artillery. (See separate entries for anti-tank weapons andmortars.)

1. Design and development

Artillery equipments are categorized in many different ways; the most common terms in use include field guns—those guns forming part of the infantry or armoured division; heavy artillery—the major-calibre weapons acting as support and generally controlled at corps or army level; self-propelled artillery—guns and howitzers mounted on wheeled or tracked motor carriages; and assault guns—tracked artillery resembling tanks but used for close support of assaulting infantry. The weapons are classed according to their function as guns—firing at high velocity and with a relatively flat trajectory; howitzers—firing at low velocity with a high trajectory to pass over intervening obstacles; and mortars—firing only at angles over 45° so as to drop their projectile steeply behind cover.

The artillery weapons in use in 1939 were principally those which had been developed since 1930, and were based upon technological lessons learned in the First World War. The British Army was exceptional in that all its artillery was mechanized; the German and Soviet, and to a lesser extent the American and Japanese, armies still used a large proportion of horse-drawn artillery (seeanimals). The design of shells and fuzes, the chemistry of propellants, the manufacture of the actual weapons, had all benefited from developments introduced in 1914–18 and perfected in the subsequent years.

Development of artillery from 1939 onwards can be divided into two spheres; the first was that continual improvement which can be expected in any technology—the adaptation of new methods of manufacture, of new materials, and of the results of theoretical research. The second was the production of new weapons in response to particular tactical developments. The two spheres obviously acted together, so that, for example, advances in metallurgy allowed the development of lighter guns, while research into the physical performances of gases was reflected in the development of recoilless weapons.

The UK and USA began their war with good new designs (though inadequate in quantity) which were capable of improvement and which were thus able to last throughout the war. Their principal task, therefore, was to produce these weapons in the necessary numbers, making refinements and improvements to meet particular demands. Thus the standard British field gun, the 25-pounder (see table, below, for an explanation of pounder) was improved by the addition of a muzzle brake to allow the firing of an armour-piercing projectile at high velocity, and was developed into a lighter version with a narrower wheel track to permit loading into the Dakota transport aircraft; other than that the 1945 gun was little different from that of 1939. In each country the design and development of guns was firmly in the hands of one official ordnance body which ruled upon the suitability of designs and authorized production.

In Germany, on the other hand, the development of weapons of any sort was open to a number of competing authorities, further complicated by political influence. As a result, much effort and time went into the development of weapons which were, tactically and strategically, useless but which bestowed prestige upon those connected with the project. The two gigantic railway guns ‘Gustav’ and ‘Dora’, of 800 mm. (31 in.) calibre firing a 7-ton shell, which were deployed during the siege of Sevastopol took several years to design and build; it is doubtful if, between them, they fired 100 effective shots and they did nothing to influence the outcome of the war. The 15 cm. (5.9 in.) ‘High Pressure Pump’ gun (see V-weapons) was even more ineffective.

For the most part German development paralleled that of the UK and USA, which meant the constant improvement of existing designs to meet changing tactical requirements. An early example of this, supposedly Hitler's own idea, was the adaptation of the standard 88 mm. (3.4 in.) air defence gun so that it became a highly effective anti-tank weapon. Similarly, the standard 105 mm. (4 in.) divisional howitzer, after experience in the German–Soviet war, was redeveloped to become a weapon capable of a 360° traverse and higher elevation so that it could be emplaced in forests and fired in any direction, a reflection of the frequent instances where German artillery had been surrounded by Soviet troops. Unfortunately, and largely due to political decisions, much of this type of development began too late and was not ready for full production when the war ended.

Soviet development of artillery was influenced by the enormous losses (more than 20,000 guns) after the German invasion of June 1941 (see BARBAROSSA). Their first priority was, therefore, to mass-produce artillery to make good these losses, and the opportunity was taken to redesign so as to simplify manufacture. There was no innovation; but gun carriages were designed to mount different barrels, allowing anti-tank and field guns to use the same carriage and thus rationalize manufacture, and advantage was taken of the massive tank and tractor manufacturing base to develop a series of self-propelled (SP) assault guns using existing field gun barrels.

German SP artillery design was similar to Russian—tank chassis carrying field artillery pieces, used as a direct support weapon for the infantry. Britain and the USA, on the other hand, regarded SP artillery as normal field artillery with the ability to move more easily across country, and it was handled exactly like any other field artillery, organized in batteries and firing in the indirect role. The prime mover in this field was the USA and, except for one or two designs produced in small numbers by the British, the majority of Allied SP guns were of US origin. Even the British ‘Sexton’ was a British 25-pounder gun on a Canadian-built version of the American Sherman tank chassis.

Mountain artillery consisted of light guns and howitzers capable of being dismantled and carried piecemeal on mules, or even by men, into positions inaccessible to ordinary artillery. Mountain weapons were extensively used by the German and Soviet armies in the Caucasus during the German–Soviet war, by the German and British armies in the Italian campaign and by the British in the Burma campaign. In the latter case the terrain was not always mountainous but the ability to dismantle and mule-pack guns was of great value in the jungle.

