IN A WORLD WITHOUT CASTINGS Would the M777 Accomplish Its Mission?


Jan. 7, 2009, Camp Buehring, Kuwait


In a training mission, U.S. Marines fi re a round from an M777 155 mm light- weight (LW155) towed howitzer. As a joint Marine Corps-Army program, the LW155 utilizes a single, low-alloy, 40-lb. investment steel casting to replace a six-piece welded towing eye bracket saving $6989 per unit, a total of $4.2 million over 600 quantities. Described as “harder to fi nd, harder to hit and harder to kill,” the LW155 has a total of 23 castings that were converted from titanium fabrica- tions. T e project earned the engineering and design team the “Hammer Award,” based on “enabling the Army to decrease weapon system development leadtimes and costs while improving component quality.” T e program successfully developed a capable replacement of its heavy M198 155 mm towed howitzer.


December 2012 MODERN CASTING | 19


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