Posted on May 1, 2014
Trivia: Artillery's use of the 14 digit grid system
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This is just some fun trivia for the artillery community on RP or anyone else who wants to participate.
Almost everybody in the Army uses the MGRS system to navigate, pinpoint location, etc. What group in the artillery community uses a fourteen digit grid system, what is the name of that system, and why is it used by that specific community of redlegs?
*I'm a dumb-dumb. There are two groups in the artillery community who use this system.
Part one of the answer:
Alright, you guys have had a lot of good discussion here! So, I'll give you the name of the system and leave the second part of the question open to more debate.
The system is... Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Transverse_Mercator_coordinate_system
Your DAGR can be set to give you a grid in UTM!
Now, who in the Artillery uses it... And why?
*It's 2122hrs on 2010502 and we have two winners, Major Weiss who said MLRS and SGT Elphick for stating surveyors. Again, excellent work and a great showing from the folks on RP!
Now, for a brief explanation?
Your typical MGRS based map is normally 100,000m, based on a grid zone identifier in order to place the map geo-spatially on the face of the earth in it's proper place. While this has been acceptable for traditional cannon artillery (max range approx 27k), MLRS can fire well over 350k. Anyone who has done charts and darts will tell you that's a hellova lotta maps! It can also lead to all sorts of confusion with the calculations when your round travels across 3-6 different sheets (potentially, given the azimuth of fire). So in order to ensure unique grid zone identifiers and better deal with the extended range of MLRS rounds we use the UTM system. Please read the link below for a technical explanation. Surveyors (military anyways) use this system because when they survey a point on the ground their accuracy is within 1 square meter (or better), and when they label the stake with the 14 digit UTM grid, that grid is unique to that point on the earth and will not be found anywhere else on the planet specifically because of the identifier used by UTM. They made it dummy-proof.
Now, to avoid confusion please understand that these two systems hold hands in that they work together. When I look at the top of my fire control panel it shows me an 8-digit at all times so I can quickly verify my location on a map. When I start up my fire control panel it insists I give it a unique 14 digit grid in UTM so it can accurately place my launcher on the face of the planet. The last 4 digits in the easting and the last 4 digits in the northing are the same in both systems, its the other 6 that specify exactly what spot on the earth I am to within 1 square meter.
Again, this discussion is nowhere near over. Fascinating topic in my opinion, and you all have come up with some really good stuff.
Almost everybody in the Army uses the MGRS system to navigate, pinpoint location, etc. What group in the artillery community uses a fourteen digit grid system, what is the name of that system, and why is it used by that specific community of redlegs?
*I'm a dumb-dumb. There are two groups in the artillery community who use this system.
Part one of the answer:
Alright, you guys have had a lot of good discussion here! So, I'll give you the name of the system and leave the second part of the question open to more debate.
The system is... Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Transverse_Mercator_coordinate_system
Your DAGR can be set to give you a grid in UTM!
Now, who in the Artillery uses it... And why?
*It's 2122hrs on 2010502 and we have two winners, Major Weiss who said MLRS and SGT Elphick for stating surveyors. Again, excellent work and a great showing from the folks on RP!
Now, for a brief explanation?
Your typical MGRS based map is normally 100,000m, based on a grid zone identifier in order to place the map geo-spatially on the face of the earth in it's proper place. While this has been acceptable for traditional cannon artillery (max range approx 27k), MLRS can fire well over 350k. Anyone who has done charts and darts will tell you that's a hellova lotta maps! It can also lead to all sorts of confusion with the calculations when your round travels across 3-6 different sheets (potentially, given the azimuth of fire). So in order to ensure unique grid zone identifiers and better deal with the extended range of MLRS rounds we use the UTM system. Please read the link below for a technical explanation. Surveyors (military anyways) use this system because when they survey a point on the ground their accuracy is within 1 square meter (or better), and when they label the stake with the 14 digit UTM grid, that grid is unique to that point on the earth and will not be found anywhere else on the planet specifically because of the identifier used by UTM. They made it dummy-proof.
Now, to avoid confusion please understand that these two systems hold hands in that they work together. When I look at the top of my fire control panel it shows me an 8-digit at all times so I can quickly verify my location on a map. When I start up my fire control panel it insists I give it a unique 14 digit grid in UTM so it can accurately place my launcher on the face of the planet. The last 4 digits in the easting and the last 4 digits in the northing are the same in both systems, its the other 6 that specify exactly what spot on the earth I am to within 1 square meter.
Again, this discussion is nowhere near over. Fascinating topic in my opinion, and you all have come up with some really good stuff.
Artillery
Trivia
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 16
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I have been a 13E/13D for quite a few years and I have seen the 14 digit grid system on the LCU and AFATDS. The other 4 numbers are just the grid reference numbers. When using the 14 digit grid your 1st 2 numbers on the easting and northing are simply your map sheet reference numbers. For example, if you have the following grid: 3690200/9842500, the "36" and "98" only tell you which map sheet to look on. You are still using your 10 digit grid for location on that particular map sheet.
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SFC (Join to see)
For standard artillery using MGRS, yes. I'll give you an up-vote for that. But now that I know you're FDC I really expect you to tell me why anyone in the 13 series would use UTM.
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This seems like a tough question. I googled "14 digit grid system" and all I got was this discussion!
I look forward to learning the answer.
I look forward to learning the answer.
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CSM (Join to see)
Being a former 13F, the largest that we used was a 10 digit grid. I am not sure what they would use for a 14 digit grid
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SFC (Join to see)
1SG, I can't say anything else to you without giving away the second part of the question.
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If I had to guess which group uses UTM for their artillery fire, I would guess naval gunfire. If It's in the Army, then perhaps MLRS units. Basically anything that needs to fire outside of one's immediate tactical map.
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SFC (Join to see)
DING DING DING DING! We have a winner for the best answer I've seen all day. Good job Sir, please see above for an explanation.
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Suspended Profile
Still confused sorry, I grew up Paladin and am currently HIMARS, there was zero difference in the how we processed grids between cannon and rocket. Any system needs to be able to fire outside of its immediate map datum. Was the answer naval gunfire?
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