Predicted fire aims to achieve tactical surprise when the target is to be engaged by
indirect fire.
Gun laying is based on calculations of the range and
azimuth of the target relative to the gun position, without the need for ranging shots (or
adjusting) or even observation of the target. Ranging shots take time, and alert the enemy both to the presence and position of the guns, and to the likelihood of an attack. Predicted fire enables enemy artillery, strongpoints or troop concentrations to be struck without warning, often shortly before a friendly attack so as to leave no time for recovery, or engagement of targets hidden from observation by friendly forces. It can be used to plan any type of fire, including concentrations or the
creeping barrages commonly used in
World War I. Predicted fire was developed during World War I and became the main method of using
field artillery until the present day. The first battle in which the fireplan consisted entirely of predicted fire was the
Battle of Cambrai in 1917, in which the British guns were moved into surveyed positions at the last moment, achieving tactical surprise when they commenced firing. The opposite of prediction is
reduction, the process of calculating a target's map co-ordinates for a target registered by firing. ==Anti-aircraft warfare==