to calculate artillery firing tables today fire Direction teams are still taught to double check coordinates from the computer by manually confirming each calculation we're kind of the middleman in the artillery world and then that solution we're going to send it down to the guns the Howitzer crew takes that information to set the elevation and adjust the charge in the round they're about to firei get up there Guided by the eyes and the Brain the Howitzer is the fist ready to make a heavy hit stby fire the Ford Observer notes where the round lands coordinates to adjust fire are given in three physical dimensions left or right range and elevation angle T 1600 computations account for wind speed air temperature and even the curvature and rotation of the earth Collection 3 2 40 the modern howit's three teams work together to deliver punishing rounds On Target but every feature of the M 7 Barrel Wheels recoil management breach loading portability everything is the result of a learning curve that dates back to ancient times artillery is any weapon that launches large caliber projectiles at a distant enemy today's Monsters of War were built on centuries of military deployment but long before cannons were rocking the battlefield slings and catapults were used to heave projectiles by 1127 the Chinese were using Gunpowder the US Army artillery museum has one of the largest collections of these weapon systems in the world early black powder cannons were often very large like this British big boy that was seized during the American Revolution this one weighs approximately 5,000 lb giants like these were often employed in Forts on ships and in stationary Siege positions during prolonged attacks on major cities and reinforced enemy positions a gun position built to batter at fortified walls was known as a battery and the term is still used today for a group of guns these early cannons were big heavy and hard to move they couldn't even be turned to face an attack from their flanks but a radical new weapon developed in Sweden during the 1600s would lead to the mobile artillery of today ancient weapons historian Dale Shin constructed a fullscale replica of this revolutionary Cannon believe it or not it's made with leather the Swedish leather Cannon was a major development in artillery it was very mobile and it was an effective anti-personnel weapon that would devastate Cavalry is at charge and it would show up in places where you couldn't ever expect to see Cannon compared to other Cannons of its era what were the advantages of the Swedish leather Cannon well you see it's pretty lightweight probably weighs about a third what a cast iron Cannon would two or three people a crew could move it easily about the battlefield not only that you can knock it apart put in a cart and you can take it anywhere at the heart of this cannon is a thin copper tube reinforced with rot iron the core is wrapped in canvas and hemp then covered with thick leather the Swedish King at the time was Gustavus adulas and he developed this weapon to fire musket balls that would wreak Devastation on field troops this made the ammo for this Innovative gun another historic breakthrough it has 18 musket balls and it's got the powder attached this was the first time they used Munitions that were made in a munition factory for artillery so the soldiers aren't making these in between skirmishes exactly and because they didn't have to make it in the field increased your rate of fire dramatically let's shoot one of these what do you say absolutely I'm going to call powder and you'll be bringing out a charge putting it in the muzzle and Clarence here will be using his Implement to Ram it down in the tube once the charge is set I'll prick the cartridge with a vent pick so that it open up and then I'll say quill this is the quill here right that's a hollow Goose quill filled with powder set it down in position okay take our limb stock which we'll ignite it with at a safe distance because it'll probably roll off a touch so it can take off down the hill and we have to push it all the way back up well we have to get it back into position no matter what happens to it so we can get our second shot off okay and then we're going to be firing at those Musketeers over there sounds great there we go right there I think we'll hit them just remember if you hit one of those fellows it'll likely pass through his body to get the guy behind him our targets are based on the order of battle during the 1600s infantrymen often fired muskets in static formations charge set your charge quill R to fire get fire I don't think we got any hits must have gone over it that scared the hell out of me I'm not going to lie I mean I knew it was coming but it surprised me I jumped let's see what we did got a low one down here on the leg this guy's definitely out of the fight this is probably the lowest part of the pattern cuz I didn't see any dust get kicked up look at this fell he's got two right together in his head you can't survive a wound like that we caught the middleman in each rank should we have waited for these guys to be closer to us before we fired no because we want to make sure that we get a second or even a third shot so all