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| Science & Technology |
| M777A2 Artillery Accident At Ft. Bragg Wounds 8 Marines and 2 Sailors |
| 2011-03-16 |
| Eight Marines and two Navy sailors were injured Monday by an exploding artillery round during live fire training on Fort Bragg. A Marines spokesman said the round apparently exploded in the barrel of an M777A2, a lightweight howitzer cannon that fires 155mm artillery rounds. The blast was around 8 p.m near the intersection of Turkey and Chicken roads, said the spokesman, Staff Sgt. Jayson Price. Two of the injured troops were flown to UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, and eight were taken to the Womack Army Medical Center emergency room, said Womack spokeswoman Shannon Lynch. A Fort Bragg news release said that of the eight people taken to Womack, five were flown there by helicopter and three were taken in ambulances by Fort Bragg and Hoke County emergency services workers. The majority of the injuries were shrapnel wounds and lacerations, according to Fort Bragg, which directed all other questions to Price. Price said the incident is under investigation. The troops were part of Camp Lejeune's Battery G, 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Price said. The 10th Marine Regiment visits Fort Bragg every spring for artillery training. This year, the training started March 9 and was scheduled to end March 21. Price said Marines have halted all firing "until safe training can resume." The Marines began fielding the new howitzers in 2009. They weigh less than half the weight of traditional howitzers and are capable of firing precision-guided Excalibur rounds. Excalibur rounds can be programmed to land within 10 meters of a target more than 25 miles away. The training has been rattling houses in Fayetteville since it began. The 155mm ammunition causes loud explosions and reverberations upon detonation. Fort Bragg is the closest military training area to Camp Lejeune that can accept the 155mm weapons systems, a Fort Bragg spokesman said last month. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #4 It is pretty unlikely they would use real Excalibur rounds in training. They cost tens of thousands of dollars each. It very well could be a bad fuze, but a training failure resulting in an unsafe condition seems most likely. Hopefully the issue will be quickly identified and prevented in the future. |
| Posted by: rammer 2011-03-16 20:32 |
| #3 I can well imagine "Ft. Still CSI" are going to examine every bit of that gun, and that lot of artillery rounds, though my guess is that they were firing Excalibur rounds through it, and something went wrong with its electronics. Perhaps even a static charge was built up. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2011-03-16 15:41 |
| #2 FTA: "The training has been rattling houses in Fayetteville since it began. The 155mm ammunition causes loud explosions and reverberations upon detonation" Somehow I expect the folks that live next to an artillery range expect some "explosions and reverberations". Twit. Not much detail. Bad fuse or ? TBD.... |
| Posted by: tipover 2011-03-16 13:49 |
| #1 Bless Our Soldiers. |
| Posted by: newc 2011-03-16 01:57 |