FIELD ARTILLERY IN THE ROMANIAN ARMY
by Major Sebastian BACIU
I. Foreword.
Field artillery is called the "King of Battle". The mission of the Field Artillery is to integrate and deliver lethal and non-lethal fires to enable joint and maneuver commanders to dominate their operational environment across the spectrum of operations. Artillery term comes from France word “artiller”, that meant the art of building and the ability to use the weapons. The first Romanian field artillery battery was born in 1843, after returning of king Bibescu from Turkey. He received as a present four guns from Turkish king. They were made of bronze. One century later, Romanian Army had 8,301 pieces of artillery. They were divided in: little caliber pieces, big caliber pieces, anti-tank pieces, and anti-aircraft pieces. Nowadays the field artillery keeps up the traditions; it remains very important in the Land Forces and became a modern branch in the Romanian Army. The Romanian Field Artillery respects the NATO standards. It has high reaction speed, modern communication and information system and strong ammunition.
II. The structure of field artillery in the Romanian Army.
The Romanian Army has two infantry divisions. Each of them has four big tactical units, the brigades. Each infantry brigade has one field artillery battalion. The battalion has howitzers and anti-tank rockets. The basic mission is to direct fire support and reinforcement.
The field artillery brigade is under full command to the infantry division. The basic mission is to provide general fire support and reinforcement. It has a big firepower and therefore it covers a very large area of operations. Field artillery brigade comprises:
III. Field artillery as a system.
Field artillery is a system of systems, because it includes different components, each part of them works like a mechanism. It is very important that all the systems interact with the other one, to accomplish the missions.
The first is the command control system. It is represented by the post of command. In that place the orders are formulated, the commander and his staff analyze the importance of the targets, and finally they establish what engagement system will be designated to destroy / neutralize the targets. The command and control system sends to the strike system orders to engage the targets. In the command post, organized by the centers, we can see a lot of computers, maps and documents.
The second one is the target acquisition system. That system comprises different complementary sensors and meteorological stations. A sensor comprises reconnaissance assets (optical devices, radars, sound reconnaissance station) and the soldier or team who serve them. The meteorological station is designated to give data about air pressure, air temperature, wind direction and wind speed. All of these are necessary for the trajectory of the projectiles, and all of them are sent to the engagement subsystem.
The logistics system is the third one. Our logistics system is pretty old. Its first mission is to supply the strike subsystem with ammunition. Its second mission is to feed the troops and supply all the subsystems with fuel.
The last but not the list system is the strike system. It is able to engage the targets in order to obtain different effect, in accordance with the commander officer intent. This system receives information from the command post, the meteorological station, and ammunition from the logistics subsystem. It comprises four types of pieces: howitzers, LAROM system, anti-tank guns, and anti-tank rockets. It is characterized by o big firepower.
Figure 1
Field artillery uses direct fire and indirect fire. Direct fire means that the projectile follows the line of sight to the target. Generally, direct fire is used in anti-tank fight.
Indirect fire means that the projectile does not follow the line of sight to the target. There is an obstacle (hill, mountain, forests or village) between the target and gun position which does not permit seeing each other. So, the role of the target acquisition is to deliver information about the discovered targets in an area of responsibility. The dates are processed in the headquarters, located in post command and then after the maneuver forces call for fire, the orders to open fire is deliver to the gun position or the engagement subsystem.
Figure 2
Field artillery system has the capability to:
- deliver and sustain continuous attacks lasting for many hours;
- improve or maintain the accuracy of fire as an attack continues, including when the target moves;
- deliver shells onto a target within a few minutes at most after being 'called';
- concentrate the fire of many guns onto a target;
- apply the fire of many guns against many targets simultaneously or in rapid succession;
- accurate surprise attack against many targets simultaneously;
- repeat an attack with more or less guns hours or days later;
- attack targets '24 × 7'.
- integrate closely attacks with infantry and armoured forces.
IV. Field artillery in operations.
Field Artillery is involved simultaneously in:
- deep operations;
- close operations;
- rear operations.
Deep operations.
Deep and simultaneous attacks, executed at increasingly longer range and with precision, are key elements for division, and corps in shaping the battlespace and accelerating the enemy’s defeat. In both offense and defense, deep operations are conducted to isolate, immobilize, and weaken the enemy in depth, using fire, maneuver, or a combination of the two. Deep offensive field artillery fires may be used to limit the enemy’s ability to shift forces to meet attacking friendly maneuver forces and to sustain the momentum of the attack. Deep fires limit, delay, or disrupt the enemy’s attacking echelons and command, control, and communications, and logistic infrastructure. They are intended to reduce the enemy’s rate of arrival in the close battle area to a level manageable by brigade and battalion task force commanders.
Close operations.
At corps and division levels, close operations during the offense or defense are undertaken to win the current battle or engagement. Close battle occurs where, when, and against whom commanders choose to commit assault forces. Field artillery fires, in the form of preparations, counterpreparations, support friendly schemes of maneuver by assisting in denying the enemy favorable avenues of approach, helping maneuver forces control terrain, and defeating attacks as they are mounted. Although not taking place at the line of contact, counterfires silence enemy artillery and other indirect fire systems to preserve friendly fighting forces and combat capabilities. They give supported elements the freedom to maneuver, while smoke hides friendly movements and illumination exposes enemy formations at night. Commanders and planners must ensure that maneuver forces engaged in face-to-face engagements receive an appropriate share of available fire support to include security forces and reserves upon commitment.
Rear operations.
Rear operations are conducted to ensure that friendly forces retain freedom of action to support combat forces engaged in deep and close operations. The focus is on protecting the most critical capabilities. Field artillery assets are seldom sufficient to dedicate firing units to rear area support as their sole or primary mission. Field artillery commanders, in the role as fire support coordinator, may assign on-order missions to support corps or division rear area operations.
Date: 2009