we really have to do is make an elevation adjustment exactly all right let's do it again aim off this cascabel DET Tren in the center of the board that looks good charge charge that's charge qu will R of fire what do you think it's hard to say from this distance I think we got to go up and take a look all right on this cat right here you've got one two three three rounds tight pattern right here heart lungs aorta and look down here oh my he's got a fourth wound down here low which is probably that same round that went through this guy's foot came back and took this out here this round went through the knee came through here caught this guy in the knee these two cats here on the end they're not hit but they're definitely scared and they're going to close ranks now so we'll have a better Target 11 hits for 18 musket balls whether they were through multiple targets doesn't matter 11 out of 18 that's a great percentage for a weapon that's so old and this is the first time a leather Cano has ever been fired on this continent wow the leather Cannon is not the sweds only Innovation they're among the first to deploy the Howitzer another type of lightweight highly mobile artillery discover the past with exclusive military history documentaries and adree podcast presented by world-renowned historians all on History hit watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device download the app now to watch everything from the gripping story of the Band of Brothers to operation Barbarosa and D-Day immerse yourself in the dramatic stories of this remarkable era by signing up via the link in the description howitzers were shorter barreled weapons that were designed to fire an explosive Shell at a steep angle this Howitzer labeled Howitzer number one was the first delivered to the continental army during the American Revolution weapons like this fuel the rise of one of the world's greatest masters of artillery French Emperor Napoleon bonapart bonapart comes up through the ranks as an artillery officer as a general he uses a combination of direct fire cannons and early howitzers that fire at angled trajectories for his spectacular victories but in the epic battle of at waterloop the British led by the Duke of Wellington holds The High Ground a rainstorm turns Napoleon's lower position into a sprawling mud flat each time his cannons and howitzers fire recoil drives them into the mud dragging them out takes time slowing the offensive and dooming Napoleon to defeat artillery remains largely unchanged from waterl to the early years of the American Civil War the this 1841 model is one of the work horses of the era that's pretty impressive awesome king of battle huh Frank Silman served in several artillery units before taking charge of Fort sil's collection of howitzers and cannons the six pounder played a very important part uh in the Mexican-American War although outnumbered by the Mexican Army the United States Army used artillery much to its Advantage jump forward to the Civil War the 18416 pounder was predominant piece on the battlefield at the beginning of the war oh the 1841 relatively lightweight allows American commanders to use a new Battlefield tactic it was used for the flying batteries that uh us developed to move around the battlefield so that artillery really was at the right place and the right time and influence the battle so by flying you meant that they could displace as needed throughout the battle exactly a trained Gunnery team could load and fire the 1841 in 20 seconds they'd slow down to 30 seconds during a pro long battle to keep the barrel from overheating the 1841 is a direct fire cannon that launches rounds at more than 1,400 ft per second the Gunnery crew's primary target is the attacking infantry and they have a choice of ammo depending on combat conditions so 6 lb refers to the weight of the actual round itself exactly the tube weighs 884 lb uh the diameter of the bore for a six pounder is 3.67 in the types of ammunition it fired would have been solid shot you have the 6 lb solid shot attached to wooden Sabo and then one and a/4 pound of black powder in a linen or cotton bag attached to it so it's one piece of loaded ammo so on the back side here all this in the back is powder right wow and that's what kicks this thing out 1,523 yards is that what you said it was the 1841 could also fire an iron Ball filled with powder and shot that would explode over enemy forces so this is like the predecessor to like a cluster bomb or something like that right and this was developed by whom well Henry shrapnel if you recognize the name a British artillery officer in the 1700s invented spherical Cas shot I never knew that shrapnel was a real person I thought it was like a German word for Mayhem okay so now what are these exactly well this is a friction primer this is the actual size of a friction primer and this is how the gun is fired this is a large example uh it's filled with very fine powder serrated wire that goes in and this is like a striker inside the wire and so as the lanyard is attached to the wire and they pull the lanyard it's like striking a match and it shoots the flame then down through the tube through the primer vent right into the