Self-propelled artillery (also called mobile artillery or locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move towards its target. Within the term are covered self-propelled guns (or howitzers) and rocket artillery. They are high mobility vehicles, usually based on continuous tracks carrying either a large howitzer, field gun, a mortar, or some form of rocket or missile launcher. They are used for long-range indirect bombardment support on the battlefield.
In the past, self-propelled artillery has included direct-fire vehicles, such as assault guns and tank destroyers. These are heavily armored vehicles, the former providing close fire-support for infantry and the latter acting as specialized anti-tank vehicles. Modern self-propelled artillery vehicles may superficially resemble tanks, but they are generally lightly armored, too lightly to survive in direct-fire combat. However, they protect their crews against shrapnel and small arms and are therefore usually included as armored fighting vehicles. Many are equipped with machine guns for defense against enemy infantry.[1]
Appearance in games[]
Battlefield 1942[]
Artillery in Battlefield 1942 is manually fired by players, however they are fired the same way as any other vehicle, though it can be difficult to aim and fire these vehicles, as the shells are lobbed out and arc towards the target.
Artillery gunners can be assisted by friendly Scouts spotting enemies using their binoculars. After an enemy location has been spotted, the gunner can switch to a special interface, which helps in placing shots more accurately, even at very long ranges.
Battlefield Vietnam[]
Mobile artillery in Battlefield Vietnam functions in the same way it does in Battlefield 1942. It is less useful, however, due to the reduced blast radius of shells.
Battlefield 2142[]
Though not classified as artillery, the APCs available to each faction carry mortar systems in the gunner seat.
Battlefield 3[]
— Battlelog Description
Two mobile artillery trucks make an appearance in the Battlefield 3: Armored Kill expansion. They use a direct targeting ladder reticle vaguely resembling that of the M320 grenade launcher. The rockets have relatively low loft, and their impacts are marked on the minimap. A single operator makes use of separate driver and gunner seats.
Dog Tags[]
Battlefield 4[]
Mobile artillery returns as a neutral vehicle on certain maps. The targeting system now resembles that of the M224 Mortar, allowing the operator to more easily select a potential strike zone. The rockets fire in high parabolic arc. No customization is available, although a selection of upgrades and gadgets is provided.
Battlefield 1[]
The driver position now offers a machine gun to repel close threats.
Trivia[]
- In Battlefield 3, the Mobile Artillery vehicles can still be driven normally while disabled, unlike other land vehicles which normally grind to a halt.