
Field artillery is a category of mobile
artillery
Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...
used to support
armies
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
in the field. These
weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law ...
s are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, short range, long range, and extremely long range target engagement.
Until the early 20th century, field artillery were also known as foot artillery, for while the guns were pulled by
beasts of burden
A working animal is an animal, usually domesticated, that is kept by humans and trained to perform tasks. Some are used for their physical strength (e.g. oxen and draft horses) or for transportation (e.g. riding horses and camels), while oth ...
(often horses), the gun
crew
A crew is a body or a group of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchy, hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the ta ...
s would usually march on foot, thus providing
fire support
Fire support is a military tactics term used to describe weapons fire used to support friendly forces by engaging, suppressing, or destroying enemy forces, facilities, or materiel in combat. It is often provided through indirect fire, though th ...
mainly to the
infantry
Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
. This was in contrast to
horse artillery, whose emphasis on speed while supporting
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
units necessitated lighter guns and crews riding on horseback.
Whereas horse artillery has been superseded by
self-propelled artillery
Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...
, field artillery has survived to this day both in name and mission, albeit with motor vehicles towing the guns (this towed artillery arrangement is often called mobile artillery), carrying the crews and transporting the ammunition. Modern artillery has also advanced to rapidly deployable wheeled and tracked vehicles and precision delivered munitions capable of striking targets at ranges between 15 and 30 kilometers.
Types
*
Field gun
A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artillery ...
s – capable of long range fire
*
Gun howitzers – capable of high or low angle fire with a long barrel
*
Howitzer
The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...
s – capable of high angle fire
*
Infantry support guns – directly support infantry units (mostly obsolete)
*
Gun mortar
A mortar today is usually a simple, lightweight, man-portable, muzzle-loaded cannon, consisting of a smooth-bore (although some models use a rifled barrel) metal tube fixed to a base plate (to spread out the recoil) with a lightweight bipod ...
s – breech-loaded mortars capable of high or low angle fire.
*
Mortars – weapons that fire projectiles at an angle of over 45 degrees to the horizontal, modern versions being lightweight with fin-stabilized explosive ammunition
*
Mountain guns – lightweight weapons that can be moved through difficult terrain (mostly obsolete)
*
Multiple rocket launcher
A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple rocket launcher, launchers which are fixed to a single weapons platform, platform, and shoots its rocket (weapon ...
s – mobile
rocket artillery
Rocket artillery is artillery that uses rockets as the projectile. The use of rocket artillery dates back to medieval China where devices such as fire arrows were used (albeit mostly as a psychological weapon). Fire arrows were also used in mult ...
launchers
History
Early modern era

Early artillery was unsuited to the battlefield, as the extremely massive pieces could not be moved except in areas that were already controlled by the combatant. Thus, their role was limited to such functions as breaking
siege
A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...
s.
['']A History of Warfare
''A History of Warfare'' is a 1993 book by military historian John Keegan, which was published by Random House.
Summary
Keegan discusses early warfare, the proliferation of Bronze Age warfare and then Iron Age warfare ( Greek hoplites and phal ...
''. Keegan, John, Vintage 1993 Following the beginning of the
gunpowder era, the first field artillery came into being as
metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the ...
allowed thinner
cannon
A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...
barrels to withstand the explosive forces without bursting. However, there was still a serious risk of the constant changes of the battlefield conspiring to leave behind slow-moving artillery units – either on the advance, or more dangerously, in retreat.
Artillery units were particularly vulnerable to assault by
light cavalry
Light cavalry comprised lightly armed and body armor, armored cavalry troops mounted on fast horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the mounted riders (and sometimes the warhorses) were heavily armored. The purpose of light cavalry was p ...
, which were frequently used in this role. Only with a number of further inventions (such as the
limber, hitched to the trail of a wheeled artillery piece equipped with
trunnion
A trunnion () is a cylinder, cylindrical Boss (engineering), protrusion used as a mounting or pivoting point. First associated with cannons, they are an important military development.
In mechanical engineering (see the Trunnion#Trunnion bearin ...
s), did the concept of field artillery really take off.
The medieval Ming dynasty Chinese invented mobile battlefield artillery during the early part of the fourteenth century at the time when gunpowder and the primordial cannon were first being adopted in the West. One of the earliest documented uses of field artillery is found in the 14th-century
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
treatise ''
Huolongjing''.