Anti-aircraft artillery was of conventional form and relied simply upon better ammunition design and, from time to time, the enlargement of the weapon so as to be able to reach higher and fire at faster aircraft. This class divided into two: the light weapons of 37–40 mm. (1.4–1.6 in.) calibre, intended to defend against low-flying aircraft and dive-bombers, and the medium and heavy weapons of 76–150 mm. (3–5.8 in.) calibre to deal with heavy bombers at greater altitudes. The former included the 40 mm. Bofors automatic gun, of Swedish origin, and the 20 mm. Oerlikon and Hispano automatic cannons, used by virtually all combatants. The latter included the UK's 3.7 in. and 4.5 in., the German 88 mm. and 105 mm., and the USA's 90 mm. guns, However, experience showed that there was also a ‘middle zone’ where an aircraft was too low and moving too quickly to allow a heavy gun to engage it but too high for small-calibre weapons. This led to an attempt to produce ‘intermediate A-A guns’ of about 50 mm. (1.9 in.) calibre, but although the UK and Germany tried, neither produced a successful design before the war ended.

Recoilless (RCL) guns were introduced by Germany in the battle for Crete in May 1941, since the lightness of these weapons was attractive to the airborne forces used in the assault. In brief, the RCL gun relies upon burning a very large propelling charge and allowing four-fifths of the explosion gas to be directed through a nozzle at the rear of the gun. The mass × velocity of this gas is equal to the mass × velocity of the projectile being launched up the barrel, and the gun remains stationary. Thus there is no need for a heavy carriage to withstand the firing shock, nor for a heavy and complex recoil braking system. The UK and the USA took up development of these weapons after 1941, and the USA managed to produce two shortly before the fighting ended, a 57 mm. and a 75 mm., for use in the Pacific war. The British designs were ready for production in 1945 but were cancelled at the end of the war to allow further research and did not appear until the 1950s.

Little need be said about coast defence artillery; most countries used the same weapons they had emplaced in the 1900–18 period, and the subsequent improvements were either better mountings to permit longer range, or better fire control systems to permit more accurate long-range fire. The only modern designs were small-calibre quick-firing guns to protect harbours against raids by fast motor craft. Even the defences of Singapore, perhaps the most modern coast fortress, relied upon 9.2 in. (23 cm.) and 15 in. (38 cm.) guns of 1914–18 vintage, albeit controlled by a much improved fire control system.

Ian Hogg

2. Warfare

The Second World War was an artillery war; over half the battle casualties were caused by artillery fire, in spite of the commonly held view that tanks and air power were the dominant weapons. The Red Army had enormous quantities of guns and howitzers, but the other combatants employed fewer pieces of artillery than they had in the First World War. This was largely because the trench warfare of 1914–18 had called for different tactics, but also because improvements in command and control meant that fewer needed to be deployed.

Nevertheless, to preserve scarce infantry, the western Allies used immense concentrations of fire and barrages (see below) to support their assaults, methods familiar in the final stages of the First World War. With the help of radio communications, longer-ranged guns—field gun ranges had doubled to about 11,000 m. (12,000 yd.)—and excellent survey and meteorological intelligence, they were able to concentrate the shells of many hundreds of guns in a matter of minutes. The Soviets, who enjoyed air superiority from 1943, concentrated their artillery in almost wheel-to-wheel style close to the front. This obviated their weakness in survey, their poor maps, dearth of radios, unreliable meteorological information, and irregular calibrations. But the open spaces of the Eastern Front offered more opportunity for surprise and made it less necessary to use sophisticated techniques for which they were ill-equipped.

Artillery fire fell into two groups: targets of opportunity, in which a forward observer saw a target and called for fire; and fire plans, employed to accompany an attack, or form part of a defensive plan, in which specific targets were selected and the necessary data prepared—predicted fire, as it was called—before battle was joined. For offensive actions fire plans used barrages in which a line of bursting shells was placed to act as a barrier or protective screen. These could be ‘standing’, where the position of the bursts remained the same; ‘creeping’, in which the line of fire moved in steps towards the objective, the infantry keeping behind its protection; or ‘rolling’, in which two lines of fire were laid down, the rearmost leapfrogging the other so that the advancing belt of bursting shells was thicker and more destructive. For defensive purposes fire plans used concentrations of fire, where the guns all aimed at the same spot. When the Americans concentrated the artillery of an entire corps, some 200 guns, on a target they called it a ‘serenade’. When this was fired by what was known as TOT (time on target), that is each shell's trajectory was calculated so that they all arrived simultaneously, the effect was devastating. These techniques were used by all combatants, but the British also had an additional ‘quick fire plan’ known as a stonk (standard regimental concentration). This was based upon the frontage of two of a regiment's field batteries with the third superimposed and produced a 440 m. (525 yd.) block of fire, though it came to mean any brief and sudden bombardment. It could be rapidly prepared to support a small infantry action using a graphical template. This was simply a piece of celluloid with the spacing of the guns marked on it in black ink at the correct scale (1/25000) of the artillery plotting map. It was laid over the target and the ranges and bearings to the various points for each gun could then be calculated using a scale and a protractor.

