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Key Words: Howitzer, Recoilless Rifle, Tank
ABSTRACT
Withthe depletion of 105, and 75 mm recoilless ammuni-
tionoverthelastfewyears,and the recent accident in-
volving the 106 recoilless rifle ammunition causing a gen-
eral uneasyfeelingamong gunners, it hasbecome clear that
new,reliablemethodsforcontrollingdestructive snow
slides is still needed.Some areas havebeenable to augment
theircontrol with increased hand routes,Gaz-ex, Locats,
orAvalunchers.There are some places however that still
do requirethe useof anaccurate,longrangedelivery system
to control avalanche paths.
Overthe lastfew years,the Washington State Depart-
ment of TransportationAvalancheControl divisionhas been
conductingtests withseveral differentoptions.The 105mm
howitzer,the S.S.E.LoCAT,and the M60A3tank.Given
the many considerations an agency has when adopting a
new control method, no one system will most likely stand
out as the tell all answer to everyone's problem.
It is ourintention, to relay our findings concerning the
M1A1 105 Howitzer,and the M60A3 Tank.Having gone
completely operational with the Howitzer,we have been
able to work through most ofthe problems someone may
encounter.In addition,having the M60A3 tank in place
and firing under control conditions, we are confident that
mostofthemainconcernswith it'soperationhave also
been addressed.Topics covered are,maintenance, stor-
age,availability,blindfiringcapabilitiesandreliability,
range, training concerns,and winter time operation.
INTRODUCTION
Theuse ofartillerytocreate snowslidesisnota resent
idea orpractice.Text found in ancient China tell of ava-
lanches induced by firing crude rockets into areas above
enemy troops.In WWII forces used artillery to start slides
in order to block roads and destroy equipment.The prac-
ticeofusingmothernature'sawesomeforcecontinues
today.It'staughttoarmedforcestofireartilleryabove
enemy forces into snow fields to cause snow slides letting
mothernaturedothedirtywork.We haven'ttriedto
reinvent the wheel, just improve on the moral end of the
spectrum.
Washington StateDOThasbeenexperimentingwith
military hardware and long range artillery since the early
1950's.In the earlyyears concentrationwas on handplaced
satchel charges provided by the army.This worked well
forareas that could be accessed by foot,howeveraccessi-
ble regions were a small percentage of the total problem
and roads continuedto be closed dueto uncontrolled snow
slides.
In the 60's a long term program was funded by the DOT
in cooperation with the University of Washington to train
technicians in avalanchecontrol andestablish perimeters
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forresearch.Each side of the program were kept separate
but cooperation was encouragedwith each other by pass-
ing information and data between the controller's and re-
searchers.
From this program theNorth WestAvalancheCenter was
formedalongwiththefirstfuel/airgas exploder(the
forerunnertoGazEx),groundplacedsnowdisrupters
(didn't work), rapidexpansion air bags (didn't work), poly-
vinyl starting zone covers (worked toowell),and the es-
tablishment of an artillery program.
Theweapon ofchoiceforyearshas beenthe 105mm
recoilless rifle.As we all know ammunition is at critical
levels forthis weapon system.The next logical step was
adapting106mm recoilless rifle to replace the aging 105's.
Ammunition supplies are plentiful and more up todate.
Adaptabilitywas not hard andwe feltour mobile longrange
control needs were met forthe next 20 years.
Not knowing if our goalswould beachievedwith 106mm
recoillessrifleswe alsorequested a 105mmhowitzerbe
obtained for field evaluations.Weknew from Rogers Pass
experience with this weapon system that it should prove
reliable for inducing snow slides, however our firing loca-
tions were not set up forthis weapon system and a learn-
ingcurvewouldbeneeded tobecomefamiliarwithit's
capabilities.
Shortly afterthe introduction of the 106mmrecoilless
rifles in avalanche control an incident involving a 106mm
rifle resulted in a death of a technician, putting the future
of the recoilless rifles in question.
WashingtonStateDOTdiscontinuedusing106mm
recoilless rifles in avalanche control and concentrated on
the howitzer and a more recent development the M60-A3
Main Battle Tank, forourattenuatedlong range artillery
needs.
Research into 105mm howitzers available in the United
Stateshas ledus to3models,M101-A1currently avail-
able,M102becoming available,and the M119notavail-
ableatthistimethrougharmyassets.Each modelhas
attributes making it desirable undercertaincircumstances.
When planing thereplacement ofrecoilless rifleswe
lookedatweapons thatcouldnotonlymatchtherifles
capabilities but exceed them in range and accuracy.
Recoillessriflesaremountedontowersthroughout
Washingtonto conductavalancheoperations.In most cases
each towercontrolsoneortwoslideareas consistingof
severalpaths.Because ofthe howitzer'scapabilities we
planed toconsolidateseveraltowers intoonefire bases.
Range to impact areas would increase from 1,800 yards to
in some cases 5.5 miles.Thisnew location gives a more
suitable windowfor howitzer operationusingit's long range
capabilities.
Evaluations on the howitzer were conductedon Wash-
ington Pass in the North Cascades.This location was se-
lected because of itsremoteness,high angle slopes,deep
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