ATP-3-09-42 Fire Support for the Brigade Combat Team Download
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Attack Systems Capabilities 1 March 2016 ATP 3-09.42 A-11 Minimize Indirect fires on Top of the Scatterable Mines A-40. Whether or not to minimize indirect fires on top of scatterable mines is a judgment call. Firing on the minefield destroys breaching parties, but it also makes the minefield easier to breach by possibly destroying the exposed mines. A-41. One compromise is to concentrate indirect fires on targets immediately beyond the minefield, and direct fire on targets in the minefield. If a mine plow or other mine-clearing vehicle enters the minefield and clears a lane, following vehicles have to bunch up to enter the lane and may present a good target. A-42. If the enemy clears a lane and is on the verge of breaching the minefield, consider firing a heavy concentration of smoke or dual-purpose improved conventional munitions directly on top of the minefield. The smoke should obscure the remaining mines as well as the clear lane markers that the vehicles are trying to follow. Use of smoke has to be carefully coordinated, as it will inhibit friendly direct fire weapons. However, a fire mission of this type should be on-call in case the enemy places smoke between the friendly maneuver force and the minefield to screen the breaching efforts. If the enemy uses smoke first, it is to friendly force advantage to provide fires for smoke on the minefield or dual-purpose improved conventional munitions to disrupt the enemy’s crossing efforts. A-43. Field artillery-delivered scatterable mines introduce another planning problem – timing. Firing mines too early gives the enemy time to avoid them, limits friendly freedom to maneuver, and can result in the mines self-destructing too early. Firing mines too late can result in their landing behind attacking enemy forces and being of little value. A-44. For these reasons, the trigger point for firing remote antiarmor munition systems or area denial antipersonnel mines must be very carefully coordinated between the BCT S-2, S-3, engineer coordinator, FSCOORD, fires cell planners, and targeting officers. The trigger point for firing field artillery-delivered mines must meet the following criteria: The enemy, upon reaching the trigger point, must be committed to the avenue of approach on which the mines will be delivered. The trigger point must be far enough forward of the proposed minefield that the minefield can be emplaced before the enemy reaches it. A-45. The trigger point should be a target area of interest in the BCT S-2’s intelligence preparation of the battlefield (see ATPs 2-01.3 and 2-19.4). A target area of interest is the geographical area where high- value targets can be acquired and engaged by friendly forces (JP 2-01.3). A-46. The target area of interest should be under surveillance at all times. The element observing the target area of interest should have the authority to fire the minefield or have a direct communications link to whoever is going to call for the mines. A-47. The target areas of interest must be far enough beyond the minefield that the minefield will be in place in time in a worst-case scenario. The FSCOORD, fires cell planners, and targeting officers should allow for the time it takes to send the call for fire, process the call for fire, execute the mission, and arm the mines. Employment to Augment an Obstacle A-48. Field artillery-delivered scatterable mines are optional weapons for closing lanes in existing obstacles or reseeding a breached minefield. Remote antiarmor munition systems and area denial antipersonnel mines used to close a lane(s) in an obstacle should be planned with the same considerations as remote antiarmor munition systems or area denial antipersonnel mines planned as an obstacle. Another consideration in using remote antiarmor munition systems and area denial antipersonnel mines to close a lane is how wide the field artillery minefield should be. A rule of thumb is to use the width of the lane plus the expected delivery error when the mines are fired. Planning considerations to minimize the amount of ammunition used include: