Aiming Point

Aiming Point

In field artillery, the accuracy of indirect fire depends on the use of aiming points. In air force terminology the aiming point (or A.P.) refers to holding the intersection of the cross hairs on a bombsight when fixed at a specific target.

An indirect fire aiming point provides a point of angular reference to aim a gun in the required horizontal direction – azimuth. Until the 1980s aiming points were essential for indirect fire artillery. They are also used by mortars and machine guns firing indirectly.

The essential feature of an aiming point is that it is at a sufficient distance from the gun using it. The reason for this is that while firing guns, particularly towed guns, move back a short distance – perhaps a foot, as their spades embed and may move more in soft ground. When they traverse their barrels their sights also move because they are not at the point of pivot. All this means that if the aiming point is too close then the angle to the aiming point changes. This aims the guns off-target, possibly up to several hundred meters.

For gun laying purposes a distance of a few kilometers from gun to aiming point is sufficient. An aiming point would be a sharply defined and easily distinguished feature, such the edge of an obvious building. However, this presents problems in featureless areas, in bad visibility or at night and putting lights on distant aiming points is seldom practical. Therefore methods of simulating a distant aiming point are required.