The text describes a Chinese cannon called a "thousand ball thunder cannon", manufactured of bronze and fastened with wheels.
The book also describes another mobile form of artillery called a "barbarian attacking cannon" consisting of a cannon attached to a two-wheel carriage.
20th century
Before field artillery batteries generally fired directly at visible targets measured in distances of meters and yards. Today, modern field batteries measure targets in kilometers and miles and often do not directly engage the enemy with observed
direct fire. The hundredfold increase in the range of artillery guns in the 20th century has been the result of development of
rifled cannons, improvements in propellants, better communications between observer and gunner, and technical improvements in
gun
A gun is a device that Propulsion, propels a projectile using pressure or explosive force. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns or water cannon, cannons), or gas (e.g. light-gas gun). So ...
nery computational abilities.
Most field artillery situations require
indirect fire
Indirect fire is aiming and firing a projectile without relying on a direct line of sight between the gun and its target, as in the case of direct fire. Aiming is performed by calculating azimuth and inclination, and may include correcting ...
due to weather, terrain, night-time conditions, distance, or other obstacles. These gunners can also rely upon a trained
artillery observer, also called a
forward observer, who sees the target and relays the coordinates of the target to their
fire direction center, which in turn translates those coordinates into: a left-right aiming direction; an elevation angle; a calculated number of bags of propellant; and finally a fuze with a determined waiting time before exploding (if necessary) to be set, which is then mated to the artillery projectile now ready to be fired.
US field artillery team
Modern field artillery (i.e. post-
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
) has three distinct sections: All batteries have a Fire Support Man (Forward Observer), Fire Direction Control (FDC), and
Cannoners (Gunner).
The FOs are forward with the infantry (in support role) where they can see the targets and Call For Fire (CFF) upon them. They call the FDC on the radio and transmit a request for fire in the format of CFF. The FDC calculates the CFF and send a
deflection and
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...
to the gun line. The gun line cranks the specified elevation and deflection on the howitzers, punch the artillery shell followed by the bag (powder). Depending on the CFF, the gunline will fire the
round
Round or rounds may refer to:
Mathematics and science
* Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere
* Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number
* Round number, ending with one or more zeroes
* Round (crypt ...
when they are ready or when the FO calls and tells them to fire. The FO spots the round and sends a correction back to the FDC and the process starts all over again until it's done.
The batteries are many kilometres behind the
FLOT (Forward Line of Troops). They plan a location where they can be Fire Capability for some certain amount of time and do multiple fire missions before needing to displace.
In normal operations the FOs locate targets and transmits the CFF to the FDCs.
They can also calculate "defensive fire" tasks. These are pre‑planned missions, typically just in front of or upon one's own positions, designed with the intention of either suppressing potential attacks (where fire is dropped just in front of a friendly position), or in dropping fire on a recently abandoned or overrun position to prevent the enemy from consolidating there. Because the calculations have already been done, the fire can be called down very quickly when it is needed.
Reconnaissance and advance party
The advance party consists of the battery commander, his driver, first sergeant, gunnery sergeant, FDC guide, gun guides, and communications representatives. Initially the Party looks to find suitable positions for an artillery unit to perform fire missions from. Then they perform what is known as route reconnaissance. The primary purpose of this reconnaissance is to determine the suitability of the route of the unit's movement. Items to be analyzed include possible alternate routes, cover, concealment, location of obstacles, likely ambush sites, contaminated areas, route marking requirements, and the time and distance required to traverse the route. Several factors are taken into consideration. Once a location is determined and having arrived at the new position the advance party conducts a security sweep and prepares the position for occupation. The purpose of the advance party security with METT-T and the absence of enemy troops, mines, booby traps, NBC hazards, and so on. If these threats or conditions are present in the proposed position area, the advance party breaks contact with any enemy forces or marks minefield and hazards and moves on to find another position area. The battery commander can coordinate for additional assets, or augment the advance party with internal assets, to provide the additional ability to clear areas of small enemy forces, obstacles, and minefields. Natural cover must be used to the maximum. Security is continuous throughout advance party operations. Once a location is determined to be safe the advance party prepares the position for eventual howitzer emplacement. This consists of several procedures such as escorting each howitzer to its prepared position, setting up communications, providing the unit with its initial azimuth of fire, and providing each gun with an initial deflection. In the case of the U.S. Army, this entire process is covered in U.S. Army Field Manual 6-50 Chapter 2.
