Editing Artillery (section)

===Precision-guidance===
[[File:XM982 Excalibur inert.jpg|thumb|left|[[M982 Excalibur]] guided artillery shell]]
[[modern era|Modern]] artillery is most obviously distinguished by its long range, firing an [[explosive]] [[shell (projectile)|shell]] or [[rocket (weapon)|rocket]] and a mobile carriage for firing and transport. However, its most important characteristic is the use of indirect fire, whereby the firing equipment is aimed without seeing the target through its sights. Indirect fire emerged at the beginning of the 20th century and was greatly enhanced by the development of [[predicted fire]] methods in World War I.<!--To make indirect fire really effective required telegraph or telephone communication...--> However, indirect fire was area fire; it was and is not suitable for destroying point targets; its primary purpose is area suppression. Nevertheless, by the late 1970s precision-guided munitions started to appear, notably the US 155&nbsp;mm Copperhead and its Soviet 152&nbsp;mm [[Krasnopol (weapon)|Krasnopol]] equivalent that had success in Indian service. These relied on laser designation to 'illuminate'  the target that the shell homed onto. However, in the early 21st century, the [[Global Positioning System|Global Positioning System (GPS)]] enabled relatively cheap and accurate guidance for shells and missiles, notably the US 155&nbsp;mm Excalibur and the 227&nbsp;mm GMLRS rocket. The introduction of these led to a new issue, the need for very accurate three dimensional target coordinates—the mensuration process.<ref name= tmo >Ms. Marie Berberea (TRADOC) [https://www.army.mil/article/191808/fort_sill_working_to_install_new_digital_imaging_program (3 August 2017) Fort Sill working to install new digital imaging program]</ref>

[[File:XM1156-PGK.svg|thumb|right|[[M1156 Precision Guidance Kit]] can be added to unguided projectiles]]
Weapons covered by the term 'modern artillery' include "[[cannon]]" artillery (such as [[howitzer]], [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]], and [[field gun]]) and [[rocket artillery]]. Certain smaller-caliber mortars are more properly designated small arms rather than artillery, albeit indirect-fire small arms. This term also came to include [[coastal artillery]] which traditionally defended coastal areas against seaborne attack and controlled the passage of ships. With the advent of powered flight at the start of the 20th century, artillery also included ground-based [[anti-aircraft battery|anti-aircraft batteries]].

The term "artillery" has traditionally not been used for projectiles with internal [[guidance system]]s, preferring the term "missilery", though some modern artillery units employ surface-to-surface [[missile]]s. Advances in terminal guidance systems for small munitions has allowed large-caliber guided projectiles to be developed, blurring this distinction.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chikammadu|first=Ali Caleb|title=Enotenplato The Chronicle of Military Doctrine|publisher=[[Lulu.com]]|date=September 3, 2019|isbn=9780359806997|pages=196}}</ref> ''See [[Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF)]], [[Joint terminal attack controller]]''