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Shoot and scoot


Shoot-and-scoot (alternatively, fire-and-displace or fire-and-move) is an artillery tactic of firing at a target and then immediately moving away from the location from where the shots were fired to avoid counter-battery fire (e.g. from enemy artillery). The need for such tactics in World War II became obvious from the noticeable smoke signature produced by the use of anti-tank infantry weapons such as the M1 bazooka, Panzerfaust, and Panzerschreck, and also by the various models of Nebelwerfer and Wurfrahmen 40 German barrage rocket systems. In modern times, moving after firing is important as there are a multitude of electronic systems, such as counter-battery radar that can automatically detect artillery fire in near real-time and direct counter-battery fire from friendly artillery.

Shoot and scoot was originally made possible and used by Soviet Katyusha rocket artillery, whose rudimentary construction of rails on a truck chassis made it comparatively light and mobile, while its quick 7-10 second full salvo, slow reload, and complete lack of protection made switching positions its main tactic and best defense.

Shoot and scoot tactics were first adopted by NATO in the early 1960s by its nuclear artillery units using towed 8-inch Howitzers and truck-mounted MGR-1 Honest John rockets. These operated as single guns or launchers, typically deployed to a hide, came into action when given a nuclear fire mission, fired and immediately came out of action and moved to another hide adjacent to another firing position. These tactics became normal for missile units and were successfully used by Iraqi missile units in the 1991 Gulf War.

Similar tactics were adopted by M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) platoons when it entered service, although in this case the launchers usually went first to a reload site after firing. It may be used by Indian Pinaka MBRL or Russian Grad, Uragan, and Smerch, although originally systems like Grad used more traditional tactics.


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