powder bag igniting the powder like most artillery the 1841 is a creu served weapon the optimal team is eight but in a pinch two can keep it firing he far Harry Chappelle commands the Gunnery crew that fires Fort s's six pounder Chappelle served in an artillery unit in the Vietnam War and has offered to share his extensive knowledge to fit me into his crew you would be receiving the round you must have a pair of gloves because it say black powder this corrosive it also those rounds may get hot I eat black powder for breakfast well you're my man then we'll put you right in this thing right here yep up against the axle got you when he brings the bag up he will open it up for you you will take the round turn that way kind of clockwise insert it in the tube number one is going to seat it for you is there a reason I turn this way and not it's in the book that way counterclockwise the strict protocol is based on hard experience enemy snipers will Target the powder bag knowing that a direct hit could cause a fatal blast turning counter clockwise keeps the load hidden as long as possible that's also why the crewman brings the ammo in a Leather Pouch it makes the round difficult to Target after the round is loaded one crewman pierces the powder bag inside the barrel and another inserts the friction primer then we wait for Harry's command fire it's amazing was a lot louder than I thought it was going to be surprise the hell out of me well I hope you enjoyed it that's exactly the way the crew did it thank you very much I'm going to go find some more Cannons of fire thanks guys appreciate it appreciate you coming by at the start of the Civil War the 1841 six pounder is a critical Battlefield asset but radical advances in artillery would soon make make this weapon hopelessly obsolete by the 1870s a new generation of super efficient artillery rolls up to the front lines the next big advance in artillery was with recoil compensation guns like this French 75 utilized a dual cylinder recoil management system it absorbed The Recoil of the weapon placed it back into position which allowed for a greater rate of fire these Advanced features make artillery far more or lethal to prove it armorer rick pullers is firing a wicked Little Weapon introduced by the US Navy the dggs one pounder these were designed in 1885 uh to use against torpedo boats that were a huge problem at the time but they were also used by Landing parties when they went ashore to fight whatever Enemy at the time with its extra long 54in barrel the Driggs one pounder was devastatingly accurate for up to 4,000 yd this is a slick looking piece of artillery right here and the first thing that I notice is that it doesn't look anything like Civil War era artillery pieces I've been exposed to what's different for one thing we have a modern rifling this is actually a gain twist which which means that it starts off slow and actually speeds up towards the end it shoots a self-contained 37 mm ground remember during the Civil War they had to stuff them in from the front takes a long time right with this they just put it in the back lock her up and they're ready to go the other thing is during the Civil War there was a huge amount of recoil take a gang of guys to reposition the gun and resite it with this we have a recoil mechanism that arrests The Recoil on this gun the whole unit stays in place you can get back on target instantly is this thing springloaded so it like absorbs The Recoil and shoves it back forth there is a spring in there but it's also filled up with hydraulic fluid there's a piston in there that arrests The Recoil back and the spring is really designed more to push it forward for superb accuracy and how big is the crew that mans this typically generally a couple guys could you do it by yourself sure you could all right can I try it knock yourself out all right let's do this okay the elevation is locked in our first accuracy test will be to hit the white bullseye on each of these three targets they're 200 yd away well within the Cannon's 2m range okay ready yeah fire an all I think we're a little low on the shot or maybe the bottom of the barrel I don't know we use the Driggs iron sights to reposition on the second Target and reload it's good to go IR a hole this is pretty impressive I don't know if we hit the table with that shot no we didn't see this this one has a clear silhouette of the round right here was where the round went in all that kinetic energy got transferred into the water and the hydrostatic shock of that rounds velocity and mass entering that water just collapsed that table but this is just Annihilation and Devastation if it was a boat it'd be sinking yeah no kidding fireing a hole next we'll see if the recoil system can keep the cannon aimed without any adjustment between shots our Target is a cinder block wall the next shot should hit very close to the previous [Music] round it's an almost perfect strike cannons and howitzers with recoil control can Hammer an enemy repeatedly in one spot is that enough damage for you yeah that's impressive I mean that's great destructive power great accuracy those rounds all went pretty much where we wanted them to but I'm impressed these