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-13 Target description. Method of engagement. Method of fire and control. A-56. The BCT field artillery battalion or any field artillery battalion receiving the call for fire designates the firing unit(s). On completion of the minefield emplacement, forward the fired data to the corps, division, BCT, maneuver battalion, cavalry squadron or other subordinate or supporting unit fires cell. When AFATDS is not available, record the fired data in Section D of Department of the Army (DA) Form 5032 (Field Artillery Delivered Minefield Planning Sheet). The FSCOORD, fires cell planners, and targeting officers compute the safety zone according to the fired data and pass it to the engineer coordinator for dissemination to higher, lower, and adjacent units as appropriate. FIRING IN ARTILLERY-DELIVERED MINES A-57. One of the key considerations in emplacing a minefield with indirect fire is to get a precise target location, The three basic ways of doing this, from most desirable to least desirable, are: Use target area survey. Fire the center grid in with dual-purpose improved conventional munitions in the self-registering (ground burst) mode and have the BCT’s cannon field artillery battalion or supporting field artillery brigade (FAB) field artillery battalion fire direction center replot to get the adjusted grid. Carefully map-spot the grid through intersection, resection, or terrain association. A-58. No matter which method is used, the center grid of the proposed minefield should be recorded as a target. This provides a center for fires to emplace remote antiarmor munition systems or area denial antipersonnel mines, a target for smoke or improved conventional munitions to attack breaching forces, and a known point from which to shift in calling fires onto units just beyond or in front of the minefield. The use of field artillery target numbers for scatterable mines planning by the engineer coordinator facilitates coordination. A-59. In choosing minefield length, width, attitude, and density, the first and most obvious considerations are the tactical requirements for the scatterable mine mission and ammunition availability. These factors, combined with firing unit availability and positioning, time requirements, counterfire risk exposure, and technical considerations such as range and angle of fire, provide an estimate of how many meters of minefield width are available for various densities. A-60. Create field artillery-delivered minefields by firing on a number of aimpoints. Use AFATDS to divide the target into aimpoints at the battalion fire direction center (for a mass mission) or the battery fire direction center. See the electronic manual EM 0141 for additional information. The AFATDS software provides the operator guidance on how to plan minefields and other fire support by selecting the AFATDS desktop icon “AFATDS opDoc” and following those instructions. A-61. Field artillery scatterable mine employment is based on a concept known as planning modules. The planning module for remote antiarmor munition systems low angle is 200x200 meters. The planning module for remote antiarmor munition systems high-angle and for area denial antipersonnel mines low- or high-angle is 400x400 meters. This does not mean that the minefield planner cannot request a minefield that is larger than the planning module. In any scatterable mines minefield, the requesting agency defines the minefield size in terms of the length, width, and attitude. The length of the minefield is always the longest axis. The attitude is based on the long axis for a rectangular minefield (side-to-side for a square minefield, although attitude is not usually critical for square minefields). The concept of the planning modules is based on the minefield width. In other words, the width of all minefields must be in multiples of the previously defined planning module. The supporting fire direction center uses the length, width, and attitude provided by the requestor with the planning module factors to determine the technical data required to establish the required minefield and to estimate ammunition and firing unit requirements. A-62. For most immediate, target of opportunity minefields, unit standard operating procedures should establish a standard size minefield, generally a square such as 400x400 meters. Planned targets may frequently be rectangular, with the long axis positioned to ensure maximum effective coverage based on the