Crusader: hammer for today, forge for the future

Crusader is critical to transformation. The Army's new FA system contributes directly to the Chief of Staff of the Army's vision of an Objective Force that's responsive, deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable and sustainable.

The US military is the undisputed master of the battlefield. Our prowess has been demonstrated against the full range of operations. We have outstanding equipment and the best-trained forces in the world. We have been able to dominate all threats, including attacks on our homeland.

However, there is a glaring exception to our total battlefield superiority. There exists today (and has existed for several years) a deficiency in artillery fires.

This deficiency has manifested itself in many ways. US cannon artillery is out-gunned by many of the platforms proliferating across the world (Russian 2S19, South African G6, German PzH2000 and others). Cannon fires provide insufficient volume to satisfy the close battle fires, while the fire support architecture lacks the responsiveness to attack targets of opportunity. Today's cannon platforms hinder the advance of forces by lagging behind their supported maneuver counterparts. Despite the dissimilarity of these deficiencies, they all include a common shortfall: the declining utility of our primary self propelled cannon platform, the M109-series howitzer.

The challenge we face is to continue our battlefield superiority while the 30-year process of transformation takes place. Crusader, fielding in 2008, answers the call. As the Army's new cannon system, Crusader will enable transformation as a significant contributor to the Legacy, Interim and Objective Forces. See Figure 1.

Some believe the Legacy Force will look and act just like the force that fought in Desert Storm. But this simplified view fails to take into account the sea change in operational concepts and organizational structure that already has occurred.

In 1996, the Army reduced the firepower of maneuver and artillery battalions by 25 percent. Cannon battalions that previously had three batteries of eight guns were reduced to three batteries of six guns. The typical heavy division experienced a loss of 18 cannon artillery systems with a commensurate loss of personnel.

This decrease in force structure was based upon the expectation of increasing combat power--enabled, in large part, by the expected future fielding of Crusader and smart munitions. The Army took a strategic risk.

At the same time, however, the geographical operating area of the mechanized division has more than doubled. Today, tactical units are expected to travel faster and farther and accomplish a greater range of objectives than ever before.

Mobility. Paladin, the Army's current fielded artillery system, cannot keep up with its supported maneuver force in this environment. Because of the shortfall in mobility, it is common practice to "echelon" artillery assets to ensure that supported units are in range. This technique ensures that fires are readily available, but it often robs the force commander of the ability to mass fires or attack targets of opportunity.

To make up for this mobility shortfall, Crusader will use a turbine engine that will be common with the M1A2 system enhancement program (SEP) tank (Abrams/Crusader common engine). This potent engine will enable Crusader to achieve the required highway speed of 67 kilometers per hour, but tests indicate it most likely will achieve a higher speed. Likewise, the potent engine will allow Crusader to surpass the required cross-country speed of 39 kilometers per hour, most likely 48 kilometers per hour. Its speed and cruising range of 405 kilometers will allow it to efficiently "nest" within maneuver forces and enable "maneuvering" of fires.

Its mobility, autonomy and responsiveness will ensure that fires always will be available and integral to the supported force. Crusader vastly opens up tactical possibilities for the force commander.

Lethality and Responsiveness. The Crusader self-propelled howitzer's (SPH's) responsiveness, accuracy, range and high rate-of-fire will combine to create an extraordinarily lethal howitzer. An emplaced SPH will respond to a fire mission with the first round fired within 20 seconds (45 seconds from on the move). Its liquid-cooled 56-caliber cannon will shoot the vast majority of fire missions at the rate of at least 10 rounds per minute. Its robotic ammunition handling system will allow each howitzer to shoot its own time-on-target (TOT) by delivering four to eight rounds that all will land within four seconds on the target. The advanced fire control and gun pointing system will make the SPH roughly three times more accurate than the Paladin.

Using its on-board projectile tracking system, the SPH will be able to track its own projectiles to apogee. The fire control system will use this data to perform "should hit, did hit" calculations and automatically apply those corrections to subsequent rounds or missions, enabling greater effects on target. In effect, the SPH will register every mission, and continually refine that data in real-time.

The Crusader battalion will have two versions of the resupply vehicle (RSV): a tracked version, RSV(T), and wheeled version, RSV(W). The RSV(W) will be a light, highly mobile version that consists of a standard palletized loading system (PLS) truck that will carry a Crusader resupply module with flatrack-like connections. Optimized for use where roads exist, the RSV(W) will leverage the advantages of wheeled vehicles to quickly resupply the SPH or another RSV.

The RSV(T), on the other hand, will be an armored tracked resupply vehicle. A majority of its components will be common with the SPH and able to withstand the most hazardous threat environment.

Each resupply vehicle will contain more than two complete SPH ammunition loads and supply the SPH through an extendable boom. The fully automated ammunition handling system will be able to resupply the SPH with a full load of ammunition, fuel and data in less than 11 minutes without any physical effort required of the crew. These capabilities will yield an ammunition throughput that is more than twice that of any other comparable howitzer (PzH2000, AS90, Paladin, etc.).

Survivability. The SPH and RSV(T) will have a number of features that combine to make Crusader crewmen among the most survivable in battle. The two tracked vehicles will have ballistic and nonballistic protection that greatly improves on Paladin armor. Ammunition will be compartmentalized to protect the crew in case of hull penetration or fire. There will be a defensive weapon (machinegun or grenade launcher) on top of both tracked vehicles that will be aimed and fired remotely by the crew under armor.

Crusader will have the ability to dash 750 meters in 90 seconds after conducting a fire mission. Thus, even if targeted, it will be able to avoid being hit. When these features are combined with optimal tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs), Crusader will have unprecedented survivability.

Analysis and Report Results. The most recent analytical study of Crusader ("Crusader and the Army Transformation: A Report to the Congressional Defense Committees," December 2000) demonstrated the significant benefits of the system. While the actual results depended on the nature of the scenario, Crusader-supported forces inflicted substantially more personnel and equipment losses on the opposing force (27 percent to 35 percent), while sustaining far fewer losses (16 percent to 34 percent) than forces equipped with Paladin. Additionally, the benefit of Crusader's high force effectiveness extended to the supported maneuver force: more tanks and personnel carriers survived the conflict.

Forces equipped with Crusader were found more capable for a number of reasons. The combination of the SPH's lethality, the ammunition throughput enabled by the RSVs and the mobility of the platforms provided the ability to engage units with intense pulses of firepower. The pulses created devastating effects and denied the enemy an ability to react to the engagement. The secondary effects were also significant, allowing the maneuver force greater opportunities to engage the enemy.

When the close battle was initiated, it occured more frequently on friendly force's terms against an enemy that had been attrited by relentless deep fires.

Crusader's mobility, lethality, responsiveness and survivability will provide the ability to execute decisive action.

The Interim Force must be strategically deployable. In practical terms, that means being able to quickly deploy by air to theaters anywhere in the world.

Deployability and Lethality. As a result of the recent redesign efforts to reduce Crusader's weight, the SPH or RSV(T) will have a curb weight of 38 to 42 tons. At that weight, one C-17 aircraft can transport two Crusader vehicles (tracked or wheeled) worldwide that will be combat-capable "off the ramp."

Crusader will be able to plug into the joint command and control ([C.sup.2]) network and immediately expand the battlespace controlled by friendly forces. Crusader will give the supported warfighting commander far greater capability for the same amount of strategic airlift assets than any other artillery system.

During a small-scale contingency map exercise (MAPEX) conducted during the latest analytical study, the addition of Crusader was deemed invaluable. Neither the Paladin nor the Crusader was believed to be critical for initial operations, but the accuracy of Crusader made it an attractive firepower option in areas where collateral damage could not be tolerated.

In fact, the MAPEX participants (not analysts, but warfighting subject matter experts) concluded that the overwhelming firepower Crusader offers the supported commander more than justifies any overhead associated with deploying, employing and sustaining the system.

The organic artillery platform for the Interim Force will be the lightweight 155-mm towed howitzer (LW 155), projected for fielding in 2006. It will fill a significant capability gap. While Crusader is strategically deployable and clearly a significant fire support augmentation option for this force, it lacks an important feature of the Interim Force: it cannot be transported within theater on a C-130 payload. The LW 155 will be transportable by C-130.

The distinction is an important one because the Interim Force is more than just a stopgap measure. It will be developing the doctrine and TTP of the Objective Force. The intra-theater transport of "C-130-like" payloads will be critical to that development.

State-of-the-Art Connectivity. Crusader has been designed from its inception to operate on the digitized battlefield of the future and will incorporate a great number of the Objective Force features sought by the Interim Force.