Apart from having a greater range, the guns of 1939 were little different, ballistically, from those of 1918. The ammunition was improved, the shells being more efficient, with more reliable fuzes, and, as the war progressed, many different types of shell were developed. The US 105 mm. (4 in.) howitzer, for example, fired no fewer than thirteen different kinds, from high explosive to propaganda leaflets. During the inter-war years much work had gone into the improvement of predicted fire. However, predicted fire demanded precise meteorological information, and this depended upon the method of determination; it was not until late in the war that radar-tracking of balloons carrying radio-sounding apparatus measuring air density and temperature produced really reliable data from which the necessary corrections could be made.

Of equal importance was the ability to communicate. During 1914–18 the artillery received target information from forward observers; as soon as the infantry advanced and the observer was removed from his telephone, target information ceased to flow and subsequent firing was usually done on a timed basis, hoping that the advance had reached its scheduled point in synchrony with the artillery. In 1939–45 the ability of observers to carry radio equipment and speak directly to the guns was of vital importance. Furthermore, the ability to link an observer by radio to higher formations gave him the ability to call for fire from formations larger than his own. The forward observer for an artillery battery was not confined to firing his own battery; he could call for the guns of the regiment, division, army corps, or even army, according to the importance of the target. In the British Army a regiment could answer a call for fire in less than three minutes, and an army corps could be made available in less than half an hour. It was this flexibility and rapid response which made artillery fire much more effective and formidable than previously.

Artillery, 2: Weapons used by chief combatants. (See also anti-tank weapons.)

Dominick Graham/ and Ian Hogg

Bibliography

Bailey, J. B. A. , Field Artillery and Firepower (Oxford, 1989).
Bidwell, S. , Gunners at War (London, 1970).
—— and Graham, D. , Firepower; British Army Weapons and Theories of War 1904–1945 (London, 1982).
Hogg, I. V. , British & American Artillery of World War Two (London, 1978).
—— German Artillery of World War Two (London, 1975).
—— The Guns of World War Two (London, 1976).

Artillery. Artillery has played a critical role in providing close support to the infantry, bombarding fortifications, defending coasts, and, in the twentieth century, attacking tanks and aircraft. Beginning with the initial settlements, English colonists in North America, like Europeans, employed smoothbore, muzzle‐loading, black powder, cast‐bronze cannons and howitzers. Cannons, also called guns by the nineteenth century, had powerful, flat trajectories to batter down fortification walls or to shatter troop formations, while howitzers had curved trajectories for lobbing projectiles over fortification walls or into troop formations. Colonial artillery fired several types of projectiles, among them: solid shot, an exploding shell that was detonated by a fuse; canister, which was a can filled with musket balls; and grapeshot, a cluster of iron balls grouped around a wooden spindle and covered by a heavy cloth netting.

English colonists gave their artillery colorful names, such as falcon, saker, demiculverin, and culverin, to name a few. A falcon shot a 2‐ to 3‐pound projectile; a culverin fired a 15‐ to 22‐pound projectile. During the seventeenth century, however, Europeans and Americans started designating their artillery by the size of the projectile that they threw. For example, a cannon that shot a 4‐pound projectile was known as a 4‐pounder. Besides classifying their howitzers by the size of the projectile that it shot, Europeans and Americans also labeled them by the size of the bore, such as a 5.5‐inch howitzer.

Meanwhile, most European armies began to classify their artillery as field, siege, garrison, and coast artillery. Light pieces, usually 3‐ to 12‐pounders, served as field artillery to support the infantry and cavalry, while heavier and less maneuverable pieces were employed as siege, garrison, and coast artillery where mobility was not critical.

Unlike the Europeans, colonists had little use for arranging their artillery functionally by size. First, the rugged North American terrain limited artillery to siege operations along coasts or to the defense of a fortification because even the lightest pieces were too heavy to drag across the roadless terrain. Second, Native American warfare was too mobile for artillery of any size.

Although the colonists did not employ artillery extensively or standardize it, they had a diverse assortment composed primarily of French and British pieces. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1775, the colonists had thirteen different calibers of artillery, ranging from 3‐ to 24‐pounder cannons and 5.5‐ to 8‐inch howitzers. Cut off from their sources of artillery at the beginning of the war, the Americans started casting their own iron and bronze artillery in foundries in Philadelphia by 1775. Under the guidance of Henry Knox, who commanded the Continental army's artillery throughout most of the Revolution, they developed a system of field, garrison, siege, and coast artillery of 3‐ to 32‐pounders. Colonial field artillery could hit targets at between 500 and 1,000 yards, while garrison, siege, and coast artillery had ranges of 2,000–3,000 yards.

After the Revolution, the Americans retained their categories of artillery. For coast artillery, which also doubled as siege artillery and garrison artillery, the Americans used 18‐, 24‐, and 32‐pounder cannons. Bronze and cast‐iron field artillery armed frontier forts but seldom saw action during the Native American wars. Later, in the 1840s, the Americans adopted rockets with explosive and incendiary warheads for use against personnel and fortifications at ranges of around 3,000 yards. Although rockets provided greater firepower than cannon artillery, developments with more accurate rifled artillery in the 1840s and 1850s caused rocket artillery to fall out of favor.

