Howdy Gino,

Thx for the intel. I appreciate a little smoooothing over after my 'faux paux'

My thought's about the conveyor rail was that it was designed to keep personnel from having to disembark from the safety of the vehicle. But, since (normally) SPG's would operate a wee bit further back from the lines, the conveyor rail would seem like extra baggage.

Tread.

BTW, what was the crane originally designed to move?

The crane was origanally designed to lift out entire racks of ammo from the FAASV. The original idea was that the ammo racks would be loaded on the ground or a flat rack from a PLS and they would simply lift the empty rack out of the FAASV and replace it with a full one, simmilar to changing a magazine in a weapon. As you see below, the ammo (projectile) racks are in the front portion of the FAASV.
The roof opens above them for loading and unloading. This system is not actually used in the field. It is easier to load individual rounds, that way you can custom tailor the load of rounds you carry by type.
In the picture below of the latest version, the M992A2, the stacker too is removed, these were ineffective and took up room too.

There you have it.

Howdy Gino,

Thx for the ' 411'. This kind of inside info I consider invaulable. Not only does it help me understand the intricacies of equipment I've never been around, but it also aids in clarifying the 'diorama' side of my brain.....

Tread.

Marcel,
Actually, the FAASV is far away from the Paladin when firing, usually 300-500 meters at a minimum, to provide security of the local area. Usually, the crew fires ammo out of the howitzer first, it can hold 35 conventional rounds and 2 Copperhead (laser guided) rounds on the Paladin. The FAASV usually comes forward only to resupply the Paladin. This can be done from either the side of the FAASV through the large doors you see, or from the back. The exception would be if the gun had a special mission to fire such as smoke or FASCAM (Artillery delivered minefield) that required many rounds, the FAASV may come forward with those and they would probably be shot off the FAASV and the gun loaded with conventional ammo.

This photo shows the FAASV pulled up behind the gun loading through the side hatch.



Hope that clears it up.

Thanks again for the info and illustrations... adds to my store of knowledge that's interesting in and of itself, and maybe even useful some day

As far as I know, all versions have the side opening hatches on them.

By the way, what scale is the Nimix kit. I have not heard of it before. I didn't think there were any kits out there of the M992.