Operations will be conducted by a section that is a one-third smaller than today's Paladin section. Crewmen will control the system from a state-of-the-art, software-driven crew cockpit that will provide a "shirt sleeve"-protected environment from enemy nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) effects.

The three-man crew will be freed from the labor- and attention-intensive tasks of previous systems. As needed, the crew will be able to access decision aids, practice training scenarios, inventory on-board ammunition and perform perimeter surveillance.

The crew also will be able to access the common operating picture (COP) on demand. The Crusader crew will have a level of situational awareness and flow of information that is unprecedented in artillery.

Equipment failure will be prevented with the system prognostics, and repairs will be facilitated with the diagnostic tools embedded in the platform. The crew will be able to "fight the system" rather than "service the piece."

Through the power of its fully integrated cockpit and its digital architecture, Crusader will be able to establish rapid links with sensors and eliminate much of the latency of today's hierarchical fire support [C.sup.2] system. Just as there always will be a need to mass fires at a battalion level, there also will be a need to quickly and efficiently force-tailor shooters to deal with the proliferation of engagements or focus on targets of opportunity. The dispersed nature of the Interim Force means long-range fires frequently will be called upon for close support missions. Thus, the artillery community must be able to execute simultaneous missions and respond to changing missions quickly and efficiently.

Employment Flexibility. Today, the maneuver commander says he wants fires, and the fire support team initiates a call-for-fire through the brigade fire support officer (FSO) to the battalion fire direction center (FDC) on to a battery FDC then down to platoon operations center (POC) and, ultimately, to the guns...and all for only one target at a time.

Crusader will allow greater flexibility in force tailoring. If the situation dictates, Crusader will be able to link directly with a Comanche helicopter, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) ground station, an M1A2 SEP or other target acquisition source and immediately initiate effective fires. With minimal pre-coordination, one sensor will be able to directly control the fires of up to a battery of howitzers. Crusader will be able to respond with a battery of fires within 60 to 90 seconds of target detection.

We have techniques today that can flatten that hierarchy. But they typically are workarounds that either revolve around a single firing platform or require a dedicated [C.sup.2] node to coordinate a rapid response. They cannot be implemented rapidly and, therefore, have limitations.

Crusader will enable this flattened structure by conducting its own tactical fire direction and coordinating the fires of up to five subordinate howitzers. When these capabilities are combined with Crusader's mobility and survivability, true opportunities exist to greatly increase responsive fires.

Crusader, with its strategic deployability and lethality, exceptional connectivity and employment flexibility will augment the Interim Force capability to conduct decisive action.

The Objective Force is expected to be a full-spectrum system-of-systems force capable of direct fire or line-of-sight (LOS), mortar-like fires or non-line of sight (NLOS) and indirect fires or beyond line of sight (BLOS). The most recent technology assessments indicate the Block 1 future combat system (FCS) may have limited or no indirect fire capability. By providing massive lethal indirect fires, Crusader will make the FCS vision work.

While it is true that Crusader will not fit on a C-130, the aircraft used for strategic airlift are the C-17 and the C-5 transports. Despite the Objective Force requirement to be transportable on a C- 130, the strategic aircraft are the ones most likely to be used in an initial strategic deployment. Either aircraft can deploy two Crusader vehicles worldwide without requiring in-flight refueling, making Crusader a firepower combat multiplier for follow-on to early entry forces.

Crusader's technologies will be used by FCS. It is breaking new ground in a number of areas related to sustainability, survivability and versatility. Examples include laser ignition, robotics, electronic spray cooling, and electric drive motors for breech, turret movement and ammunition handling.

Through embedded prognostics and diagnostics, Crusader will "know" more about its operational readiness than any other ground combat vehicle. In addition to knowing its operating capability, the Crusader will be able to diagnose its problems, order and track replacementparts, reconfigure after a fault to achieve its best capability and assist the crew in servicing the platform.

A robust interactive electronic technical manual (IETM), the first of its kind, will guide the crew in all aspects of repairs, from crew-level to depot-level repairs. This will include assisting in battlefield damage assessment and repair (BDAR) procedures.

Crusader represents a generational leap in fire support. Its contribution to the future force will rely on its ability to plug into the firepower "system-of-systems," be strategically deployable, be ready to fight upon arrival and maintain its devastating lethality throughout the fight. See Figure 2.