American smoothbore bronze artillery experienced its apogee in the middle of the nineteenth century. Designed by Maj. Alfred Mordecai of the army during the 1840s, the field artillery system had 6‐ and 12‐pounder guns to support the infantry and cavalry, and 12‐, 24‐, and 32‐pounder howitzers to bombard temporary field and permanent fortifications. For coastal defense, the army employed Columbiad cannons of 10 to 15 inches designed by Col. George Bomford.

Improved metallurgy and advancements in machining permitted significant breakthroughs with rifled muzzle‐loading and breech‐loading artillery. In the 1840s, the Italian Army produced the first workable rifled fieldpiece. Ranges of rifled artillery were twice that of smoothbore artillery—sometimes up to 4,000 yards.

Although rifled artillery promised to make smoothbore artillery obsolete, Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War of 1861–65 did not abandon their muzzle‐loading smoothbores for rifled breechloaders or muzzleloaders. Prominent siege pieces included 10‐, 20‐, 30‐, 60‐, 100‐, 200‐, and 300‐pounder rifled artillery produced by Robert P. Parrott of the United States. Other important siege and coast artillery pieces were smoothbores developed by Capt. Thomas J. Rodman of the army. Some of the most popular rifled fieldpieces were the muzzle‐loading, wrought‐iron M1861 3‐inch rifle and muzzle‐loading 3‐ to 10‐inch rifled guns. The latter, again manufactured by Robert P. Parrott, were of cast iron, with a wrought‐iron hoop around the breech to prevent the weapon from bursting upon being fired. Like their smoothbore counterparts, rifled artillery fired solid shot, exploding shell, canister, and occasionally grapeshot, and used black powder as a propelling and bursting charge. However, smoothbore fieldpieces, especially the M1857 12‐pounder Napoleon, remained the favorite because direct fire (also called line‐of‐sight fire direction) and the difficult terrain of Civil War battlefields prevented gun crews from engaging targets beyond human eyesight of about one mile and forced them to fire at targets at relatively short ranges.

A surplus of Civil War artillery and engagement in wars with Native Americans stalled new ordnance developments between 1865 and 1900. Early in the 1900s, Americans adopted breech‐loading, rifled steel field artillery with recoil systems that allowed the gun tube to recoil on the carriage and return into battery without moving the carriage. At the same time the Americans started using high‐explosive powder as a propelling and a bursting charge for steel shell and shrapnel, a projectile that was filled with iron balls. These high‐explosive powders increased ranges and diminished the amount of smoke produced when the cannon was fired; the M1903 3‐inch field gun, for example, had a range of almost 7,000 yards. For coastal defense, Americans introduced steel, rifled artillery mounted on disappearing carriages. Upon being fired, the gun moved back for some distance before swinging down behind the parapet to permit the gun crew to load the weapon out of sight of enemy guns.

Coupled with these advancements, Americans adopted indirect fire for their field artillery early in the twentieth century. This arching fire permitted concealing the field gun behind cover to protect it from counterbattery fire and small‐arms fire, and engaging targets beyond human eyesight. By World War I, all combatants were using indirect fire, locating their guns several miles behind the infantry line; they acquired targets by using forward observers, who relayed target information back to the batteries by telegraphy, telephone, and even human runners.

Even though the Americans went into World War I with distinct classifications of field, siege, and coast artillery, the war obscured the differences. Requiring heavy guns to batter down elaborate German earthworks and concrete fortifications along the western front, the U.S. Army frequently employed heavy coast and siege artillery pieces; some were mounted on railroad tracks in a field artillery role to help 75mm guns, 105mm howitzers, 155mm guns and howitzers, and 240mm, 8‐inch and 9.2‐inch howitzers shatter enemy positions. The army also introduced antiaircraft artillery, assigning it to the Coast Artillery branch.

During World War II, multiple rocket launchers mounted on trucks were used to lay down heavy concentrations of fire rapidly. The army even employed a recoilless rifle designed to fire the same size of projectile as light fieldpieces to engage tanks, enemy bunkers, and lightly armored vehicles. Ninety mm antiaircraft guns and shells with proximity fuses were employed to shoot down aircraft detected by radar or the human eye. The main U.S. artillery pieces in World War II were the 105mm howitzer, with a range of 12,500 yards; the 155mm howitzer, with a range of 16,350 yards; and the 155mm gun, with a range of 25,500 yards. All were later utilized in the Korean War.

The advent of nuclear cannon artillery, rockets, and guided missiles during the 1950s and 1960s transformed the field artillery. First fired in May 1953 at Frenchman's Flat, Nevada, the 280mm cannon, known as “Atomic Annie,” shot a 200‐pound nuclear projectile up to 20 miles. Later, the army also developed nuclear warheads for 8‐inch and 155mm artillery pieces. In the 1950s, it introduced the “Honest John,” a first‐generation free flight rocket with a range of about 24 miles, to carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead; and the medium‐range Redstone, Corporal, and Sergeant guided missiles, with nuclear and conventional warheads and ranges between 75 and 200 miles.

Aircraft and high‐velocity naval guns made concrete coastal fortifications vulnerable and obsolete; the Coast Artillery branch was abolished in 1950, and succeeded in 1968 by the Air Defense artillery. Antiaircraft missile artillery included large, immobile surface‐to‐air missiles such as the radar‐guided Nike Ajax with a range of 100 miles; they defended American cities. The Nike Hawk, with a range of 25 miles, was a mobile antiaircraft missile. The Redeye, with a range of 3,300 yards, was a lightweight, man‐portable antiaircraft missile.

Also beginning in the 1960s, the U.S. Army introduced new field artillery for the tactical nuclear battlefield to replace World War II pieces. These new weapons included the M102 105mm howitzer, with a range of 16,500 yards; the M109 155mm self‐propelled artillery with a range of 19,700 yards; and the M110 8‐inch artillery, with a range of 18,400 yards. Although intended for the European battlefield, these field guns saw service in Vietnam.

From the mid‐1970s onward, high technology improved U.S. artillery. Field and air defense artillery employed computers for fire direction and adopted precision‐guided munitions (PGMs). The highly sophisticated Patriot air defense missile with a range of 65 miles replaced the Nike Hercules and Nike Hawk missiles, while the Redeye was replaced by the shoulder‐fired Stinger, with a range of 3 miles homed in on heat emitted from the aircraft target. The army fielded the nuclear Pershing II missile with a range of 1,000 miles in Europe in the mid‐1980s and the Multiple‐Launch Rocket System with a range of 15 miles in the field artillery and simultaneously improved the M109 self‐propelled 155mm howitzer. Both the howitzer and the rocket system were employed by some NATO armies in the 1970s and 1980s.

In the 1990s, the U.S. Army started laying the foundations to introduce leap‐ahead artillery technology. It would include digital command, control, and communication systems; fire‐and‐forget munitions; and new propellants to give unprecedented ranges.

Although artillery technology had changed greatly since the colonial era, the basic role of artillery on the battlefield remained constant. Field artillery still provided close support of infantry and now armor (replacing cavalry). Coastal artillery had become obsolete due to high‐velocity naval ordnance and especially aircraft and missiles. Yet air defense artillery had emerged to take on a defensive mission against the new skyborne weapons.
[See also Army Combat Branches: Artillery; Nuclear Weapons; Weaponry, Army.]

Bibliography

Albert Manucy , Artillery Through the Ages: A Short Illustrated History of Cannon, Emphasizing Types Used in America, 1949.
Fairfax Downey , Sound of the Guns: The Story of American Artillery, 1956.
Kenneth P. Werrell , Archie, Flak, AAA, and Sam, 1988.
Boyd L. Dastrup , King of Battle: A Branch History of the U.S. Army's Field Artillery, 1992.
Bruce I. Gudmundson , On Artillery, 1993.
Boyd L. Dastrup , Modernizing the King of Battle: 1973–1991, 1994.

Boyd L. Dastrup

ARTILLERY

ARTILLERY in the U.S. Army dates from the American Revolution, when Massachusetts and Rhode Island units joined in the siege of Boston. The first Continental army artillery regiment was raised in January 1776; by 1777, four Continental regiments were in operation. Artillery men manned the country's first coast defenses in 1794, leading to a traditional classification of U.S. Army artillery into field, siege and garrison, and coast artillery.

A few units served as light artillery during the War of 1812, but most doubled as either infantry or manned coast defenses. In 1821 Congress authorized four artillery regiments of nine companies each. It increased the number of companies in each artillery regiment to twelve in 1847. Most artillery regiments in the Mexican-American War (1846–1848) fought as infantry, although a few performed well as light artillery. After the war, the batteries of artillery scattered all over the United States. By the end of the Civil War, the regular army had five artillery regiments, with a total of sixty batteries, mostly field artillery. In 1898, two additional regiments were organized, and in 1899 each regiment gained two heavy batteries, bringing the total number of batteries to ninety-eight. After a major reorganization of artillery in 1901, the coast and field artillery became full separate branches in 1907. The number of field artillery regiments greatly increased during World War I, and antiaircraft units swelled the size of coast artillery.

Increased demand in World War II for flexible, mobile, and more powerful units led to the reorganization of regiments into separate battalions, batteries, and groups of field, coast, and antiaircraft artillery. They remained separate until the advent of the Combat Arms Regimental System in 1957, which reorganized the three components as regiments. In 1968 the Air Defense Artillery became a separate branch, and the artillery branch dissolved when Field Artillery again became a separate branch in 1969.

