Thread: Shoulder Artillery

and they linked to one of my favorite videos on youtube as a 'related video'!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEu9LLQpOF8

Originally Posted by http://www.militarycity.com/blackwater/blackwater3.html

BIG BUBBA

After experiencing the .408's relatively low recoil, the evaluators found quite a contrast just a few short steps away. There, nestled among FNH's more familiar offerings, was a prototype, shoulder-fired system with a truly intimidating tube - 76mm, to be precise. Through that 3-inch-wide opening - a baseball-sized hole -- the High-Impulse Weapon System (HIWS) is capable of hurling the 2.2-pound payload of a 3.3-pound round more than 700 yards in an indirect-fire mode. In a direct-fire role, the HIWS can engage targets out to 300 yards.

Manufactured by Lacroix Pyro-Technologies of France, the HIWS will be marketed by the FNH team. Touting a sophisticated recoil-mitigation system, the weapon produces no back blast and no overpressure, making it possible to fire the system from an enclosed space - even from inside a vehicle. The HIWS is also relatively quiet: Ear protection isn't needed when firing the system.

Despite a quick rundown on how to arm and fire the HIWS, some of the evaluators clearly had reservations about the system's imposing size and equally imposing statistics. A couple of questions that probably flashed through their minds were: How large a bruise can be caused by a maximum projectile acceleration of 65,600 ft.sec-2? And just how much shoulder pain should be expected from a firing impulse of 22.5 pounds per second?

Perhaps these questions went unasked because Lacroix engineers are considering developing an 84mm HIWS, which would make the 76mm version something akin to a girly-man system. For whatever reasons, our fearless evaluators rose to the challenge.

But one failed to heed the salesman's twice-proffered advice to keep 80 percent of his body weight on his forward foot: A trigger pull later, he did a 180-degree spin to his right, stumbled three steps sideways, and ended up on his butt. And he isn't a little guy. Subsequent shooters didn't have to be reminded.

Lacroix engineers actually have plans for an 84mm HIWS; they've already developed a 66mm version; and they're working on a 40mm variant that's sure to be offered to U.S. forces.

Despite any pain our evaluators suffered firing the 76mm variant, there was nearly universal agreement that the concept is, in fact, worth pursuing. "Excellent potential for less-lethal payloads," noted one. "Great idea," said another. "Its possible uses include less-lethal weapons applications. I'd like to see further development of this concept."

"Tremendous potential to provide the dismounted infantryman with lightweight, shoulder-fired lethality at ranges well beyond our current family of munitions," another observed. "Awesome potential to place 2.2-pound warheads 300 to 400 meters downrange to defeat various target sets."

Other comments suggested that Lacroix designers continue developing and improving the system with an eye toward evolving it from an area weapon to a point weapon system, and that they figure out a way for a shooter to use the HIWS from a prone firing position.

Ok... I can see it being useful for non-lethal or less-then-lethal payloads. You can put a lot of LTL into a 2.2 pound warhead. Sticky foam, Stinger balls, etc....

And you put it on top of a humvee and I can see it actually being useful...

What about the heavier applications ?
If this can allow somebody to shoulder fire something with the kick of an 81mm mortar, couldn't it drop the recoil on a mounted weapon ?
The 105 mounted on the Stryker chassis comes to mind.

"So Larry what do you do for a living?"

"Let me show you."

Funnest day ever.