Artillery test aims without using compass - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Artillery test aims without using compass

MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — Mathematics has been used for years to assist the military in determining where it needs to go, by way of GPS.

Now that math is under consideration for another task: Calculating the precise location needed for artillery strikes.

As part of a larger experiment, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in June will test whether mathematics can wean the military from using magnetic compasses when calling for fires.

Compasses have been used for generations, but getting a “true north” reading can be problematic when trying to call for fire near tanks, power lines and other objects that can change magnetism. Even armor and other equipment on a Marine’s body can mess with accuracy, Marine officials said.

“Anything metal around you has an impact on the compass,” said Darron Robbins, a physicist with the Center for Naval Analyses who is working for the Corps. “We knew the compass was the issue, so we started looking for answers based on that and what we knew Marines could do well.”

One of the things Marines do well consistently is measure the range to a target. With this in mind, the lab has enlisted teams of Marines for a series of target coordination tests. In the first three exercises, Marines excelled at calling coordinates without requiring a compass. Instead, they used laser rangefinders.

“I didn’t have to tell them anything,” Robbins said of Marines involved in the testing.

“They know how to use their gear. I just said, ‘Give me a range of positions,’ and they collected all that data. I test the quality of it using the fancy math, and it shows me where the target is.”

The “fancy math” Robbins referred to is trilateration, a technique that determines the location of objects by measuring their distance to at least two other known points — in this case, Marines who know their own geographic coordinates. When the distance from known points are recorded, they can be used to determine the coordinates of an unknown location.

The Marine measurements consistently produced coordinates more accurate than a compass, according to a recent report to Brig. Gen. Robert Hedelund, head of the laboratory. The first three assessments were conducted in February 2010 at Quantico, in October at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and in April at Fort Sill, Okla.

The latest test will be conducted at Twentynine Palms, Calif., by Marines with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, and Kilo Battery, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marines. They’ll weave it into other testing as part of a larger artillery exercise on enhanced Marine air ground task force operations.

The push to get away from the compass was initially ordered by Lt. Gen. George Flynn, deputy commandant for combat development. Concerns had been raised about Marines dropping their gear and weapons during an unrelated laboratory exercise to make sure their compasses were accurate.