[U.S. Army Field Manual 6-50 Chapter 2]
Forward observer
Because artillery is an
indirect fire
Indirect fire is aiming and firing a projectile without relying on a direct line of sight between the gun and its target, as in the case of direct fire. Aiming is performed by calculating azimuth and inclination, and may include correcting ...
weapon, the
forward observer (FO) must take up a position where he can observe the target using tools such as
binoculars
Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...
and
laser rangefinders and call back fire missions on his radio or telephone.
The FO usually establishes a covered and concealed
observation post (OP) on the ground, from which he can see the enemy. However, he may also be airborne—this was one of the first uses of
aircraft in World War I. He must take great care not to be observed by the enemy, especially if in a static position. Discovery of an FO does not only jeopardize his personal safety; it also hampers the ability of the battery to lay fire.
Using a standardized format, the FO sends map references and bearing to target, a brief target description, a recommended munition to use, and any special instructions such as "danger close" (the warning that friendly troops are within 600 meters of the target when using artillery, requiring extra precision from the guns).
The FO and the battery iteratively "walk" the fire onto the target. The Fire Direction Center (FDC) signals the FO that they have fired and the FO knows to observe fall of shot. He then signals corrections. These are normally of the form of left/right of the bearing line and distance along it, for example "right 50 add 100" (distance in meters). When the fire is good enough the FO signals "target on, fire for effect".
If the mission requires a walking
barrage, he may continue sending correction orders.
The FO may be called upon to direct fire for
close air support
Close air support (CAS) is defined as aerial warfare actions—often air-to-ground actions such as strafes or airstrikes—by military aircraft against hostile targets in close proximity to friendly forces. A form of fire support, CAS requires ...
and/or
naval artillery
Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare and then subsequently used for more specialized roles in surface warfare such as naval gunfire support (NGFS) and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) engagements. ...
in addition to field artillery based
howitzer
The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...
and infantry-embedded
mortar units. The U.S. Army Field Manual describing the duties and responsibilities is FM 6‑30, ''Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Observed Fire''.
Fire direction center
Typically, there is one FDC for a
battery of six guns, in a light division. In a typical heavy division configuration, there exist two FDC elements capable of operating two four-gun sections, also known as a split battery. The FDC computes firing data—fire direction—for the guns. The process consists of determining the precise target location based on the observer's location if needed, then computing range and direction to the target from the guns' location. These data can be computed manually, using special protractors and slide rules with precomputed firing data. Corrections can be added for conditions such as a difference between target and howitzer altitudes, propellant temperature, atmospheric conditions, and even the curvature and rotation of the
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...
. In most cases, some corrections are omitted, sacrificing accuracy for speed. In recent decades, FDCs have become computerized, allowing for much faster and more accurate computation of firing data. The FDC at the battalion level is responsible for recording friendly and enemy positions, tracking available battery munitions, and determining the optimal response for engaging a target identified by the FO.
Command post
In most Artillery Batteries the Command Post (CP) controls the firing of the guns. It is usually located at the battery center so as to be able to communicate easily with the guns. The CP should be well camouflaged, but the CPO (Command Post Officer) should be able to see all the guns with ease. Gun markers are sometimes placed in front of the CP to remind the CPO which gun is in which position. The CPO is assisted by two "Acks"—i.e., assistants—who operate the fire data computers. The GPO (Gun Position Officer) and CPO work at the plotter to ensure that the data calculated by the Acks is accurate and safe. The CP signaller is contact with the OP, or Observation Post, where the Forward Observer Officer (FOO), works with the OP team to identify targets and call-back fire data. In recent years headset radios have become common for communication between the CPO and gun detachment commanders.
Firing unit
The final piece of the puzzle is the firing unit itself. The FDC will transmit a warning order to the guns, followed by orders specifying the type of ammunition and fuze setting, bearing, elevation, and the method of adjustment or orders for fire for effect (FFE). Elevation (vertical direction) and bearing orders are specified in
mils, and any special instructions, such as to wait for the observer's command to fire relayed through the FDC. The crews load the howitzers and traverse and elevate the barrel to the required point, using either hand cranks (usually on towed guns) or
hydraulics
Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...
