From the 80s to the beginning of the 21st century, the M198 howitzer was the only towed heavy grenade saturated for the US Army equipment. Because the gun used a large number of light metals, the full gun weight became the lighter of the guns of the same caliber and range. The gun can achieve 360° ring fire in a short time, and the strain capacity is very high. The M198 howitzer consisted of four parts: the M199 body, the M45 recoil, the sighting device and the M39 mount.
Home firepower
The U.S. Army deployed the Stryk Light Armoured Brigade to participate in the Iraq War and emergencies in urban areas. The main fire support of this rapid force was the M198 howitzer. According to the Pentagon's vision, each Stryk brigade is equipped with an artillery battalion equipped with M198 howitzers, and the 24 M198 howitzers of this battalion will provide the main fire support for the rapid brigade.
Embarrassing bay line
During the 1991 Gulf War, the U.S. military brought 336 MI98 howitzers from 14 artillery battalions to the front line. However, the result was very disappointing to the US military, because the maximum range of the M198 was only 30 kilometers, and it was impossible to attack the Iraqi positions a little farther away. In desperation, the US commander had to dispatch CH -47 transport planes to transport the M198 to the Iraqi front at night for direct bombardment. This embarrassing situation was encountered in the first regular war, which shows that the weakness of the M198 howitzer is also very obvious.
High-risk "copper-spotted snake"
In addition to the use of ordinary explosive grenades, the M198 howitzer can also use smoke flares, flares, incendiary grenades. However, the most smug of the M198 howitzer is the "Copper Spotted Snake" astigmatism guided ground bomb, the front-line infantry only needs to use the laser pointer to aim at the target, the artillery launches the "Copper Spotted Snake" above the target, the warhead can automatically find the enemy, but the defect is that the "Copper Spotted Snake" shell is expensive, and the cost of a single piece reaches 70,000 US dollars.