SwiftVets.com

[SBD]

What is the name of this weapon and why is it in the back of a Semi??



We were on Interstate 8 heading West toward San Diego just past El Centro when we saw this weapon pointed at us from a Semi as we passed. My friend and I looked at each other and thought we must have been seeing things, so we pulled over to wait for the Semi to catch up to us and pass. That's when I took these pictures.










SBD

[GenrXr]

It’s a relic of the bygone era of artillery warfare, where men and large cannon would stand in rear formation while infantry and armor would challenge forward enemy positions. Although, Rommel actually used artillery in forward attack against enemy armor it must be observed.

Rommel had no time to waste in standard battle formations and thought, what the hell, that artillery should be used in the front lines.

Something which should always be considered when listening to former Generals bash the Bush administration and Rumsfeld in particular is that prior to Bush being elected, he said he was going to scrap the current generation of military weapons and proceed to the following generation.

The Army was really hit hard with many systems being ruled obsolete and thus tabled. Many a base general lost many a dollar and allotments when this occurred. I believe many artillery pieces are no longer being produced or were tabled after Bush was elected. In addition, most of our generals are slow to change as we all are in older age and naturally hesitant to what becomes obviously necessary later.

Finally, we still use artillery, yet its days are numbered. Although the package might be cheaper than more exotic longer range methods, the overall system required for a military which uses artillery is cost prohibitive in tomorrow’s war.

As for non-military moving weapons, it happens all the time. The private sector is often contracted in this capacity. The government does background checks on the drivers and while they might be employed to move something like this cannon, you will not see private companies moving something as sensitive as a nuclear weapon without armed military escort.
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[I B Squidly]

It's an M777 155mm. 600 evenly split between Army and USMC are on order to replace the M198. It's ultra light weight suitable for helo carry. The tow hook on the muzzle is the visual tell.

I8 connects San Diego/Camp Pendelton with the Yuma Proving gounds. Commercial transport is a damn sight cheaper than military escort. It's not like a hi-jacker would find alot of ammo for the thing. Next time take your binoc's and cruise US95 north off I8.

And it's hi hi hee in the field artillery.....
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[Me#1You#10]

Interesting...thanks for the pix and the education.

Here's a link to a pic of it in action...a bit too large for this space...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2a/M777_howitzer.jpg

...and another when it is traveling "first class"...

[dusty]

Hauled freight around the country for 15 yrs. Several years I had trucks leased to a company called C&H Transportation.
They hauled a lot of military stuff from bombs to torpedoes to light tanks to jet fighters.
Got to haul some kind of super secret thing for the space shuttle once from Wis. to Fla.
It was really kewl. Had two FBI cars in the front and two in the back. Didn't have to stop for any weigh stations or speed cops.
Had one speed cop come after us and the last FBI car puled him over.
Only thing I could stop for was fuel when the FBI cars needed to gas up. I had enough on board to run all the way without having to fuel up.
Once I picked up an Air Force fire truck out at the graveyard at Tuscon and carried it to a Air Base down in S. Fla.
When I got there they said they didn't order the thing and cut me a set of papers to take it back to Ariz.
So I did. By the time I got it back out there they had the orders straightened out and turned me right back around and sent me back to Fla. with it. Hauled that thing for 10 days without having to touch a chain or binder. I was kinda hoping to just keep on driving around with it.

Dusty
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[GenrXr]