M777 starts fielding in the 11th Marines.

The new M777 light-weight 155-mm towed howitzer will begin fielding in May to the 3d Battalion, 11th Marines at Twentynine Palms, California.

The M777 is replacing the aging 155-mm towed M198 howitzer. Some of the M777's greatest improvements are in its mobility, trans-portability, survivability and lethality. The M777 can be emplaced and ready to fire in less than two minutes, which is significantly faster than the M198.

The new weapon can be rapidly displaced within two to three minutes, allowing the battery to shoot and move before the enemy can return fire. Its light weight (less than 10,000 pounds) and independent suspension allow the weapon to travel over rougher terrain (world-wide, that amounts to about 30 percent more terrain) and be sling-loaded under more aircraft than the M198.

It fires all current and planned 155-mm munitions. Although its max range is still 30,000 meters with current rocket-assisted projectiles, that range will extend to more than 37,000 meters when firing the new global positioning system/inertial navigation unit (GPS/INU) precision-guided Excalibur munition. The max rate of fire is four rounds per minute while the sustained rate is two rounds per minute.

Within a year of the initial M777 deliveries, both the Marine Corps and Army will start taking delivery of the M777A1, which adds a digital fire control system (DFCS). The DFCS provides the howitzer highly accurate self-location and directional control. With the introduction of DFCS, the battery only requires survey control points to initialize the system.

The section chief will have a navigational aid inside the cab, and the weapon has an onboard single-channel ground and airborne radio system (SINCGARS) and amplifier for digital communications. This provides greater flexibility for the howitzer, which no longer will be tied to wire communications.

The M777 A1 provides commanders greater flexibility in getting to the fight, carrying out their missions and quickly moving to safe locations to carry out subsequent missions.

If units have questions, they can call me at the M777 New Equipment Training Team (NETT) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma: Commercial [phone]/5301; the DSN prefix is 639. Units can email me with their questions: [e-mail].

Marine
Unit       Location                   M-NET      O-NET

FY05
11th       29 Palms, CA               May 05     May 05
11th       Camp Pendleton, CA         Aug 05     Aug 05

FY06
EEAP       29 Palms                   Feb 06     N/A
11th       Camp Pendleton             May 06     May 06
10th       Camp Lejeune, NC           Jun 06     Jun 06
10th       Camp Lejeune               Jul 06     Aug 06
10th       Camp Lejeune               Sep 06     Sep 06

FY07
10th       Camp Lejeune               Oct 06     Oct 06
5th SBCT   Schofield Barracks, HI     Dec 06     Dec 06

Legend:
EEAP = Enhanced Equipment Allowance Pool
M-NET = Maintenance New Equipment Training
O-NET = Operations New Equipment Training
SBCT = Stryker Brigade Combat Team

Current Fielding Schedule for the M777

Capt Waco Lane, USMC XO, M777 NETT, Fort Sill, OK