What Is Old Is New Again

Field artillery in megacities

- Capt. GeoffRoss

"In the future, I can say with very high degrees of confidence, the American Army is probably going to be fighting in urban areas. We need to man, organize, train and equip the force for operations in urban areas, highly dense urban areas, and that's a different construct. We're not organized like that right now."

- Gen. Mark Milley

In 2014, 54 percent of the world’s population lived in urban areas. That number is growing 1.84 percent per year between 2015 and 2020, 1.63 percent per year between 2020 and 2025, and 1.44 percent per year between 2025 and 2030.1 Milley is correct in his assessment that large urban areas are a looming challenge for the United States Army. In the future it will fall upon Soldiers and their equipment to close with and destroy the enemy in this new dimension the Army currently has failed to address in military operations on urbanized terrain training. This article contends that the field artillery, as a core component of the combined arms force, must train and address the unique challenges created by city-fighting. The argument entails a return to one of the least trained arts of American artillery, direct fire.

Throughout 2016 and 2017, coalition field artillery provided the assist to advise and assist, with American M777A2 and M109A6 units. They fired precision and near-precision rounds in support of Iraqi Security Forces fighting to liberate Mosul from ISIS. The precision M982 and M982A1 Excalibur (EXCAL) projectiles provided outstanding, limited collateral damage munitions to target everything from vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, to snipers, to command and control nodes. EXCAL provides flexibility, scalability, and all-weather responsiveness in support of ground force commanders (GFCs).