Today, Crusader promises to fulfill an urgent warfighting need and provide a technical bridge to the Objective Force. Its mission, functions and viability will remain critical throughout the Army's Transformation.

Figure 1: Crusader Program Highlights

* Designated as a Legacy-To-Objective Force system in November 2001.

* The first Crusader self-propelled howitzer (SPH) prototype fired more than 3,700 rounds in developmental testing at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, in December 2001.

* A limited user evaluation is scheduled for this summer; additional operational testing on full prototypes will start in 2006.

* Crusader is fully funded, on schedule and within budget; it will start fielding to the Counterattack Corps in 2008.

Figure 2: Crusader Capabilities. The Crusader system includes three different vehicles: the tracked self-propelled howitzer, or SPH; the tracked resupply vehicle, or RSV(T); and the wheeled resupply vehicle, or RSV(W).

* Fielding Quantities: 480 SPHs and 240 Each of the RSV(T)s and RSV(W)s

* Payload: 48 Rounds on the SPH and 100 Rounds on the RSV(T) or RSV(W)

* Maximum Rate-of-Fire: 10 to 12 Rounds per Minute

* Sustained Rate-of-Fire: 3 to 10 Rounds per Minute

* Maximum Range: 40 Kilometers with M549A1 Rocket-Assisted Projectile (RAP)

* Response Time: 20 Seconds (Emplaced) and 45 Seconds (From the Move)

* One-Gun Time-on-Target: 4 to 8 Rounds Impacting within 4 Seconds of Each Other

* Emergency Displacement: 750 Meters in 90 Seconds

* Road Speed: 67 Kilometers per Hour

* Cross-Country Speed: 39 Kilometers per Hour

* Ammunition Handling/Gun Pointing: Fully Automated

* Ammunition Transfer: Fully Automated (Ammo, Fuel and Data)

* Maintenance Aids: Embedded Diagnostics and Prognostics and an Electronic Technical Manual

* Crew Size per Vehicle: 3

* Weight: SPH Curb Weight of 42 Tons or Less and Combat-Loaded Weight of 50 Tons or Less

RELATED ARTICLE: Legacy Force: The Army has a nonnegotiable contract with the American people to fight and win our nation's wars. The Legacy Force is our guarantee that we will be able to fulfill our contract as the primary force through 2016. At that point, the Legacy Force will supplement the Objective Force until it's integrated in 2032. Consisting primarily of systems found in today's heavy divisions, the Legacy Force will be modernized with equipment already programmed and recapitalized until it's integrated into the Objective Force.

Interim Force. The Army is responding to existing shortfalls in the operational spectrum by introducing the Interim Force into the force structure. Designed to be a strategically deployable force, it will have significantly more combat power than today's light divisions. By procuring today's state-of-the-art equipment and optimizing operations and our organizational structure, the Army will equip the Interim Force with as many of the characteristics of the Objective force as feasible. The Interim Force is being created today and will consist of six brigade combat teams (IBCTs) that will remain in the Army's structure until 2032.

Objective Force. This force will be more responsive, deployable, agile, versatile, lethal, survivable and sustainable. Although many details of the Objective Force are unclear, we do know some characteristics. It will be able to operate on a large, nonlinear battlefield where the enemy will be able to challenge friendly forces, regardless of the their locations. Success on this battlefield means having overmatch on every point on the operational spectrum. The first objective brigade combat team (OBCT) is scheduled to be fielded in 2010. From 2012 on, the Army will convert three brigades a year to OBCTs until fielding is completed in 2032.

Major Charles J. (Jack) Emerson, Jr., Acquisition Corps (AC), is a Crusader Combat Developer Staff Officer in the Training and Doctrine Command Systems Manager for Cannons (TSM Cannon), part of the Futures Development Integration Center, Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In his previous assignment, he was the Combat Developer In-Plant Representative to the prime contractor for Crusader, United Defense Limited Partnership, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Among other assignments, he served as Commander of Service Battery in the 1st Battalion, 82d Field Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; Division Assistant Fire Support Coordinator, also in the 1st Cavalry Division; and Platoon Leader in 5th Battalion, 17th Field Artillery, 21 0th Field Artillery Brigade, VIII Corns, Germany. He also has served as a Test Officer for the US Army Operational Test Command at Fort Hood.

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