artillery advances triggered the arrival of the modern-day Howitzer in World War I trench warfare demanded a weapon that could fire rounds at Deep angles of descent with their ever longer elevating barrels Howitzer rained shells by the Millions on enemy positions causing more casualties than any other weapon the importance of artillery led the Germans to invent a new tactic a forward Observer guiding indirect fire from Howitzer systems at the rear they realized that getting these direct Fire Systems was putting them too close for comfort for a lot of the Enemy Lines so they started developing these tactics where they would have guys in trenches with binoculars who would be able to call back to position so that they could pull the guns back both sides realized the importance of artillery and deployed a variety of models in the hope of gaining a decisive Edge the French relied on this Howitzer in part because of its high rate of fire a train crew could launch one round every 30 seconds it was also used by American forces who brought little artillery of Their Own although this German fuel gun was made a decade before the first world war it was widely used for direct fire against enemy artillery however its slow rate of fire one round every 2 minutes eventually made it obsolete this modest looking direct fire Cannon was the backbone of British artillery forces during the first world war it had an advantage over German fuel guns of its class as it had a bigger boore this combat veteran and served during World War II as well the famous arms Maker scota Works was located in the ostroh Hungarian Empire when it built this 100 mm Howitzer at the end of the Great War scota Works was still making howitzers but now in the newly created nation of Czechoslovakia during World War II howitzers continue to play a critical role turning the tide in pivotal battles and by then the howitzers fielded by both sides were monstrous in size and destructive power the M2 Howitzer was the US Army's standard Heavy Artillery piece during World War II it was deadly accurate to 15 miles and a train crew could fire around every minute and a half the so-called steel rain American soldiers rolled out the m115 when they wanted to fire a more powerful round this this Howitzer had a larger boore and could launch 200lb projectiles twice as heavy as the M2 rounds the trade-off was a shorter range Germany fielded a similar Howitzer the Mercer 18 however its boore was slightly bigger and it could handle a heavier even deadlier round on the Eastern Front German forces captured a number of these Soviet field guns they lik them enough to spend time reboring the Chamber of each piece so it would fire German ammunition the US Army's most flexible artillery piece was a 75mm weapon called the pack Howitzer it was easily broken down and moved to remote combat zones the PAC Howitzer demonstration team at Fort Sil is led by Iraq war veteran Dustin Rodriguez the PAC howt are that Saw Service throughout World War II even into the Korean War there are certain countries especially in South America and in central Africa that still use a 75 mm Packer today cuz it's still an effective indirect fire asset now what are the advantages of of this particular weapon system the M1A1 75mm Packer was adopted in 1927 1 2 3 up it had major advantages because it could be broken down into seven major components and put on mules so the mules could carry all rough terrain maybe you couldn't get a vehicle in but you could get pack meals in another Advantage is three soldiers can move this into position how long do you think it would be before they could put their first shot down range a well Tred team could do it in under 5 minutes okay so what type of ammunition do we use in this Howitzer uh the M48 high explosive round it has a a large explosive charge inside and shrapnel Gunners customize each round by putting in just enough charge for it to reach the target charge one through four and in part of the fire command from the chief he'll tell you the round high explosive of charge three so if he said charge three the ammo guy will pull the first charge off which is four put that charge back in seat the projectile back in the Shell case it's ready to go that beats hauling around tons of self-contained rounds each useful for only one distance when an ace crew gets warmed up they can put a round down range every 10 seconds fire when it has all four charges on board this unassuming Howitzer can throw a 35lb shell more than 5 mil that shell will hit its Target in 23 seconds you're looking at a 40 to 45 yard kill radius and then out another 20 yards for injury radius even the pressure wave generated by these things very damaging even if you don't get hit directly by shrapnel now you're talking about a lot of traumatic brain injury and what they called back in the day shell shock right up by the 1950s the US Army had retired the pack Howitzer from service but the US military has a 21st century mobile Howitzer that more than fills its shoes the 105 mm m119 a Precision long distance Howitzer built to move fire mission one round shet G charge 7 fuse pity deflection 3293 3293 qu 331 331 67 to the rear Stand By Fire the m119 needs a crew of