A v a l a n c h e

C o n t r o l ,

R e s c u e

a n d

E d u c a t i o n

recoilless rifles in most cases.Accuracyfor both short and
long rangeis exceptional.Over snow mobility is cumber-
some.Skis had to be constructed in order to transport the
weapon to remote locations by snow cat.The high explo-
sive ammunition must befiredwiththeM557 fuzeto ensure
reliable detonation.Gun crews have little difficulty adapt-
ing firingcommands from rifles to howitzers.It's important
to completely understand gunnerybefore this weapon sys-
tem can perform to it's designed capabilities.Ammunition
must be kept dry and assembled at the time of use.Do not
pre-assembleammunitionpriortocontrolmissionuse.
Gun crew safety is enhanced due to the lack of back blast
however,recoil of the gun tube is violent and capable of
sever damage to body parts.Preparation to fire takes more
time than rifles because of snow removal around weapon
andammunitionhouse.Bythetimeweaponhasbeen
clearedbythegunner,theloaderhastheammunition
assembled and ready to go,so time is not wasted.
Intheperiodwe'veevaluated the howitzer,nomajor
repairs to carriage orgun tube have been required.
North Central Region AvalancheControl has completed
preliminary testing on the M60-A3 tank and C518 HEP-T
ammunition.

Preliminaryevaluation results:

*All rounds functionedas designed. Ammunition seems
to detonate close to snow surface.

*Sightingsystems are redundantandextremelyaccurate.
Able to acquire targetsvery accuratelyusing established
did-hit-data.Several firing and sighting systems were
made to fail without affecting outcome of mission.

*All powerand computers were turned off.Did not ob-
serve any difference in accuracy or mission time.

*Enclosedareaprovides favorable work environment dur-
ing inclimate weather.Less fatigue on crew.

*Noiselevelsduring firing appear tobea muchlower
than recoilless riflesorhowitzers.Only foam inserts
were needed, very comfortable when firing.

*Speed in target acquisitionappears to be greater than
recoilless orhowitzers.Several minutes can be saved
on each control mission.

*Unlike gun towers,removalof vehicle during off sea-
son is favorable to Forest Service foraesthetic reasons.

*Automotivesystemsperformedwhen desired,batter-
ies stayed chargedthroughoutwinter.Vehicledoes not
have to have power to provide stable firing platform.

and rain during the summermonths.Because of this the
original coverhas rotted away forcing us tobuild a new
cover.Wenow store it our snow camp inside under cover.
During winteritstaysatthe fire base.Thispresented a
problem when new snow cover exceeded theheight of the
weapon.There were times whenwe would nothave found
the weapon if we would have not known where we put it
to begin with.
Public perceptiondoes not seem to be any differentthan
that of recoilless rifles.Not many people know of it's win-
ter location andlocal publicareuse to seeingstrangeweap-
ons being pulled by DOT vehicles.
Governmental regulationsdictate security measures for
weaponandammunition.All hazardousmaterialhandling
procedures are adheredto when transporting ammunition.
Special traininghas been given to gunners to comply with
local,state and federal regulations.
Itisourfinding thatthe howitzerwilltakethe place of

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