Artillery

The artillery indicates the Arme S collective or heavy being used to send, at long distance, on the enemy or his positions and its equipment, various projectiles large Caliber: Shell, Ball, rocket, Missile, to support its own troops engaged in a battle or a seat. The term would have appeared approximately at the 13th century, drifting of old French Artillier who appointed the craftsmen, manufacturers of weapons and equipment of war. These craftsmen were for a long time only the " spécialistes" in the service of these weapons since they manufactured them and tested them prior to delivery. This is why, until the 18th century, they were commissioned by the sovereigns to be used them for the war. Thus and by extension, the artillery name which indicated the whole of the products manufactured by the artillerists ended up also indicating the whole of the troops on the ground charged to put in action these weapons, since specialized military trainings were created. The use of artillery requires the information, the monitoring, the acquisition of objective, the adjustment of the shooting, the transmission of information, a supply ammunition and the maintenance of the weapons. Because of its complexity, it remained a long time the scientific weapon par excellence, attracting number of erudite . Because of its strategic interest, it was the determining weapon more the appraisal of Napoleon {{Rom|I|1}} {{er}} (which was artillerist of trade), in particular at the time of the Bataille of Austerlitz.

History

The nevrobalistic artillery

See also: medieval Artillery

The first way of reaching the enemy with projectiles, was to launch them thanks to the energy mechanical, of a counterweight (precision balance, mangonneau) or tension (catapults) or the torsion (triggerfish) of a rope, accumulated and released from a blow then giving the force able to remotely send a load towards the adversary. This one depended on the type of machine used; one thus found javelins or stones, but also of the projectiles flamers containing Poix, or “bacteriological” like carcasses of sick animals. The majority of these machines were intended for the operations of seat, as well in the attack as in defense. Sometimes however, the Roman legions made use of light machines as the Scorpion S on the battle field.

Some types of machines nevrobalistic:

The age of the powder

The true birth of artillery, was going to come with the discovery from a propelling energy, quickly and directly usable, the black Poudre. After some disappointing tests of rocket S flamers, one imagined to use gases produced by the Déflagration like engine in a tube to launch a ball, the bombards had been born.

The tube

the metallurgy still stammering of the time, not making it possible to produce guns of a block, those was carried out in a way similar to the barrel X, with parts of wrought iron or even of wood held together by hoopings out of iron or even out of leather (in Italy for example). Under these conditions, the tubes were very often prone to dangerous unexpected burstings even fatal for their users. For this reason, the propelling powder loads were necessarily limited thus reducing the range and the power to the impact. Moreover, the loads lost much effectiveness because of important Vent of ball, made necessary by the lack of regularity in the manufacture of the projectiles.
At the end of the Moyen-âge, the artillery of seat became so effective that the techniques of fortification must be reconsidered basic in roof. There does not exist then any more of impregnable fort, because the higher one wall is, the more it is vulnerable to the shooting of the metal balls.
Little by little, the metallurgy found better techniques and materials for the manufacture of the parts, one started to use the Bronze which, although more expensive, had the advantage of becoming deformed rather than to burst.
Since 1855, the Bessemer converter made it possible to produce steel of quality at low prices. This made it possible artillery to progress. In 1875, the range reaches the 6 km. From 1890, shootings with the top of the troops start.
the rifled bores bring a new innovation, by printing a rotation movement with the projectile, thus improving the precision.

The mounting

In parallel, one also worked to make artillery more mobile, while placing the weapon on a Affût with wheel. It is this innovation which marks the passage of bombards with the gun, also allows an easier pointing in range. It seems that the first mountings made their appearance with the battle of Marignan in 1515.

The projectile

Another problem is related to the nature of the projectiles. The latter being, initially, out of stone had the annoying tendency to be crushed with the impact of a solid objective like a wall of enclosure. This last problem was eliminated, in the middle of the 15th century, thanks to the use of wrought iron projectiles, more resistant, which finally made it possible artillery with powder to really exceed its elder.

The modern artillery

Various classifications of artillery

The pieces of artillery can be classified in several ways. One can for example distinguish them according to their obstruction, their number of being useful and cuts it of their projectile, by distributing them between Light artillery, Heavy artillery. However, this classification proves very dependant on the time and of the place considered, thus a heavy part of 12 pounds, First Empire, will nowadays be regarded as a light part, because of its gauge.

More reliable, the classification according to the objective varies much less. One can thus distribute the pieces of artillery in various categories, which practically existed at all the times. Oldest is without question the Artillerie of seat, which was soon countered by its rival the Artillerie of place. The Field artillery also appeared it, of the time of nevroballistic artillery, but in a later and limited way; it then was mainly employed by the Romans. the idea to mount these machines on ships, giving rise to the Naval artillery date also of this period, Alexandre Large the seems to have used some at the time of the Siège of Tyr. To counter this Naval artillery appeared a branch of artillery of place, the coastal Artillerie.

