From a russian soldier’s perspective this is like hearing that the warehouse you are wandering around in at night is full of angry grizzly bears.

    • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyzOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      5 days ago

      It is worth pointing out that the reload step is also heavily automatable especially in terms of speed, limiting crew exposure and number of artillery shells exposed outside of blast chambers at any one time.

      However even before the advent of heavily automated self propelled artillery guns like the PZH2000 or Archer, the concept of the gun raid had been well established in which artillery is brought forward into temporary firing positions closer to the front under an umbrella of friendly forces… and part of that operation is delivering ammuntion pre-emptively and clandestinely to future firing positions… something which is also perfect for automation/the use of UGVs and UAVs.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K10_ammunition_resupply_vehicle

      The vehicle has a combat weight of 47 metric tons (46 long tons; 52 short tons),[1][6] and can support a K9 team by carrying and resupplying 104 shells of 155 mm artillery ammunition and 504 units of charges under heavy fire. The vehicle is operated by a 3-person crew, requiring only one loader by applying fully automated control system. It transfers ammunition at a maximum speed of 12 rounds/min. It takes 37 minutes to fully load, and 28 minutes to empty the K10.[3] It is often called the briquette car by military and defense industry officials.[7]