Talk:Aiming point
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think this page needs substantial re-writing.
The 'accuracy of direct fire' does not 'depend on the use of aiming points'. However, they are the basis for aiming in azimuth with indirect fire, at least until the introduction of gyroscopic systems on guns and rocket launchers. Of course to ensure the accuracy of indiect fire aiming also has to be in the vertical plane.
Aiming points provide the reference point for dial sights or panoramic telescopes. These are used to apply the azimuth firing data, either a bearing from the gun to the target or a deflection angle from a reference azimuth, although only the US Army seems to retain the latter method. Most (all?) other armies abandoned it decades ago because of its obvious disadvantages.
The priority of use for different types of aiming points was not the same for all armies, and GACS are/were particularly idiosyncratic and used by only a few. More probably used a parallelescope.
GPS basically has nothing to do with aiming points or laying in azimuth, it provides fixation. However, a pair of DGPS fixes can be used to calculate a bearing from which a gun may be oriented and then an aiming point recorded.
Nfe 09:42, 27 January 2007 (UTC)
