New Artillery Round Shoots Farther Than Some Missiles, Can Hit Moving Targets
Similar rounds, like the Excalibur, have been shipped in large numbers to Ukraine.
SAM SKOVE | MARCH 29, 2023 07:18 PM ET
ARMY INDUSTRY
A new type of 155mm artillery round produced by BAE Systems hit a target over 68 miles away in a December test, the longest range ever achieved by the artillery cannon used to fire it and more than three times farther than an average 155mm shell.
The new precision-guided 155mm shell can also hit a moving target, according to a company press release. The round was test fired from a U.S. Army Extended Range Cannon Artillery, or ERCA, Howitzer Test Bed, at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. BAE has a contract with the Army to develop and test the new round as part of the service’s XM1155 Extended Range Artillery Projectile program.
The shell, which uses glide fins that shoot from its side to navigate to its target, can travel much farther than the 15.5-mile range of the Army’s standard 155mm shell. Another shell designed by BAE that also uses fins to navigate to its target, the Excalibur 155mm round, has a range of about 24 miles.
https://www.defenseone.com/business/2023/03/new-artillery-round-shoots-farther-some-missiles-can-hit-moving-targets/384601/
