Self-Propelled Howitzer Rate of Fire

Army artillery systems are manually loaded by members of its crew. This loading process involves removing lifting plugs from projectiles, installing fuzes, inductively programming the fuzes, transferring the projectile to the howitzer’s breech, ramming the projectile into the breech, inserting the correct amount of propellant into the breech, closing the breech, installing a primer, connecting a lanyard to the trigger mechanism, and pulling the lanyard to fire the weapon.   This manual process is time consuming and limits the rate of fire of artillery systems to four rounds per minute. Extended fire missions are physically taxing on the crew, decreasing the fire rate further. Such low fire rates limit the capabilities of the howitzer platforms and precludes a single artillery piece from executing Multiple Round Simultaneous Impact (MRSI) fire missions.   To increase the rate of fire of American artillery systems, Lynntech proposes an autoloader system that automates the fuzing and loading process. A gantry system capable of accessing all bustle rack locations will be installed. The gantry will be on a track that will allow it to move down the centerline of the turret. The gantry will possess end effectors tailored to 1) remove lifting plugs, 2) install fuzes, 3) inductively program fuzes, 4) transfer fuzed projectiles from the bustle rack to the second stage of the autoloader system, and 5) retrieve fuzed projectiles from the second stage and reinsert them into the bustle rack in the event of a canceled fire mission. Crewmembers restock the bustle rack with unfuzed rounds.   The second stage of the autoloader system, the Hopper, is reminiscent of a large revolver cylinder. It is mounted to scaffolding that rotates with the turret yet supported by the vehicle’s chassis by means of low-friction contacts. This floating scaffolding is termed the Pseudo-Floor. The Hopper can be mounted directly to the chassis if proven beneficial during testing. The Hopper dispenses projectiles base first, which are gripped by the Lifting Arm.   The Lifting Arm flips the projectile head-over-heels, tilting it downwards to the same degree the barrel’s elevation is tilted upwards. The Lifting Arm then flips the projectile 180⁰ across the centerline of the vehicle so that it is positioned directly over the hydraulic rammer and is at the same angle. The Lifting Arm lowers the projectile to the rammer, which inserts it into the breech. In the event of a change to a fire mission, fuzed rounds in the Hopper can be retrieved by the gantry.   Propellant and stub charges are handled by a second Hopper/Lifting Arm assembly. A crewmember loads propellant and stub charges into the second Hopper and a Lifting Arm with an elongated gripper performs the same flip-tilt-flip-lower maneuver as the projectile’s Lifting Arm. Automating the loading process of the second Hopper can be automated, however the lightweight nature of the charges obviate the need for lifting-assist equipment.