Indirect fire, commonly associated with field artillery, is also used with mortars and naval guns against shore targets, sometimes with machine guns and has been used with tank and anti-tank guns and by anti-aircraft guns against surface targets.
Indirect fire
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In the context of warfare, direct fire means aiming through a sight directly at the target. This sight may be open fore and back sight or optical.
There are two dimensions in aiming a weapon:
In the horizontal plane (azimuth); and
In the vertical plane (elevation), which is governed by the distance (range) to the target and the energy of the propelling charge.
The projectile trajectory is also affected by atmospheric conditions, other factors and the difference between the altitude of the firer and the target. Direct fire sights may include mechanisms to compensate for some of these.
Indirect fire means that aiming does not rely on directly viewing the target through the sights. The implication is that azimuth and/or elevation ‘aiming’ is done using indirect methods. In practice and in the modern sense it usually means both. Hence indirect fire means applying ‘firing data’ to azimuth and elevation sights and laying these sights. This entry does not include detail about the production of firing data.
Calling in and adjusting indirect artillery fire on a target unseen to the soldiers manning the cannons
Indirect fire is most commonly associated with field artillery. It is also used with mortars and naval guns against shore targets, sometimes with machine guns and has been used with tank and anti-tank guns and by anti-aircraft guns against surface targets. This entry does not consider shipborne systems.
The original purpose of indirect fire was to enable fire from a ‘covered position’, one where the firers could not be seen by their enemies. However, it is also used where visible targets may become obscured by dust, smoke or darkness. Modern indirect fire during daylight is usually because distance and or terrain make direct fire impossible.
Indirect fire evolved as a tactic during the Second Boer War, with the Boers using it to devastating effect against the British at the Dundee.[1]
During World War I indirect fire evolved to allow any point within range to be attacked - ‘firepower mobility’ - without moving the firers. The concept of firepower mobility flowered with the arrival of radio communications that allowed target acquirers to be anywhere on the ground or in the air and communicate with the firers. It also enables many widely dispersed firers to concentrate their fire on one target.
The essence of traditional indirect fire is that the trajectory of the projectile cannot be altered once it has been fired. However, some projectiles with a guidance system operate by keeping to the trajectory they were fired on. This entry does not deal with indirect fire with guided projectiles or missiles.
