Mac, Since Crusader got dumped, I don't think you will see the military going away from 155mm. The Navy's new ER guns will be 155mm and most of the Army's R&D is in propellants. 155MM is actually an excellent blend of size & weight which gives you the greatest range of flexibility (can be man handled, has mass to reach out, cna carry a lot of submunitions or explosive); dare I say, more bang for the buck. (SORRY!) It is kind of like the .50 caliber. How are you going to perfect perfection? I believe as long as we use tube artillery, we'll have 155mm until we start getting into rail guns, etc.

Have the number of 155 Bns been reduced in the Corps/Div organization? I am aware that the btys have gone from 8 to 6 guns.

Divisions still have 3 155 mm battalions. Corps FA battalions have gone to about 3 to 1 MLRS to 155 MM. Corps Arty always had the GS/R/GSR missions which is done just as well with MLRS (counterbattery/area denial, etc.) 8 inch also had the nuke mission which is gone. Also, I think you will still find some M198 towed 155mm batteries have 8 guns but not sure on that. 8 inch was a great gun but its time has past, much like the 175 MM & 240 MM....you can outshoot those with an ATACMS

The next possible replacement for the 155mm is the FCS-NLOS cannon. It'll be a 105mm-155mm advanced cannon using some Crusader technology.

Lockheed Martin was just funded to produce the Gudided Unitary MLRS rocket. This weapon is essentialy a 70km missile with a 250lb class HE warhead with GPS guidance: a bid dude.

>>The Active Component has no 8"(203mm) batteries/battalions left; the Reserve Components have some 8" self-propelled batteries in the National Guard Division Artilleries.<< I might be mistaken, but I am pretty sure that all 8" artillery is out of the inventory, even in the NG (and was gone by the mid-90s). Anniston Army Depot is currently destroying eight-inch ammunition at a pretty brisk rate, which suggests no one is concerned with training on or using 8" arty at present.

all 8 inch was taken out of active service after the first gulf war. The ARNG and reserves took it out of service a year or two later. It was all gone by 95. I remember being in fort sill seeing the endless cars of 8 inch artillery coming back from europe and the war. They scrapped it all or disposed of it in some way. Too bad when the 8" shell hit the ground it was quite a boom. If I remember rightly a 155 has about a 75 pound shell depending on type and range. A 8" shell is about 250 pounds. That difference can be felt on the field. hehe.