ADAPTING ARTILLERY
THE SLOS UP CLOSE
The hardware for SLOS has three main compo- nents: struts and brackets, a fixed-recoil system and a titanium firing platform. The struts (1) and brack- ets (2) are lightweight titanium, easily installable and field-deployable mechanisms that attach to the lower carriage of the howitzer. When the SLOS struts are deployed, the system is adjusted so that there is minimal distance from the firing platform. (Image courtesy of MAJ Wade Perdue, PM TAS)
to industry. Tis detailed approach resulted in lower technical risk and mitigated potential cost overruns.
In addition to reducing performance risk through well-defined requirements, the team implemented both first article testing (FAT) and first article confirmatory testing in the inspection- and-acceptance portion of the contract.
Incorporating both FAT and first article confirmatory testing can provide a number of advantages, including identifying critical design or manufacturing flaws before executing deliv- ery orders with large quantities. Te FAT includes the necessary inspections, tests and documentation to ensure that the product characteristics conform to drawings and specifications within the TDP. Te first article confirmatory test is essentially a test of production or production-representative articles under realistic field environment conditions, in this case to demonstrate the strength of the SLOS and the titanium platform and validate that the systems meet the contractual requirements.
CONCLUSION Although the Army faces a multitude of uncertainties in the near future from force-structure reductions and resource constraints, the PM TAS/ARDEC team’s ingenuity and commitment to excellence not only improved the reliability, availability and maintainability of the howitzer, but also resolved some highly complex technical issues that have plagued the light artillery community for several years.
One of the most significant aspects of these modifications is to expand greatly on the operational capabilities of the field artillery
66
while using the existing platform. Tis creative engineering solution allows light field artillery to provide more responsive fires with optimized performance in combat situations requiring high-quadrant elevation and high-charge fires, at a substantial cost savings to the government.
Te operational environment continues to be dominated by a hybrid threat and will undoubtedly remain this way. In the future, as in the past, U.S. forces will employ both lethal and nonlethal actions across the continuum of operating environ- ments to safeguard vital national interests. By developing an improvement such as the SLOS and titanium-firing platform, the PM TAS/ARDEC team has set the conditions for light field artillery to meet the challenges ahead.
For more information, contact MAJ Wade Perdue at
wade.perdue.
mil@mail.mil.
MR. JOSEPH LIPINSKI is the M119A3 product director for PM TAS, Picatinny Arsenal, NJ. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engi- neering from Lehigh University and is Level III certified in both systems planning, research, development and engineering – systems engineering and program management.
MAJ WADE PERDUE is an assistant product manager for PM TAS. He holds an M.S. in strategic leadership and management and a B.S. in health care management from The College of West Virginia. He is Level II certified in program management and is a member of the Army Acquisition Corps.
Army AL&T Magazine
October–December 2014
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161