seven to fire at Peak efficiency many of them train at Fort Sill soldiers from the 2 two field artillery the big deuce conduct their training here and in the process they fire an average of 164 shells a day that's more than any other artillery unit anywhere in the world staff sergeant Nicholas vosi Veri was part of a Howitzer crew during operation Iraqi Freedom the M1 Howitzer is probably the most mobile piece that we have in our Arsenal it's easily air dropped or air lifted in any operation I see some computer equipment or or some electronic equipment how heavily does this particular system rely on computers for its firing data um really this piece would probably uses the least amount of electronical data we have some just to make things easy but we could easily shoot with no electrical data Max rate of fire is eight rounds a minute for the first 3 minutes the sustained rate of fire is is three rounds a minute for 30 minutes why do you have that Max rate of fire I mean shouldn't you be able just to put rounds down range as fast as you possibly can well the more rounds you start putting and shooting you could actually have a tube explode or problems with the tube that's the max rate of fire before stuff starts going wrong catastrophic destruction of property all right 67 stand by F the m119 is valued for its maneuverability others like the M 7 can fire powerful rounds even longer distances but what if you could combine the two a self-propelled piece of artillery offers the ultimate Mobility it drives itself to the battlefield I'm standing next to one of three t162 self-propelled howitzers why were there only three because the t162 only got part of the equation right it moved under its own steam but it was still too heavy and cumbersome to be employed effectively other self-propelled howitzers have proven to be essential tools in the artillery man's Arsenal the US military deployed them in World War II Korea and Vietnam during the 1960s it launched its current m19 Series today the m19 A6 Paladin is the US Army's most advanced self-propelled Howitzer it's light enough to move quickly yet powerful enough to heave 100 lb projectiles 18 M down range the Paladin's Mobility is a defensive as well as offensive asset the Paladin has a max speed of about 38 mph and being a self-propelled Howitzer it has the ability to avoid enemy battery fire using shoot and move procedures now it has to stop in order to engage but within 60 seconds of stopping he can have rounds On Target down range the Paladin speed and maneuverability start with its big turbocharged diesel engine it can pull itself up a steep 60% grade and travel nearly 200 miles on a full tank of fuel the Paladin fires a 155 mm round and can Elevate its Barrel more than 70° for accurate indirect fire first introduced in 1994 the m19 A6 Paladin proves itself as a vital combat element during the evasion of Iraq it takes a four-man team to drive and fire an m19 Paladin staff sergeant Jesus Rivera commands the crew in this Howitzer what makes it different than a take is that it can't shoot on the Move tubes too heavy Hydraulics come into play you can't you can't do that this system is made for indirect fire we have the capability to do direct fire but it's not that accurate like a tank would be get ready get ready let's go get another one ready come on come on being that um it's a self-propelled Hower we could go ahead and we could shoot and move faster than the other pieces can so uh what is the maximum rate of fire for this particular operating system four rounds a minute for the first three minutes and one round each additional minute so that you don't overheat the barrel and shatter the barrel Roger I see that we have rif in all the way up the barrel of that it looks like rifling but in the artillery world it's called lands and grooves lands and grooves okay and it puts that spin on the bullet to travel [Music] further the crew loads each 100lb projectile into the Bree then the Paladin's robotic arm pushes it into the barrel all it takes is one pull on the lanyard and the Paladin fires the round at a blazing 900 mph and this whole thing just rocks that route just lifts this whole apparatus up the entire Paladin tracks everything just come up off the ground it's unbelievable this guy must have done 10 100 lb dead lift with a nonuniform weighted projectile got to have that he toing arm shove it into place in today's combat zones insurgents often take refuge in the middle of Civilian populations in these high stakes missions M109 Crews load up the m982 Xcalibur projectile it looks like an ordinary round from the outside but this $100,000 projectile is a Marvel of weapons engineering Fin's deploy from the shell soon after it's fired he checks caliber has an onboard electronic guidance system that steers itself using GPS data the Xcalibur makes a near vertical descent to minimize collateral damage the round hits its Target with surgical [Music] Precision the Paladin is a 21st century combat beast but it has one throwback to the earliest artillery the projectile propellant and primer are still loaded separately this allows the Gunner to load the exact amount of propellant necessary to reach the target whether