Large artillerists

  • Jean Bureau revolutionizes medieval artillery. With his Gaspard brother, he is the true initiator of field artillery, i.e. of the use of mobile guns on the battle field. This major change of military technology in the middle of XVe century, will make it possible the French troops to take ascending decisive on the English army, and to put thus fine at the Guerre One hundred Year old. Under its impulse, the stone ball is replaced by the iron ball, the tubes out of cast iron make their appearance. Jean Bureau puts an end to anarchy gauges used by imposing the 7 gauges of France.
  • Jean-Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval (1715-1789), engineer, takes part in the modernization and the improvement of artillery. Its name remained attached to the gun Gribeauval which contributes to the French victory of Valmy
  • Napoleon {{Rom|I|1}} {{er}} (Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769 - 1821), named lieutenant as an artillery second the 1er September 1785. At the beginning of the next month, it accepted order to go to join to Valence, in Dauphiné, the artillery regiment of Fère, which was in garrison in this city; on his arrival, one placed it in one of the companies of the brigade of the bombers. Thereafter, throughout its military career then at the time of its reign, it was in the history the first of the military strategists to conceive its battle plans initially and above all around the use of artillery, in particular at the time of the Siège of Toulon (1793) or of the Bataille of Austerlitz (1805), thus inaugurating the modern era of the military strategy by a rational management of the firepower and its effects. Its interest for the cartography, its manner of very preparing its battle plans in advance starting from the cartographic elements, and its rigorous management of logistics are also typical of an artillerist who was to mark out the ground on which it would have to start fires by using his ammunition available.
  • Emile Rimailho (1864-1954) brought various improvements to the guns of use in the French Army after the defeat of 1870: limitation of the retreat, security of the firing, better mobility. Its work is in particular at the origin of the Canon of 75 and the Canon of 155, called “rimailho” during the First World War.

In France

Draguignan, which is the French capital of Artillery: it accommodates the school of specialization of this Weapon. The Sainte Beard, celebrated the December 4th is the owner of the artillerists. The most famous song of the artillerists is " The artillerist of Metz" , this city having a long time been a garrison of artillery regiments.

In France, one indicates under the term of “ground-to-ground artillery” the units and systems of weapons which take with part of the objectives on the ground and “artillery ground-to-air” those which take with part of the aircraft. The ground-to-ground artillery is, in a general way, the weapon of the indirect shootings. The units of artillery use armaments of a gauge equal to or higher than 20 Misters Like the genius, the artillery is a weapon of supports (in opposition to the infantry and with the armor-plated weapon cavalry which are the weapons of fray). The French artillery has various types of units:

units of indirect supports: which serves the TRF1 (tractor drawn gun of 155 mm), the AUF1 (self-propelled gun of 155 mm) or the LRM (multiple Rocket launcher). All the units “AIN” (Indirect Supports) have the Mortar of 120 mm in double equipment.

units of ground-to-air defense: which serves the ROLAND, the MISTRAL or the HAWK (who are three different and complementary ground-to-air missiles)

There exists also a regiment specialized in the implementation of télédynes light remotely-piloted called Drone S to obtain digital images of the zones flown over. Information drawn from the analysis of these images is used to work out what one calls the “information of origin image” or ROIM.

Formerly, the distinction between gun and mortar were based on the rise. The guns drew in plunging shooting (angle of rise lower than 45° - or 800 Thousandth S in terms of artillery) and the mortars drew in vertical shooting (angle of rise higher than 45°). Today, all the artillery guns are able to carry out shootings tended (for which the arrow of the trajectory is lower than the half-height of the objective), like the tanks and of the vertical shooting. The criterion of the rise is thus inadequate and the criterion to differentiate a gun from a mortar is the number of gauges which is a number without dimension determined by the relationship between the length of the striped part and gauges it. In France, a piece of artillery of which the number of gauges is lower than 20 is a mortar, a gun if this number is equal to or higher than 20. In the United States, for example, this value is of 25 and variable according to the countries.

Material of the French Army

The material of the French Army is composed of:
  • Canon of 155 mm called TRF1 ( TR act models F1 ), used in particular during the war of the Gulf by France in Iraq.
  • Canon of 155 mm assembled on frame of Tank AMX-30 called AuF1 ( WITH the tomotor models F1 ), in Grande Rate of Shooting (GCT, automatic loading). In maximum rate of shooting, called " efficacité" , the AuF1 can draw to 6 shells at the minute at a distance from 40 kilometers.
  • Canon of 155 mm on truck called Caesar. See also
  • LRM, L ance- R oquettes M ultiples of American origin and manufactured under license.
  • ground-to-air Systems Hawk, Roland (frame of AMX-30), Mistral.
  • the nuclear lance-missile Hadès (withdrawn).
  • the VOA or Conveys Artillery Observation, assembled most of the time on a frame of AMX 10, making it possible the Officier S observers to move on the frontline while regulating the started shootings several kilometers with the back by the battery S of gun S (ground-to-ground artillery).

Basic unit of artillery in the French Army

The basic unit of French artillery is the battery, made up of a hundred men, directed by a Capitaine with four lieutenants - or having row - to assist it. A battery includes/understands six gun S, positioned with the back and ordered by the lieutenant of shooting, a section of recognition ordered by the lieutenant of recognition and which is used to recognize the positions where will move the battery after some salvos in order not to be located, and two Section S of observation, detached near the Infanterie or from the Cavalerie on the frontline, ordered by observant lieutenants which transmit the coordinates of shooting and manage the firepower available under the authority of the Capitaine ordering the battery and itself detached near the chief of body ordering the Regiment of combat.

See too

Internal bonds

External bonds

  • Artillery on defense.gouv.fr
  • History of technique of the artillery
  • Site of the National federation of the Artillery
  • Site of the association of the Friends of the Museum of Artillery in Draguignan (AMAD)
  • War 1914 1918, Battles of the Linen 1915 (Alsace), Mémorial of the Linen - History of the station of DCA 96 deployed with the Linen (the Vosges)
  • personal Page on the military revolution in Europe caused by L appearance of L artillery to the XVI ème century

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