Excalibur Ib continues to find its target
Excalibur Ib all up rounds have demonstrated ‘exceptional’ accuracy during 84 firings of the precision-guided weapon during testing at Yuma Proving Ground. Raytheon reported that the majority of rounds landed within two metres of their targets.
The Excalibur Ib is a155mm extended-range artillery projectile based on the combat-proven Excalibur Ia-1 and Ia-2. It uses GPS precision guidance to provide accurate, first round, fire-for-effect capability in any environment.
The test series included qualification on the Swedish Archer 52-caliber weapons system and two US Army howitzers, the Paladin and LW 155. The tests also certified stringent performance and safety requirements. Future testing this year will include a First Article Test, which will verify Excalibur Ib production readiness.
Lt. Col. Josh Walsh, the US Army Excalibur program manager, said: ‘Excalibur achieved new firsts during qualification testing. We demonstrated lethal effects at 50.7km range from the Swedish Archer weapon system while the US gun systems reached 40.54km – exceeding objective requirements.’
Michelle Lohmeier, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Land Warfare Systems product line, added: ‘Excalibur Ib will provide the warfighter with the most accurate, extended-range artillery option. This updated round will provide the soldier in the field with greater range, increased accuracy and less collateral damage.’
Raytheon is also working to enhance the 155mm Excalibur GPS-guided projectile with new guidance and navigation capabilities under an internally funded programme.
More from Land Warfare
-
New Estonian night vision devices to help against “significantly” larger enemy
Argus is a family of Mil-Spec I2 multipurpose monocular systems that can be operated handheld or head-, helmet- or weapon-mounted.
-
Patria orders Kongsberg Protector’s for common APCs
Patria developed the Patria 6x6 APC, unveiled at the June 2018 Eurosatory exhibition, as a successor to the XA-series Pasi APC and was selected for the Common Armoured Vehicle System (CAVS) programme.
-
Germany orders more Patriot air defence systems
The US Army has acquired more than 1,100 launchers of which it has exported at least 200 launchers, while more than 10,000 Patriot missiles have been produced to date.
-
General Dynamics to upgrade Ukraine-bound Spanish Leopards
The 120mm-armed Leopard 2 MBT was developed in the 1970s as a replacement for the German Army’s 105mm Leopard 1s. Spain's fleet of Leopard 2A4s were originally leased from Germany for five-years but eventually purchased in 2005.