it's 5 or 20 M away from muzzle break to breach tracks to Turret the M109 Alpha 6 Paladin represents 64,000 lb of pure war power it's got a 100 lb projectile fired downrange by a very large explosive charge all that would be useless without this it's about a 3 o primer that ignites that entire destructive power unbelievable the Howitzer awesome ability to zero in on enemy targets miles away has made it the king of the battlefield my search for its Origins has taken me through 400 years of history from the groundbreaking leather Cannon to Classic field artillery and the first guns to solve the problem of recoil these combat Pioneers gave way to longrange howitzers fired in both world wars and in combat zones today fire I've also encountered a few artillery pieces that didn't make it into the military Arsenal during the depths of the Cold War the United States rolled out this giant even today it is the larg lest wheel artillery piece on the planet the barrel alone is over 40 ft long in May of 1953 one of these launched a nuclear warhead in a Nevada Test Site it was 15 kilotons and it is the first nuclear device ever fired from a cannon the M65 never saw combat and in 1963 she was decommissioned but she's still affectionally known as atomic Annie one of the most classic pieces of artillery to ever see action is the 105 mm Howitzer that served in the second world war this battlefield Workhorse hurled high explosive shells at Targets up to 7 m away because its Barrel could be elevated 65° this Howitzer was able to lob shells on the targets that a cannon would overshoot this reliable combat veteran served even after World War II when it was known as the M101 now's my chance to fire one of these bad boys my job Ford Observer I'm told that there's a Target out there that needs to be taken out of its misery now once I locate the target I'll have to communicate its coordinates back to the fire team to help me in a final test of the Howitzer capabilities armor Rick pullers and assistant Gunner John tof will be my fire team well it's filled with TNT it's about 35 lbs of Steel this is a lot of metal to be slinging around the neighborhood how many people does it take to operate this weapon system anywhere from seven or eight and is everybody trained in everybody else's job of course they are so if one guy goes down you could still you got to step in and it it would frequently happen okay what's the minimum number of people you operate this piece of artillery with well I hear tell guys that were awarded High honors doing it singlehanded nice can you show me how to load it okay place it in here ball your fist up like this cuz when we Ram it home you don't want your fingers caught why don't you go close the breach for me while we're at this okay I'm going to ram it home all right we have to be fast this is is why we don't use fingers we only use a closed fist okay let her rep right very nice all right well let's let her rip on a Target down range what do you say okay all right I'll be calling you we've set up our test on a sprawling Southern California Canyon the target is placed Somewhere Over the Mountain out of sight of the howi in most combat situations with field artillery pieces like the Howitzer the fire team can't actually see the Target that they're engaging because of terrain or distances that's where a Ford Observer comes into play to call for that indirect fire now the maximum range of the M101 is 7 Mi so I'm thinking that just over this hill is going to be a great spot for an OP or observation position and look at that there's the target Romeo kilo Romeo kilo this is whiskey whiskey fire mission location 873 ner 654 two vehicle in the open how cabi Roger there fire Romeo kilo this is whiskey whiskey left 200 drop 200 over Roger there [Music] fire all right that's right in it Romeo kilo is whiskey whiskey drop 5 fire for effect Roger that fire oh that was amazing oh my God Romeo kilo Romeo kilo this is whiskey whiskey Target destroyed good job thank you very much you're welcome whiskey whiskey out it's amazing oh my gosh that is Firepower right there the mighty 101 is still an awesome artillery piece more than 50 years after it rolled into combat it set the stage for today's big battle tested howitzers the ultral light M 7 and the self-propelled m19 Paladin thanks to their dominant Firepower and unrestrained Mobility today's howitzers are the true Titans of the [Music] battlefield artillery pieces like the Howitzer are known as the king of battle and we've seen dramatic proof why I'm will Willis locked and cleared I'll see you next time on the Range [Music]

Channel: War Stories

Views: 115,687

Keywords: M101 Howitzer details, M119 Howitzer facts, National Defense history, Self-Propelled Howitzer info, Swedish leather cannon, War Stories, ancient cannons, army weaponry evolution, artillery accuracy, artillery advancements, artillery evolution, artillery firepower, artillery versatility, documentary series, firepower secrets, historical conflicts, historical weapons, military machines, warfare evolution, weapon development, weaponry inventions study

Id: GnY2klbd9U4

Length: 48min 56sec (2936 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 25 2024