The XM1299 Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) howitzer in an earlier test shot last year.
The U.S. Army’s Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) gun fired a shell that hit the target 43 miles or 70 kilometers away on the dot breaking the world record for precision strikes, reported Defense News. The new cannon test took place at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.
Right On the nose!
“I don’t think our adversaries have the ability to hit a target on the nose at 43 miles,†Brig. Gen. John Rafferty said in a conference held immediately after the successful test. He then further explained that the firing test consisted of three shots.
The XM1299 Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) howitzer in an earlier test shot last year.
The first two shots were failures, while the third one proved a success. The first shot missed the target due to very high headwinds at a high altitude, and the second shot suffered a hardware failure. The army explained that they knew these first three shots would likely come short but took them anyway to learn from them.
“This demonstration is not a destination,†said Col. Tony Gibbs, the U.S. Army’s program manager for the combat artillery system. “This is really just a waypoint in our ongoing campaign of learning as we work to really realign U.S. supremacy in cannon artillery. It’s definitely a big learning point for us today.â€
A powerful howitzer
The ERCA cannon consists of an M109A7 Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) howitzer chassis with a modified 58-caliber, 30-foot (9-meter) guntube equipped with Raytheon-made Excalibur munitions. Gibbs explained that it took almost a year and a half of testing and analysis to determine whether the Excalibur projectiles could withstand harsher environments for long-range shots.
“After several tests and analysis, we determined what muzzle velocity is required for these long-range shots, what chamber pressures the projectile can withstand and so all that came together in today’s test; we fired it at the right propellant combination to provide the right muzzle velocity to achieve the range,†said Gibbs.
During 2018 tests, the M777 howitzer was able to double its range, being able to hit targets at over 37 miles (60 km) away, with the usage of supercharged propellant and rocket-assisted projectiles. Using the same principles, the Extended Range Cannon Artillery was developed by BAE Systems. The company was given a $45 million contract in 2019 to incorporate the ERCA’s cannon into an M109 chassis, which was unveiled at that year’s Association for the United States Army (AUSA).
Source: USA Defense News