31st MEU Receives Corps’ New M777 Lightweight Howitzer

US Marine Corps, CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan: The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit received its first M777 Lightweight Howitzers recently on Camp Hansen as part of a Marine Corps-wide artillery upgrade. 
 
The new Howitzer, which is scheduled to replace the M-198 Howitzers Corps-wide by 2010, is about 5,000 pounds lighter than the M-198. This difference in weight makes the new Howitzer a more mobile weapon system. Marines can transport it using an MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. The older howitzer weighed too much for the aircraft to transport, according to Staff Sgt. J. D. Baters, the battery gunnery sergeant for L Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. 
 
Additionally, the M777 Lightweight Howitzer has the ability to fire more advanced artillery rounds. The M777 can fire an Excalibur precision-guided projectile that uses an onboard computer and global positioning system to help guide itself back onto predetermined targets if fired off course. 
 
The M777 also boasts the same range firing capabilities as the M-198 and a Digital Fire Control System and built in radio. The new DFCS gives Marine gunners the capability to receive coordinates directly from a fire direction center and uses a global positioning system to help zero in on targets, Baters said. 
 
With the old system, Marines have to communicate with the fire direction center through radio and use iron sights to aim at targets. By cutting down on the time field artillery cannoneers spend receiving and inputting data, they can provide direct fire support more rapidly, Baters said. The M777 is also equipped with iron sights to serve as a backup in case the digital system fails. 
 
The M777 also has a display that allows the fire direction center to send text messages to cannoneers riding in vehicles or manning Howitzers. The M777 also reduces the amount of time it takes for cannoneers to respond to indirect fire requests, Baters said. 
 
“When somebody requests artillery support, every second counts,” Baters said. “We can have this gun ready to fire in literally three to four minutes.” 
 
Because each M777 has the equipment to communicate with the fire direction center directly, the cannoneers can cover a larger area since they no longer need to be grouped together to receive coordinates, according to Sgt. Matthew L. Higgins, a field artillery cannoneer with L Battery. 
 
“Instead of having all our guns in one spot, we can divide them up and cover a larger area,” Higgins said. 
 
Field artillery cannoneers with L Battery, arriving from Twentynine Palms, Calif., inspected the M777s before accepting the new guns from the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based E Battery, 2nd Bn., 11th Marines, 1st MarDiv. 
 
The 31st MEU’s artillery batteries rotate in and out about every six months to a year as part of the Unit Deployment Program on Okinawa.