The U.S Army has successfully fired a 155 mm artillery round to a distance of 62 kilometers.
This marks a significant technical leap as currently, most artillery fires from an M777
Towed Howitzer or Self-Propelled Howitzer are able to hit targets at a maximum distance
of 30 km.
Presently U.S Army uses 227 mm guided artillery rockets to hit targets at distances of 60
to 70 km.
Artillery was important in past and will continue to be relevant in the foreseeable future.
An artillery barrage not only provides cover for the infantry to advance but modern artillery
can land precise fire on high-value tactical targets on the battlefield.
It is cheaper and faster than air support making them an indispensable asset for any
modern army.
Hence, all major military powers are continuing to put effort to develop better artillery
that can fire further and more accurately.
In this video Defense Updates, analyzes the Extended Range Cannon Artillery of U.S Army
that has the double the range of current systems.
Let's get started.
Gen. John Murray, Commanding General of Army Futures Command, told reporters at the Association
of the United States Army Annual Symposium, “We just doubled the range of our artillery
at Yuma Proving Ground”.
Murray said, “The Russian and Chinese have been able to outrange most of our systems"
He added, “In Ukraine, we saw the pairing of drones with artillery, using drones as
spotters.
Their organizational structure and tactics were a wake-up call for us to start looking
at a more serious strategy"
Russian Army deploys 2S19 Msta howitzer which has a range of 25 km.
It entered service in the late 1980s.
Now an upgraded variant is 2S33 Msta-SM2 is being produced and deployed.
The new howitzer has 2A79 152 mm cannon that is capable of hitting targets at ranges up
to 40 km.
As per reports, the new system will have major enhancements like an automated fire control
system with an increased rate of fire, digital computational system and as well as satellite
navigation systems.
ERCA program aims to develop a package of comprehensive solutions to achieve better
range and more precision strike capable artillery system.
XM907 cannon is currently the most promising product coming out from the program.
As per reports, the shell used for the test with XM907 cannon, is the new XM1113 rocket-assisted
shell coupled with the XM654 “supercharge” propellant.
Viewers may note that both XM1113 SHELL & XM654 PROPELLENT are also products from the ERCA program.
The cannon & the shells need several modifications to the M777 towed howitzers as well as to
the M109A6 and A7 self-propelled howitzers.
So for the trial, customized test bed were used.
The barrel is 6 feet longer to the current howitzers and is much heavier so as to make
them strong enough to handle the more powerful shells that have a much bigger propellant charge.
A 70 km ERCA equipped US Army howitzer substantially outrange the 40 km Msta-S Russian howitzer.
Also, the US military is working on 3 other systems with the aim of having extended range
firing ability.
These are ramjet-powered shells, Hyper Velocity Projectiles (HVP) and Rail Guns.
In some aspects, Russian & Chinese systems have evolved to an extent that they are at
par with U.S counterparts or even surpassed them in capability.
Through programs like ERCA, the American military is plugging these holes.