(on self-propelled models).
Counter-battery fire
Fire aimed at disabling or destroying enemy guns is known as
counter-battery fire.
Removing the threat posed by enemy artillery is an important objective on the battlefield. Most of the time enemy batteries are too far away for the infantry to engage, so it falls to artillery to do this job.
The battery uses a variety of techniques to calculate the position of the enemy battery, then can lay fire upon it. If possible, a FO can access a position to call fire on enemy guns directly; either on the ground or in the air, or a battery can be located using
counter-battery radar, which can be used to observe the fall of enemy shells and thus calculate their trajectory. A correctly calculated trajectory will reveal the location from which the shell was fired, which information can then be passed on to a friendly battery command post as a fire mission.
Defenses against counter-battery fire
To defend against counter battery fire there are two points of attack: either remove the enemy's ability to observe or make his observations irrelevant/obsolete.
To remove the ability to observe one must attack the observation assets. Because most counter-battery radar is active, the location can be determined electronically from listening to the beams. If one suspects one's position is being observed by a covert FO then a mission, either artillery or infantry, will be raised to deal with this threat.
Alternatively one can choose to make their observations obsolete by repeatedly moving the guns: hence
self-propelled gun
Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...
s.
Ordinary towed guns can take a while to emplace and re-limber and are not armoured, so they are vulnerable to counter battery fire and take a while to engage when at a new location.
Self-propelled guns do not suffer from these restrictions. They can drive up, drop their trails, fire and move on. Because of their armour they are less vulnerable to counter-battery fire. However, this
armor
Armour (Commonwealth English) or armor (American English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, e ...
is light by comparison to that of a tank, so it protects only from light fire (e.g.,
machine guns) and
shrapnel.
Another disadvantage of self-propelled guns is that they tend to be equipped with lighter, less accurate guns. Depending on the nature of the battle being fought, either or both of these drawbacks could prove a severe restriction. However, this is not necessarily true of modern self-propelled guns such as the German
PzH 2000. This has a 155 mm main armament that can with assisted firing charges reach 60 km, has a maximum speed of 67 km/h (41 mph) on road surface and 45 km/h (28 mph) off-road, and has a fully computerised fire-control system that enables it to fire-move-fire before the enemy can pin it down for counter-battery fire. It has a rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute.
Parent battalion and U.S. Army brigade/USMC regimental FDCs
FDCs also exist in the next higher parent battalion that "owns" two to four artillery batteries. Once again, an FDC exists at the U.S. Army brigade or USMC regimental level that "owns" the battalions. These higher level FDCs monitor the fire missions of their subordinate units and will coordinate the use of multiple batteries or even multiple battalions in what is called a battalion or brigade/regimental mission. In training and wartime exercises, as many as 72 guns from 3 battalions may all be coordinated to put "steel on the target" in what is called a "brigade/regimental time on target" or brigade/regimental TOT for short. The rule is "silence is consent", meaning that if the lower unit does not hear a "cancel the mission" (don't shoot) or even a "check firing" (cease firing) order from the higher monitoring unit, then the mission goes on. Higher level units monitor their subordinate unit's missions both for active as well as passive purposes. Higher-level units may also get involved to coordinate artillery fire across fire support coordination boundaries (often parallel lines on maps) where one unit can not fire into without permission from higher and/or adjacent units that "own" the territory.
Major artillery battles
*
Battle of Castillon
The Battle of Castillon was a battle between the forces of England and France which took place on 17 July 1453 in Gascony near the town of Castillon-sur-Dordogne (later Castillon-la-Bataille).
On the day of the battle, the English commande ...
*
Battle of Fort Sumter
*
Siege of Vicksburg
*
Battle of Chaldiran
The Battle of Chaldiran (; ) took place on 23 August 1514 and ended with a decisive victory for the Ottoman Empire over the Safavid Empire. As a result, the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia and Upper Mesopotamia from Safavid Iran. It marked ...
