The Army's under-development Extended Range Cannon Artillery system hit a target on the nose from 43 miles away.

Brig. Gen. John Rafferty, who is overseeing the branch's Long-Range Precision Fires modernization program, told reporters an Excalibur extended-range guided artillery shell hit a target at Arizona's Yuma Proving Ground on Saturday.

"I don't think our adversaries have the ability to hit a target on the nose at 43 miles," Rafferty said.

The ERCA cannon uses an M109A7 Paladin Integrated Management howitzer chassis and replaces the 39-caliber gun tube with a 58-caliber, 30-foot tube.

It uses Excalibur munitions made by Ratheon and an XM1113 using supercharged propellant, which have enabled the Army to dramatically boost artillery ranges.

The Army has been working for years to improve the range of its artillery systems.

When the ERCA cannon is fielded, it is expected to be able to fire and take out targets from out of the range of systems of adversaries like Russia.

In March, the Army took two shots that reached 40 miles, bringing it closer to the 43-mile goal.

During this test, the Army took three shots, the first of which came up short and the second of which failed due to a hardware problem.

The third shot shows the Army is getting closer to dialing in on the right combination of factors, such as propellant and projectile design, and hitting targets from a greater distance.

"This demonstration is not a destination," said Col. Tony Gibbs, the Army's program manager for 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 knowledge point for us today."

Related Links
The latest in Military Technology for the 21st century at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

General Dynamics to build upgraded Abrams tanks in $4.62B contract
Washington DC (UPI) Dec 21, 2020
The U.S. Army will purchase the latest iteration of the M1 Abrams tank in a $4.62 billion contract with General Dynamics, the Defense Department announced. The battle tank, regarded by many as the world's best, first entered service in 1980. The newest version, known as the M1A2C or the M1A2 SEPV3, includes a variety of improvements, notably a gunner's sight and commander's sight for increased lethality and a 120mm cannon. It also has an ammunition datalink to fire improved rounds ... read more