Definition

Noun: 1. Movable artillery for direct battlefield support: A category of mobile, medium-caliber guns, howitzers, or gun-howitzers designed to be deployed with and provide direct fire support to ground forces in the field, particularly to front-line infantry and armored units. It is distinct from heavier, less mobile siege artillery and from anti-aircraft artillery.

Usage

• The field artillery provided a crucial barrage, softening enemy defenses before the infantry advance.
• Modern field artillery units use advanced targeting systems for precision strikes.
• During the maneuver, the brigade's field artillery was repositioned to cover the new axis of attack.

Advanced Usage

• "Field artillery battery": The basic tactical and administrative unit of field artillery, typically consisting of four to six guns, howitzers, or rocket launchers, along with their crews and support vehicles.
  • The 1st Field Artillery Battery was ordered to provide suppressive fire.
• "Field artillery observer" / "Forward observer": A soldier, often embedded with front-line troops, who directs the fire of field artillery onto targets.
  • The forward observer called in accurate field artillery fire on the enemy position.

Variants and Related Words

• Artillery (n): The broader category of large-caliber projectile-firing weapons, including field, coastal, siege, and anti-aircraft guns.
• Howitzer (n): A type of field artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and a high trajectory, suitable for firing over obstacles.
• Gun (n): In artillery terms, a long-barreled weapon with a flat trajectory, often used for direct fire or long-range indirect fire.

Synonyms

• Cannon: A general, often historical, term for large guns.
• Heavy weapons: A broad term that can include field artillery, mortars, and recoilless rifles.
• Supporting arms: A military term for combat elements (like artillery and air support) that assist the main fighting force.

Related Phrases

• "Artillery barrage": A concentrated delivery of artillery fire on a specific area.
  • The attack commenced after a prolonged artillery barrage.
• "Call for fire": The process by which an observer requests an artillery mission.
  • The platoon leader issued a urgent call for fire to the field artillery battalion.

Noun

1. movable artillery (other than antiaircraft) used by armies in the field (especially for direct support of front-line troops)