*
First Battle of Panipat
The First Battle of Panipat, on 21 April 1526 was fought between the invading forces of Babur against Ibrahim Khan Lodi, the List of sultans of Delhi, Sultan of Delhi, in North India. Babur's forces, em ...
*
Battle of Khanua
*
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...
*
Battle of Vimy Ridge
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...
*
Third Battle of Ypres
*
Battle of Tali-Ihantala
*
Siege of Dien Bien Phu
*
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...
*
Battle of Bloody Ridge
*
Battle of Old Baldy
*
Battle of Kumsong
*
Battle of Norfolk
The Battle of Norfolk was a armored warfare, tank battle fought on February 27, 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, between armored forces of the United States and United Kingdom, and those of the Republican Guard (Iraq), Iraqi Republican Guard in ...
*
Battle of Ilomantsi (1944)
*
Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive
*
Battle of Malvern Hill
*
Battle of Antietam
The Battle of Antietam ( ), also called the Battle of Sharpsburg, particularly in the Southern United States, took place during the American Civil War on September 17, 1862, between Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virgi ...
*
Siege of Petersburg
The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the siege of Petersburg, it was not a c ...
*
Battle of Nam Dong
*
Sino-Vietnamese conflicts 1979–90
*
Battle of Vyborg Bay (1944)
*
Battle of Go Cong
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Operation Hump
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Battle of Pork Chop Hill
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Siege of Petropavlovsk
*
Battle of Aachen
The Battle of Aachen was a battle of World War II, fought by American and German forces in and around Aachen, Germany, between 12 September and 21 October 1944. The city had been incorporated into the Siegfried Line, the main defensive network ...
*
Battle of Triangle Hill
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Battle of Chipyong-ni
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Battle of Dong Dang (1979)
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Battle of Kollaa
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Battle of Suursaari
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Tartu Offensive
*
Battle of the Seelow Heights
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Battle of Nietjärvi
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Battle of Tienhaara
*
Battle of Berlin
*
Siege of Yorktown
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Sino-Soviet border conflict
*
Battle of Hanko (1941)
*
Battle of the Oder–Neisse
The Battle of the Oder–Neisse is the German name for the initial (operational) phase of one of the last two strategic offensives conducted by the Red Army in the Eastern Front (World War II)#January–March 1945, Campaign in Central Europe (1 ...
*
Battle of Halbe
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Second Battle of Fallujah
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Operation Medusa
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Siege of Sangin
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Battle of Mạo Khê
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Battle of Long Dinh
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Battle of Chosin Reservoir
The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Battle of Lake Changjin (), was an important battle in the Korean War. The name "Chosin" is derived from the Japanese pronunciation "''Chōshin'', instead of th ...
*
Battle for Outpost Vegas
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Battle of Khe Sanh
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Battle of Alma
The Battle of the Alma (short for Battle of the Alma River) took place during the Crimean War between an allied expeditionary force (made up of French, British, and Ottoman forces) and Russian forces defending the Crimean Peninsula on 20Septe ...
*
Operation Queen
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Battle of Khafji
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Battle of Garmsir
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Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg () was a three-day battle in the American Civil War, which was fought between the Union and Confederate armies between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in and around Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle, won by the Union, ...
*
Operation Eagle's Summit
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Battle of Remagen
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Second Battle of Donetsk Airport
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Operation Magistral
Operation Magistral () was a Soviet Army military operation during the Soviet–Afghan War that began in late November 1987 and ended in early January 1988.
Background
The operation was launched to open the road - hence its name, from the Russ ...
*
Operation Cobra
*
Battle of Smolensk (1943)
The second Smolensk operation (code naming "Alexander Suvorov, Suvorov";Istomin (1975), pp. 20–21 7 August – 2 October 1943) was a Soviet strategic offensive operation conducted by the Red Army as part of the Summer-Autumn Campaign of 1943. ...
*
Baltic Offensive
*
Siege of Basra
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Second Battle of al-Faw
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Battle of Königsberg
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Battle of Stallupönen
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Battle of Gumbinnen
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Battle of Tannenberg
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Battle of Gnila Lipa
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Battle of Nà Sản
*
Battle of Haktang-ni
*
Battle of Fire Support Base Ripcord
*
Battle of Pakchon
The Battle of Pakchon (5 November 1950), also known as the Battle of Bochuan (), took place ten days after the start of the Chinese Korean War#China intervenes (October–December 1950), First Phase Offensive, following the entry of the Chinese ...
