1966 US Army Vietnam War ARMOR ... - Survival Books

WWW.SURVIVALEBOOKS.COM354other friendly equipment or instal- 7. The Employment of Tank-Mountedlations. In such a case, it might be Searchlightspreferable to use an alternate, The infrared-visible night vision kit for thethough less effective, means of illu- main battle tank operates in both the visiblemination.and infrared modes. The range is less in the(3) Availability of illumination means. In infrared mode. The employment is based ondetermining the availability of means, certain techniques of positioning lights, combinfactorswhich should be consideredare the types of illumination meansing lights, and turning on lights. Lights mustbe controlled and their effect on the enemyon hand or obtainable in time for use,the quantities on hand, and the logismustbe considered. For fire commands used tocontrol searchlights and for technique of targettical situation. engagement see FM 17-12.(a) Since it is normally more difficult to a. Single or Intersecting Beams. A singlesupply ammunition to mortars than beam or an intersection of two or more beamsto artillery, it is often better to em- may be used toployartillery in the illumination (1) Mark targets or objectives (fig. 86).role. However, the maneuver force (2) Aid in deception by illuminating anmay be required to use organicarea or point outside of the area ofmortars to establish illumination inaction.the event that the direct support (3) Orient aircraft and illuminate landingartillery has other priorities of fire.areas. (Aircraft must have IR viewingSimilarly, even though 30-inchsearchlights or aircraft flares maydevice to operate in the infraredmode.)be a more effective or more econom- b. Flicker Illumination. Tank-mountedical illumination means than illumi- searchlights should be operated in groups ofnation shells, nation it shells,is often necessary two or more using flicker illumination techtotouseuseilluminationilluminationshellsshellsuntiluntil t rniques. The duration of each flicker should beapproximately 15 seconds. A sequence of illublepositions or until aircraft be- mination among the tanks should be used. Oncecome available. The availability of illumination of a target area has begun, keepillumination means frequently dic- the target area illuminated by turning thetates which will be used even operating searchlight off only after the nextthough other means may be prefer- searchlight in sequence has been turned on.able.This will preclude times of insufficient illumi-(b) Use of supporting artillery andmortars in an illumination role maynation for firing.c. Postions. The tactical employment ofinterfere with their primary role of tank-mounted searchlights is facilitated bydelivering supporting fires. This daylight reconnaissance and selection of posiusemay reduce the number of tions. The reconnaissance should include aziweaponsfiring regular support muths and elevations to prominent points andmissions; and may saturate the target areas. Positions should be located as accommunicationsto an extent that curately as time and facilities permit. Final setheoverall efficiency of indirect lection of positions should consider the locationof vital :friendly installations that could bedamaged by enemy action directed at the(c) Since no one means is entirely relia- searchlight. The position should use maximumble or suitable in all circumstancesand since the enemy may neutralizedefilade compatible with the direct illuminationmission. Ideally, the position should be on highthe first choice of illumination ground to afford maximum range and flexibimeans,plans should be made for al- lity and to avoid silhouetting friendly troopsternate means of illumination. located along or near the axis of the beam.