Most American artillery has copied, improved on, or adapted the ordnance of other nations. Between 1840 and 1860, John A. Dahlgren and T. J. Rodman improved the range and weight of shot used in cast guns. During the Civil War, the Robert P. Parrott rifled muzzle-loading gun outranged its smoothbore contemporaries. From 1865 to the Spanish-American War, inventors paid a great deal of attention to fortress guns, with innovations in mounts and fire control. The proximity fuse (introduced just before World War II) carried a miniature radio set that sent a continuous impulse. As the shell approached the target, the impulse's echo duration became shorter, activating the firing mechanism at a predetermined interval. Initially most useful in antiaircraft guns, the fuse's adaptation to regular artillery had devastating effect.

American inventiveness concentrated on fire control and laying techniques. By the Spanish-American War the artillery had perfected the indirect laying method and developed overhead fire procedures. This led to the technique of using map data to fire on unseen targets, a method used widely in World War I. By World War II the United States fielded the most widely feared artillery of the combatants. One especially effective technique was the time-on-target (TOT), whereby any number and caliber of guns within range of a target could fire so that all their shells arrived at the same time.

During the nuclear arms race of the 1950s, American artillery units developed nuclear projectiles for use with conventional 203 mm howitzers. The Soviets developed a comparable system. Since then, however, developments in artillery technology have focused on conventional munitions. In the 1970s, projectiles were developed that could emit a number of submunitions, capable of destroying a variety of targets. Later, the army developed the guided projectile—the artillery version of the "smart bomb" that debuted with such fanfare during the Persian Gulf War—which forward personnel could illuminate by laser and guide to its target.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Downey, Fairfax Davis. The Sound of the Guns. New York: D. McKay, 1956.

Dupuy, R. Ernest. The Compact History of the United States Army. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1973.

Sawicki, James A., ed. Field Artillery Battalions of the U.S. Army. Dumfries, Va.: Centaur Publications, 1977.

U.S. Army Artillery School. U.S. Army Field Artillery School Guide. Fort Sill, Okla.: Author, 1983.

WarnerStark/c. w.; a. r.

See alsoArmy, United States ; Munitions ; Ordnance .

artillery originally meant any large weaponry (including such ancient engines of war as catapults and battering rams) or war material, but later applied only to heavy firearms as opposed to small arms . Types of artillery include antiaircraft and antitank guns (which fire at high muzzle velocity through long barrels at flat trajectories) and howitzers (with shorter barrels, lower velocities, and parabolic trajectories). The term cannon can apply to almost all heavy artillery, especially howitzers, and even to automatic guns on aircraft. Mortars and batteries of small tactical rockets are usually used as artillery. Modern artillery came into use in the mid-14th cent. with the introduction of gunpowder in the West. At first, the new cannon were used mainly against fortifications . Its impact was demonstrated by the Ottoman Turks, who used giant guns cast on the battlefield to breach the walls of Constantinople and capture it in 1453. Cannon also revolutionized war at sea (see navy ). Artillery was first extensively employed in the field during the Thirty Years War (1618-48); thereafter it played an increasingly important role until the advent of aircraft. Now that few pieces of fixed artillery (e.g., coastal defense guns) still survive, artillery is generally classified as either towed or self-propelled. Artillery was characteristically smoothbore and muzzle-loaded, firing solid, round shot, until the latter part of the 19th cent., when breech-loaded, rifled, and shell-firing artillery became standard.

Bibliography: See I. Hogg, Illustrated Encyclopedia of Artillery (1989).

artillery War engines or firearms too large to be managed by a single soldier. Ballistas, onagers, and catapults were early examples of artillery. Their use was largely restricted to siege warfare and it was in such operations that the cannon came to replace them. Modern artillery functions in the same way as all firearms, but fires larger projectiles over longer distances. Muzzle-loaders, common from the 15th to the 19th century, had their explosive charge and ammunition loaded from the front of the barrel. Breech-loaders, used in the 15th and 16th centuries and reintroduced on a large scale in the mid-19th century, have the charge and shot loaded at the rear. Modern categories of artillery fire solid shot, shrapnel, or explosive shells. They include field guns, which fire with a flat trajectory, howitzers and mortars, which have arching trajectories, antitank guns, firing high-velocity shot, and self-propelled guns. Since 1918 there has been a decline in the importance of heavy artillery as missiles, bomber aircraft, and armed helicopters have taken over many of their roles, while mortars have taken over many light artillery roles.

artillery Projectile-firing weapons with a carriage or mount. An artillery piece is generally one of four types: gun, howitzer, mortar, or missile launcher. Modern artillery is classified according to calibre; ranging from under 105mm for light artillery to more than 155mm for heavy. Artillery changed the whole strategy and tactics of siege warfare. Advances in the 19th century, such as smokeless powder, elongated shells, rifling, and rapid-fire breach loading, made artillery indispensable in battle. See also army; cannon

ar·til·ler·y / ärˈtilərē/ • n. (pl. -ler·ies) large-caliber guns used in warfare on land: tanks and heavy artillery. ∎  a military detachment or branch of the armed forces that uses such guns. DERIVATIVES: ar·til·ler·ist / -rist/ n. ar·til·ler·y·man / -mən/ n.

artillery n. pl. -ies
1. large-caliber guns used in warfare on land: tanks and heavy artillery | artillery shells.