*
Battle of Chatkol
*
Siege of Silistra
*
Battle of Lanzerath Ridge
*
Firebase Bird
*
Osowiec Fortress
*
Battle of Bolimów
*
Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive
*
Great Retreat (Russian)
*
Siege of Novogeorgievsk
*
Lake Naroch Offensive
*
Christmas Battles
*
Battle of Jugla
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Battle of Dinant
*
Siege of Namur (1914)
*
Battle of Mons
The Battle of Mons was the first major action of the British Expeditionary Force (World War I), British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the First World War. It was a subsidiary action of the Battle of the Frontiers, in which the Allies of World W ...
*
First Battle of Ypres
The First Battle of Ypres (, , – was a battle of the First World War, fought on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front around Ypres, in West Flanders, Belgium. The battle was part of the First Battle of Flanders, in which German A ...
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Siege of Maubeuge
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Battle of Le Cateau
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Battle of Le Grand Fayt
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Action at Néry
*
Outpost Harry
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Battle of the Hook
*
Battle of Tannenberg Line
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Operation Starlite
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Third Battle of Seoul
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Erzurum Offensive
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Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...
*
Operation Before the Dawn
Operation Before the Dawn was an offensive operation launched by Iran during the Iran-Iraq War in 1983 around the Amarah area 200 kilometers southeast of Baghdad. It was carried out under the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps al ...
*
Operation Union
*
Battle of Neuve Chapelle
*
Second Battle of Champagne
*
Third Battle of Champagne
*
Third Battle of Artois
*
Battle of La Malmaison
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Third Battle of the Aisne
The Third Battle of the Aisne () was part of the German spring offensive during World War I that focused on capturing the Chemin des Dames Ridge before the American Expeditionary Forces arrived completely in French Third Republic, France. It w ...
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Battle of Amiens (1918)
The Battle of Amiens, also known as the Third Battle of Picardy was the opening phase of the Allies of World War I, Allied offensive which began on 8 August 1918, later known as the Hundred Days Offensive, which ultimately led to the end of Wo ...
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Battle of the Selle
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Battle of Elsenborn Ridge
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Battle of Vuosalmi
The Battle of Vuosalmi (also known as the Battle of Äyräpää-Vuosalmi) – the main bulk of it – lasted from July 4 to July 17, 1944. It was fought during the Continuation War (1941–1944), a part of World War II, between Finland and the So ...
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Battle of Cao Bang (1979)
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Finnish reconquest of Ladoga Karelia (1941)
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Battle of Tuloksa
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Battle of Oktwin
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Battle of Mong Cai
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Battle for Narva Bridgehead
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Battle of Ap Bac
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Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River
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Battle of the Imjin River
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Battle of An Lộc
The Battle of An Lộc was a major battle of the Vietnam War that lasted for 66 days and culminated in a victory for South Vietnam. The struggle for An Lộc, Bình Phước, An Lộc in 1972 was an important battle of the war, as South Vietname ...
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Battle of Kiev (1943)
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Battle of Kapyong
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Kargil War
See also
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Circular error probable
Circular error probable (CEP),Circular Error Probable (CEP), Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center Technical Paper 6, Ver 2, July 1987, p. 1 also circular error probability or circle of equal probability, is a measure of a weapon s ...
- metric used to assess precision of a given field artillery piece
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Field Artillery Branch (United States)
The Field Artillery Branch is the field artillery branch of the United States Army. This branch, alongside the infantry and cavalry branches, was formerly considered to be one of the "classic" combat arms branches (defined as those branches of ...
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Field artillery in the American Civil War
Field artillery in the American Civil War refers to the artillery weapons, equipment, and practices used by the Field Artillery Branch (United States), artillery branch to support Infantry in the American Civil War, infantry and Cavalry in the ...
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Swedish field artillery (early 18th century)
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List of artillery
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References
* McFarland, Lieutenant Colonel Earl. ''Textbook of Ordnance and Gunnery'' John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, 1929.
*Army Field Manual 6-50 Chapter Two.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Field Artillery
Chinese inventions
Military history of the Ming dynasty