During the 2000s, the US Army artillery development fell behind those of its main rivals
such as Russia and China. However, with China’s increased dominance in the Asia-Pacific area,
the tables have been turned. Also, when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, this shift escalated,
with the Army redeploying two battalions of rocket launchers to Europe, which had been evacuated
before. Currently, the US Army is acquiring more defense support by strengthening and modernizing
its artillery systems. Admittedly, it is spending billions of dollars for its artillery upgrade.
So, given that the Army is updating its artillery systems which is worth billions of dollars,
what kind of improvement is it up to?
Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of Military TV. Today, we will be discussing
about the artillery development of the US Army particularly in terms of its firing range.
So, if you’re curious about how far the advanced US Army artillery can fire,
stay tuned and don’t go anywhere.
The Army’s current howitzers, the towed M-777 and the self-propelled M-109,
are reported to shoot just 14 miles with standard rounds and 19 miles with rocket-assisted shells.
Russian howitzers, on the other hand, can already fire at a range of up to 43 miles.
For these reasons, the US ground-combat branch is now spending billions of dollars
improving the firing range of its howitzers and rocket launchers, as well as creating new,
long-range rockets in order to match, then exceed, its rivals’ artillery capabilities.
On March 6, 2020, the US Army conducted a fire test at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
Two 155-millimeter howitzer projectiles were launched out to a range of 40 miles.
This howitzer was one of the Army’s prototype Extended-Range Cannon Artillery systems or ERCA.
The ERCA is the first in a series of new long-range weapons for the Army,
combining the newest M-109A7 chassis with a new 30-feet-long barrel.
In addition, the Yuma test deployed two different shell types, including an Excalibur GPS-guided
shell and an XM1113 rocket-assisted projectile. A new ramjet-propelled shell
developed by a Norwegian company could extend the ERCA’s range out to 60 or even 80 miles.
In addition, the XM1113, which is expected to enter service in the next several years, increases
the effective shooting range of earlier M-777s and M-109s howitzers from 19 miles to 24 miles.
This test shots, therefore, marked a start of massive modernization of the Army’s artillery,
with the first battalions of 18 farther-firing guns expected to be deployed in 2023.
The Army is also working on new rockets for its wheeled High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System
(HIMARS) and tracked Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS) as part of the ERCA.
The existing standard Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rocket has a range of 43 miles,
while a new extended-range variant can travel more than double that distance. Moreover, the modern,
large-diameter Army Tactical Missile System, which is also compatible with HIMARS and MLRS,
can travel to a maximum range of 186 miles. Further to this, being planned to enter service
in 2023, the new, lighter Precision Strike Missile even can boost up to a maximum range of 310 miles.
However, aiming for far-off targets might be an issue.
Hence, according to Breaking Defense, the Army is developing an artificial intelligence
and wireless networks so that its howitzers and rocket-launchers
may receive the coordinates of target from its own drones as well as other armed forces’ drones,
spy aircraft, and satellites. Therefore, not only these ERCA systems become a tactical weapon that
best suited to providing direct support for nearby forces, but also the HIMARS and MLRS launchers
with longer ranges enable the Army to attack enemy forces further behind the front lines.
As you can see in the following figure, there are significant differences between Army Long-Range
Precision Fires weapon systems before and after being extended in firing range in ERCA program.
In contrast, unlike most of other artillery systems that have been installed with improved
firing range, the Strategic Long-Range Cannon does not necessarily require
much new technology enhancement. In fact, the Army intends to scale it up to a larger size than any
current artillery unit. In this regard, US Field Artillery officer at Army Futures Command Colonel
John Rafferty, who in 2018 led the Army’s long-range-fires modernization initiative,
per National Interest and Breaking Defense told that the new gun will adopt components
from existing 155-millimeter cannons and that they are scaling up what they have been doing.
Another interesting aspect of the US ground-combat branch’s artillery modernization effort
is the Army’s collaboration with the Navy on the development of a joint hypersonic glide vehicle.
This hypersonic glide vehicle would launch a rocket and fly 1,400 miles away or more
at a maximum speed exceeding Mach 5. But why does the Army require such a weapon system?
The answer is that the Army might employ this conceptual thousand-mile cannon and the
in-development hypersonic missile to hit targets, including staging bases, logistical networks,
and air bases, which were previously only the main duty of Air Force as well as Navy
planes and missiles. Besides that, the Army is also considering a design for a gigantic new,
truck-towed cannon that could fire projectiles up to 1,000 miles away.
Overall, the ERCA is part of the Army’s top-priority modernization initiative,
which also involves the development of a whole family of Long-Range Precision Fires
weapon systems to counter the artillery of big enemies such as Russia and China. Since ERCA
is one of the Army’s highest priorities, billions of dollars from lower-priority programs
is diverted to fund this project and other Long Range Precision Fires weapons.
Additionally, the Army is already forming five Multi-Domain Task Forces that will report directly
to theater Headquarters and be equipped with a variety of missiles, including subsonic,
supersonic, and hypersonic, with ranges of 1,100 miles and more.
So, that’s all for today. If you find this video is interesting, don’t forget to hit
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please let us know in the comment below. Thanks for watching and see you next time.