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| | As defined by the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', '''artillery''' is an umbrella term for large-calibre guns used in land-based warfare; also the term for an armed forces branch trained in the use of artillery.<ref>OED 2004, 11th edition, p. 74.</ref> |
| '''Artillery''' is a term for devices, their supporting infrastructure, techniques and personnel for propelling '''payloads''' or '''projectiles''', over distances and obstacles, to hit a target. Usually, the target is a physical object such as a building, a tank, or an aircraft. The target may also be a location in space to which the payload will burst, scattering materials as nonlethal as propaganda leaflets, or as dangerous as fragmenting explosives or nuclear weapons. | |
| ==Categories of artillery launchers==
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| Artillery includes [[cannon]], [[unguided rockets]], and [[guided missile]]s. It can include aircraft cannon and unguided rockets, but is not usually considered to include [[gravity bomb]]s or air-launched [[guided missile]]s. Artillery is most often fired from land, but also from warships.
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| Artillery existed before the invention of gunpowder and rocket propellants; medieval artillery used mechanical, rather than chemical, energy to propel projectiles.
| | ==References== |
| {| class="wikitable" | | {{reflist}} |
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| ! Type
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| ! Propulsion
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| ! Guidance
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| | Historical weapons ([[ballista]], [[catapult]], [[trebuchet]], etc.)
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| | Mechanical energy from tensed rope or fiber, or counterweight
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| | Ballistic setting
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| | [[Cannon]]
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| | Energy of propellant exploding behind projectile ''Note 1''
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| | Ballistic setting of cannon; some [[guided shell]]s
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| | [[Unguided rockets]]
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| | Propellant burning for at least part of the trajectory
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| | Ballistic, preset fins ''Note 2''
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| | [[Guided missile]]
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| | Jet or rocket burning for at least part of the trajectory
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| | Many types
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| |}
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| *''Note 1'': Some projectiles may have supplementary rockets, glide wings, or both, but the primary energy comes from the propellant gases in the cannon
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| *''Note 2'': Some [[unguided rocket#multiple rocket launcher|multiple rocket launcher]]s are deliberately inaccurate, firing tens of rockets whose variations cover an area.
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| Artillery, of all types, falls into the general category of [[direct fire]] or [[indirect fire]]. Indirect fire needs either preplanned trajectories for specific targets, a [[forward observer]] giving corrections to the firing unit, or the use of [[precision-guided munition]] that will adjust their course to [[go-onto-location-in-space]] (GOLIS) or [[go-onto-target]] (GOT).
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| Most modern artillery must be operated by several people (i.e., [[crew-served weapon]]), and rarely can be moved by muscle power alone. It will be towed by a vehicle, lifted by a [[helicopter]], or may be [[self-propelled artillery]]
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| ==Payload types==
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| True artillery rarely uses [[direct fire]] except in final self-defense, although [[self-propelled artillery]] may assist assault troops in clearing obstacles.
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| ===Indirect fire===
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| *High [[explosive]], producing blast and fragmentation effects
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| *Cluster submunitions
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| **"Dual-purpose" or antipersonnel
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| **Antitank, often guided
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| **Scatterable antitank mines
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| *Smoke
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| *Illumination
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| *Propaganda leaflets
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| *[[Chemical weapon]], not known to be in the stockpile of any country
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| *[[Guided shell]]
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| ===Direct fire===
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| *Antitank
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| *Obstacle clearing (e.g., [[concrete]]-shattering)
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| *Close-in antipersonnel, historically [[grapeshot]] or [[canister]], now [[flechette]] or controlled fragmentation
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| ==Fire direction==
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| Modern artillery units have fire direction centers, often electronically linked to the artillery pieces, in which specialists compute the ammunition, propellant (if variable) and barrel elevation and azimuth, to hit the target. The fire direction computation may factor in weather effects, barrel heat and wear, and other factors.
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| There may be [[forward observer]]s to give corrections, especially on moving targets.
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| [[Guided shell]]s need general position, and will then home on the target. Until fairly recently, they were far too expensive to use for other than specialized missions. Typically, a guided shell homes on a [[laser designator]], or goes to [[GPS]]-defined coordinates that were preselected or determined by an observer with a [[laser rangefinder]] and GPS.
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| ==Organization of artillery units==
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| Modern artillery responsibilities include the actual firing of the guns, their supply and maintenance, and protection against [[counterbattery]] fire. For indirect fire, however, they go considerably beyond the guns themselves, into [[target acquisition]], trajectory planning for individual rounds, and the direction of multiple firing guns and units.
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| Even an individual gun has multiple roles, some of which may now be automated: loading, pointing (i.e., setting azimuth) and training (i.e., setting elevation). Each gun, in many modern units, has its own support infrastructure, such as the [[M992 Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicle]].
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| Artillery shells are not the only things moving through the air of the battlespace, so [[deconfliction]] is necessary. One organiation for doing so is the [[ADAM cell]].
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