Iraq directs artillery fire with Puma UAV

A Puma UAV with a TPQ-49 radar in the background during Exercise ‘Fire Eagle'. (Iraqi Ministry of Defence)

The Iraqi Ground Forces used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to support its artillery for the first time in an exercise reported by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 26 October.

The MoD released two videos showing an AeroVironment Puma UAV being hand launched to support artillery during Exercise ‘Fire Eagle'.

The artillery used in the exercise consisted of three 155 mm M109 self-propelled howitzers, three 155 mm M198 towed howitzers, three 122 mm D-30 towed gun/howitzers, and three 122 mm BM-21 multiple rocket launchers. The MoD said the artillery units were from the 6th, 9th, and 17th divisions and supported by the Military Intelligence Directorate.

“During the exercise, targets were monitored and fire was adjusted for the first time using drones,” a colonel said.

A TPQ-49 counter-battery radar was also deployed for the exercise. The type was first seen in a video released by the MoD in February, when personnel from the Artillery Directorate's newly formed 1st Reconnaissance Battalion were shown training with one.

The guns were shown firing at a very flat trajectory, possibly so senior officers could see the targets from the viewing stand. Shots of the operator's screen from the TPQ-49 showed locations for the points of origin and points of impact that were about 7 km apart for a medium artillery shell and 7.3 km apart for a rocket.

The locations showed the exercise was held in the desert about 20 km south of Ramadi in Al-Anbar Governorate.

For more information, please seeIraq orders new artillery.