SPA Recoilless Rifle Question

[Kartoffel]

I'm playing a campaign of Iraq vs. USA circa 2003 and given the fact that in the game the Iraqi's posses SPA RR jeeps was wondering how they would have accomplished indirect fire in reality. Would the rifle be dismounted? What about danger to the crew from the backblast?



This isn't an Iraqi model but I think it illustrates what I'm asking.

[Suhiir]

When I first when in to the service we were still using M40 106mm recoiless rifles. While they were primarily an anti-tank weapon they did have both flechette and high explosive rounds.
As to using them for indirect fire, well they're not mortars so it's not like you have the backblast going into the ground at your feet or would position them nose-to-tail like the ones in your photo. As long as the backblast has somewhere to go and no one is stupid enough to get behind the weapon it's not really that big a deal.
Remember they can fire a round much, much further then they can accurately hit a point target (like a tank) so it's merely a matter of elevating the weapon and cutting loose in the general direction of the target ... walla ... indirect fire.

[FASTBOAT TOUGH]

Well I just finished watching Pt. 1 of History Channels Vietnam War in HD and it showed a USA RR mounted on a jeep ('66/'67) with the driver in his seat and another standing beside it on the road firing the RR (Perpendicular to the jeep.) during actual combat, so I guess if you asking can it be done, I would say the answer is yes. But you can go and see it for yourself off the website if you like, it's about an hour+ into the show as I recall. The RR barrel looked longer than a 90mm, could it have been a 105mm barrel? Anyway the recoil didn't move the jeep as much as I thought it would, rocked it back and settled back just as fast. The driver looked ready to roll if the **** got to bad though! And I would think it to be both a direct & indirect fire weapon.

Regards,
Pat

[Griefbringer]

And if you are really worried about the backblast when the gun is on high elevation, one approach would be place the vehicle so that there is a slope of some sort behind it, thus providing more space to vent the backblast.

[gila]

The RR is really just a very big bazooka.

Since the recoiless means less or little recoil, a fast jeep makes a perfect platform for them,if hidden behind a rise they can pop off a shot or two then scoot before getting "hard" spotted.

Cheap for the firepower makes them an attractive option,but they are
very vunerable to small arms fire and less accurate when moving prior to firing," e.g.it would be lucky shot if you got a hit" and yes they can be use as HE also,but not wise.

[Wdll]

In the game you need to be very lucky to get any kills from them. Especially anything in modern times. If you are in a defend mission then you could get a few lucky shots, but IMO it's always better to invest in a RR team with transport than this.

And I don't know why anyone would try to use it as a indirect fire weapon, it's hard enough to try to hit a target directly with it.

[Kartoffel]

Originally Posted by Wdll

In the game you need to be very lucky to get any kills from them. Especially anything in modern times. If you are in a defend mission then you could get a few lucky shots, but IMO it's always better to invest in a RR team with transport than this.

And I don't know why anyone would try to use it as a indirect fire weapon, it's hard enough to try to hit a target directly with it.

Because playing with inferior kit a way to handicap the human player and increase the challenge playing via the A.I.

[Wdll]

I never thought of that. It makes sense.
Though now days I tend to prefer PBEM over vs AI.