COAST ARTILLERY, JOURNAL - Air Defense Artillery

504 THE COAST ARTILLERY JOURNAL
rapid rate of fire than the present system permits can be attained and
should be realized. A moderately well trained battery could fire salvos
at intervals which should average 45 seconds. Some salvos might
be 30 seconds apart; some one minute or more apart, but the majority
of the salvos could be 45 seconds apart. An improved fire control
system therefore should be flexible enough to permit of battery salvos
being fired at intervals of 30 seconds, 45 seconds, one minute, one
minute and 15 seconds, and so on.
5. Another consideration involved is that a minimum of time
should be required for a relay. Under the system described by T. R.
435-221, the mortars are fired one minute from the time when prediction
is begun. If, for some reason, a relay becomes necessary, it is two
minutes before the pieces can be fired, because a new prediction must
be used.To permit the flexibility discussed in the preceding paragraph, the
time required to complete the ope'rations in the pits incident to a relay
should be less than fifteen seconds in a moderately well trained organization.
Extensive tests at Battery Anderson during development of this
project have demonstrated conclusively that a relay interval of fifteen
seconds is a practicable one for such an organization, with some modification
of the ordinary methods for laying in azimuth and elevation to
be discussed in detail farther on in this paper. Here again, the state
of training of troops must be accommodated by the improved system.
Inexperienced troops after some training can fire every minute, using a
relay interval of one minute if a relay becomes necessary. They really
could do better, on a relay, if the system permitted, i. e., an organization
which could fire every minute, could relay in thirty seconds easily. As
the state of training improves, a relay interval of fifteen seconds soon
would become practicable. An improved mortar fire control system
therefore should be flexible enough to permit relaying in fifteen seconds
or thirty seconds.
6. a. To meet the preceding conditions as to firing interval and
relay interval, it appears best to predict more frequently when the state
of training permits, and, based upon these predictions, to interpolate
or extrapolate for intermediate intervals of fifteen seconds. Mter a
moderate amount of training a mortar range section easily can predict
one minute ahead once in thirty seconds. This step is thoroughly practicable.
It is impracticable, generally, to decrease the dead time to
thirty seconds because, assuming that loading and prediction begin at
the same instant, the corrected elevation and azimuth generally cannot
be sent to the pits in time to permit the data to be set on the pieces hy
the next 30-second bell. An exception is an organization so highly
trained that salvos can be fired every thirty seconds-in time of peace
such an organization seldom can be developed.