Field of fire

For other uses, see Field of fire (disambiguation).

The field of fire (also zone of fire, ZF) of a weapon (or group of weapons) is the area around it that can easily and effectively be reached by projectiles from a given position. The term originally came from the field of fire in front of forts (and similar defensive positions), cleared so there was no shelter for an approaching enemy.

A similar term sector of fire is used to describe the area into which each gunner or group are allowed to fire. The boundaries are assigned by the commanding officer and thus can be arbitrary, even three-dimensional (a rifleman attacking a building might be assigned a set of windows to target).

The arc of fire of a mounted gun is a horizontal ("traverse") angle range within which the gun (or guns) can be fired. It can be limited by the construction of the gun mount or obstacles (for example, superstructure of a ship). If there are no restrictions, the term all-round arc of fire is sometimes used.

Cone of fire and beaten zone of a machine gun

The cone of fire describes a cone-like pattern formed by the projectiles with the gun not being moved. It is mostly used in reference to machine guns. The spread of rounds is due to vibration of the gun, tolerances of the ammunition and weapon, and the gunner's posture. For a typical machine gun, the spread between bullets is proportional to the distance (for example, the width of the cone for M240G is 2⁄1000 of the distance). The cone of fire makes impact in an elliptical pattern called the beaten zone.

Danger space of the machine gun fire

When firing over terrain, any space up to 1.8 m above the ground (the height of an average man) is considered danger space; that is, within the effects of the rounds. For small arms fire, when the distance to the beaten zone is up to approximately 700 m, on a flat terrain the danger zone is contiguous (the trajectory of the round is never above the height of a man). The area that cannot be seen or aimed at within the gun's range (usually due to the terrain) is referred to as dead space.

A good example from history is the duels between Australian soldiers and German MG34 teams, during the 'April battles' and later, at Tobruk during 1941. The much narrower beaten zone of the Mk1 .303 Bren guns helped the Australians to win those duels, despite the Bren's lower rate of fire.

The concept works best as part of a static defense with the area covered by a position plotted out beforehand. Usually the machine guns will be mounted on a tripod and indirect fire sights (such as a dial sight) fitted in addition to, or instead of, direct fire ones. Fire can then be called in by spotters to engage specific points in the guns' field of fire, even if out of sight of the machine gunners.

Overlapping machine guns, creating a crossfire, using the beaten zone concept, together with the idea of enfilading were an important part of World War I.

See also

• Kill box

Sources

• Bond, P.S.; Garey, E.B.; Ellis, O.O.; McMurray, T.L.; Crouch, E.H. (1922). Field Engineering: A Practical Exposition of the Organization of the Ground for Defense as Developed by the U. S. Army in the World War. New military library. New military library. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
• DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms (PDF). Department of Defense. 2017.
• Heal, S. (2005). An Illustrated Guide to Tactical Diagramming: How to Determine Floor Plans from Outside Architectural Features. Lantern Books. ISBN 978-1-59056-096-9. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
• McLean, R.; Van der Veer, N.R. (1918). The Bluejackets' Manual: United States Navy, 1918. Military Publishing Company. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
• United States. Joint Chiefs of Staff (1987). "field of fire". Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. JCS pub. Joint Chiefs of Staff. Retrieved 2024-12-16.
• USMC. B3N4478 Machine Gun Employment (PDF). US Marine Corps.