Fighting New Battles - Arkansas National Guard

The Arkansas Minutemanfeature142nd gets a bangout of Paladin asunit flexes muscleBy 1st Lt. Chris Heathscottand Staff Sgt. Chris A. DurneyArkansas National Guard Public Affairs• Paladin M109A6 cannon artillery system• First fielded in 1994• Operated by a crew of four -- commander, driver,gunner and loader• Able to operate independently• Fires the first round from the move in under 60seconds• Receives mission data via a secure voice anddigital communications system• Used in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom inMarch/April 2003• 39 calibre, 155mm M284 cannon• Range of 24km to 30km• Fires up to eight rounds per minute• “Shoot and scoot” capability protects the crewfrom counterbattery fire• Automatic fire control system with ballisticcomputer and optical backup• Inertial positioning and navigation system isintegrated with the automatic fire control system• 12.7mm M2 machinegun is mounted on turret• Crew remains in the vehicle throughoutthe mission• Includes protection against nuclear, chemical andbiological warfare• Individual crew protection systems• Turret is fitted with Kevlar spall suppression liningfor additional ballistic protection• Equipped with secure voice and digitalcommunications suite• Powered by a 2-cycle diesel, 400 horsepower,DDEC 8V71T engine• Allison ATD-XTG-411-4 transmission with fourforward and two reverse gears• Range of 214 miles with a maximum speed of 40miles per hourIn early March the 2nd Battalion of the 142nd Fires Brigadegave their newly fielded M109A6 Paladin 155mm self propelledhowitzers a shot. Several actually.Late on the morning of March 13, at a remote firing pointon the Arkansas Army National Guard’s Fort Chaffee ManeuverTraining Center, Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion pulled thetriggers on their own Paladins for the first time. A phalanxof high-explosive 155 mm rounds were lobbed across eightmiles of Fort Chaffee expanse, sending up large columns ofdirt, weeds, grass and debris at the impact point.The event marked the climax of the battalion’s new equipmenttraining after receipt of the Paladin system as part of the142nd’s transformation into the first modular fires brigade inthe National Guard. The 142nd is one of six National Guardbrigades designated as fires brigades in the Army’s transformationinitiative, and one of 11 in the Army as a whole.The 2nd Battalion transitioned to the accuracy of thePaladin system from the lethality of the M270A1 MultipleLaunch Rocket System (MLRS), which the brigade’s 1st Battalioncontinues to operate. The fires brigade also maintainsits own internal support element in concert with the power ofthe MLRS and Paladin, making it more sustainable in combat.The transition to modular fires brigades provides the U.S.military with a more responsive and deployable force capableof fighting smaller operations independently of division levelassets.The Paladin was developed by the Ground System Divisionof United Defense LP (now BAE Systems Land andPage 16 Summer 2006