2. a military detachment or branch of the armed forces that uses such guns: two regiments of field artillery.
artillerist n. artilleryman n.

artillery XIV. — (O)F. artillerie, f. OF. artillier, alt. (after art) of atillier equip, arm, prob. a byform of atirier, f. tire order; see TIER, -ERY.

artillery •beery, bleary, cheery, dearie, dreary, Dun Laoghaire, eerie, eyrie (US aerie), Kashmiri, leery, peri, praemunire, query, smeary, teary, theory, weary •Deirdre • incendiary • intermediary •subsidiary •auxiliary, ciliary, domiciliary •apiary • topiary • farriery • furriery •justiciary •bestiary, vestiary •breviary • aviary • hosiery •diary, enquiry, expiry, fiery, friary, inquiry, miry, priory, spiry, wiry •podiatry, psychiatry •dowry, floury, flowery, loury, showery, towery •brewery • jewellery (US jewelry) •curie, de jure, fioriture, fury, houri, Jewry, jury, Manipuri, Missouri, moory, Newry, tandoori, Urey •statuary • actuary • sanctuary •obituary • sumptuary • voluptuary •January • electuary • ossuary •mortuary •Bradbury, Cadbury •blackberry, hackberry •cranberry • waxberry •Barbary, barberry •Shaftesbury • raspberry •bayberry, blaeberry •Avebury • Aylesbury • Sainsbury •bilberry, tilbury •bribery •corroboree, jobbery, robbery, slobbery, snobbery •dogberry • Roddenberry • Fosbury •strawberry • Salisbury •crowberry, snowberry •chokeberry •Rosebery, Shrewsbury •blueberry, dewberry •Dewsbury • Bloomsbury • gooseberry •blubbery, rubbery, shrubbery •Sudbury • mulberry • huckleberry •Bunbury • husbandry • loganberry •Canterbury • Glastonbury •Burberry, turbary •hatchery • archery •lechery, treachery •stitchery, witchery •debauchery • butchery • camaraderie •cindery, tindery •industry • dromedary • lapidary •spidery • bindery • doddery •quandary • powdery • boundary •bouldery • embroidery •prudery, rudery •do-goodery • shuddery • thundery •prebendary • legendary • secondary •amphorae • wafery •midwifery, periphery •infantry • housewifery • spoofery •puffery • sulphury (US sulfury) •Calgary •beggary, Gregory •vagary •piggery, priggery, whiggery •brigandry • bigotry • allegory •vinegary • category • subcategory •hoggery, toggery •pettifoggery • demagoguery •roguery • sugary •buggery, skulduggery, snuggery, thuggery •Hungary • humbuggery •ironmongery • lingerie • treasury •usury • menagerie • pageantry •Marjorie • kedgeree • gingery •imagery • orangery • savagery •forgery • soldiery • drudgery •perjury, surgery •microsurgery •hackery, quackery, Thackeray, Zachary •mountebankery • knick-knackery •gimcrackery • peccary • grotesquerie •bakery, fakery, jacquerie •chickaree, chicory, hickory, Terpsichore, trickery •whiskery • apothecary •crockery, mockery, rockery •falconry • jiggery-pokery •cookery, crookery, rookery •brusquerie •puckery, succory •cuckoldry •calorie, gallery, Malory, salary, Valerie •saddlery • balladry • gallantry •kilocalorie • diablerie • chandlery •harlotry • celery • pedlary •exemplary •helotry, zealotry •nailery, raillery •Tuileries •ancillary, artillery, capillary, codicillary, distillery, fibrillary, fritillary, Hilary, maxillary, pillory •mamillary • tutelary • corollary •bardolatry, hagiolatry, iconolatry, idolatry •cajolery, drollery •foolery, tomfoolery •constabulary, vocabulary •scapulary • capitulary • formulary •scullery • jugglery • cutlery •chancellery • epistolary • burglary •mammary • fragmentary •passementerie • flimflammery •armory, armoury, gendarmerie •almonry •emery, memory •creamery • shimmery • primary •rosemary • yeomanry •parfumerie, perfumery •flummery, Montgomery, mummery, summary, summery •gossamery • customary • infirmary •cannery, granary, tannery •canonry •antennary, bimillenary, millenary, venery •tenantry • chicanery •beanery, bicentenary, catenary, centenary, deanery, greenery, machinery, plenary, scenery, senary, septenary •disciplinary, interdisciplinary •hymnary • missionary •ordinary, subordinary •valetudinary • imaginary • millinery •culinary • seminary • preliminary •luminary • urinary • veterinary •mercenary • sanguinary •binary, finery, pinery, quinary, vinery, winery •Connery • Conakry • ornery • joinery •buffoonery, poltroonery, sublunary, superlunary •gunnery, nunnery •consuetudinary • visionary •exclusionary • legionary • pulmonary •coronary • reactionary • expansionary •concessionary, confessionary, discretionary •confectionery, insurrectionary, lectionary •deflationary, inflationary, probationary, stationary, stationery •expeditionary, petitionary, prohibitionary, traditionary, transitionary •dictionary • cautionary •ablutionary, counter-revolutionary, devolutionary, elocutionary, evolutionary, revolutionary, substitutionary •functionary •diversionary, reversionary •fernery, quaternary, ternary •peppery • extempore • weaponry •apery, drapery, japery, napery, papery, vapoury (US vapory) •frippery, slippery •coppery, foppery •popery • dupery • trumpery •February • heraldry • knight-errantry •arbitrary • registrary • library •contrary • horary • supernumerary •itinerary • honorary • funerary •contemporary, extemporary, temporary •literary • brasserie • chancery •accessory, intercessory, pessary, possessory, tesserae •dispensary, incensory, ostensory, sensory, suspensory •tracery •pâtisserie, rotisserie •emissary • dimissory •commissary, promissory •janissary • necessary • derisory •glossary • responsory • sorcery •grocery • greengrocery •delusory, illusory •compulsory • vavasory • adversary •anniversary, bursary, cursory, mercery, nursery •haberdashery •evidentiary, penitentiary, plenipotentiary, residentiary •beneficiary, fishery, judiciary •noshery • gaucherie • fiduciary •luxury • tertiary •battery, cattery, chattery, flattery, tattery •factory, manufactory, olfactory, phylactery, refractory, satisfactory •artery, martyry, Tartary •mastery, plastery •directory, ex-directory, interjectory, rectory, refectory, trajectory •peremptory •alimentary, complementary, complimentary, documentary, elementary, parliamentary, rudimentary, sedimentary, supplementary, testamentary •investigatory •adulatory, aleatory, approbatory, celebratory, clarificatory, classificatory, commendatory, congratulatory, consecratory, denigratory, elevatory, gyratory, incantatory, incubatory, intimidatory, modificatory, participatory, placatory, pulsatory, purificatory, reificatory, revelatory, rotatory •natatory • elucidatory • castigatory •mitigatory • justificatory •imprecatory • equivocatory •flagellatory • execratory • innovatory •eatery, excretory •glittery, jittery, skittery, twittery •benedictory, contradictory, maledictory, valedictory, victory •printery, splintery •consistory, history, mystery •presbytery •inhibitory, prohibitory •hereditary • auditory • budgetary •military, paramilitary •solitary • cemetery • limitary •vomitory • dormitory • fumitory •interplanetary, planetary, sanitary •primogenitary • dignitary •admonitory, monitory •unitary • monetary • territory •secretary • undersecretary •plebiscitary • repository • baptistery •transitory •depositary, depository, expository, suppository •niterie •Godwottery, lottery, pottery, tottery •bottomry • watery • psaltery •coterie, notary, protonotary, rotary, votary •upholstery •bijouterie, charcuterie, circumlocutory •persecutory • statutory • salutary •executory •contributory, retributory, tributary •interlocutory •buttery, fluttery •introductory • adultery • effrontery •perfunctory • blustery • mediatory •retaliatory • conciliatory • expiatory •denunciatory, renunciatory •appreciatory, depreciatory •initiatory, propitiatory •dietary, proprietary •extenuatory •mandatary, mandatory •predatory • sedentary • laudatory •prefatory • offertory • negatory •obligatory •derogatory, interrogatory, supererogatory •nugatory •expurgatory, objurgatory, purgatory •precatory •explicatory, indicatory, vindicatory •confiscatory, piscatory •dedicatory • judicatory •qualificatory • pacificatory •supplicatory •communicatory, excommunicatory •masticatory • prognosticatory •invocatory • obfuscatory •revocatory • charlatanry •depilatory, dilatory, oscillatory •assimilatory • consolatory •voluntary • emasculatory •ejaculatory •ambulatory, circumambulatory, perambulatory •regulatory •articulatory, gesticulatory •manipulatory • copulatory •expostulatory • circulatory •amatory, declamatory, defamatory, exclamatory, inflammatory, proclamatory •crematory • segmentary •lachrymatory •commentary, promontory •informatory, reformatory •momentary •affirmatory, confirmatory •explanatory • damnatory •condemnatory •cosignatory, signatory •combinatory •discriminatory, eliminatory, incriminatory, recriminatory •comminatory • exterminatory •hallucinatory • procrastinatory •monastery • repertory •emancipatory • anticipatory •exculpatory, inculpatory •declaratory, preparatory •respiratory • perspiratory •vibratory •migratory, transmigratory •exploratory, laboratory, oratory •inauguratory • adjuratory •corroboratory • reverberatory •refrigeratory • compensatory •desultory • dysentery •exhortatory, hortatory •salutatory • gustatory • lavatory •inventory •conservatory, observatory •improvisatory •accusatory, excusatory •lathery •feathery, heathery, leathery •dithery, slithery •carvery •reverie, severy •Avery, bravery, knavery, quavery, Savery, savory, savoury, slavery, wavery •thievery •livery, quivery, shivery •silvery •ivory, salivary •ovary •discovery, recovery •servery • equerry • reliquary •antiquary • cassowary • stipendiary •colliery • pecuniary • chinoiserie •misery • wizardry • citizenry •advisory, provisory, revisory, supervisory •causerie, rosary