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M982 Excalibur

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An XM982 Excalibur precision-guided artillery round (center) falls onto a suspected insurgent safe house during combat operations in the northern region of Baghdad May 5, 2007. Soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division fired the round from their M109A6 Paladin howitzer on Camp Taji, Iraq and was the first operational use of the projectile.

The XM982 Excalibur is a 155 mm extended range guided artillery shell presently in development by Raytheon Missile Systems and BAE Systems Bofors.[1]

Overview

The "smart" round is expected to have a range of approximately 40 to 57 km depending on configuration with a circular error probable (CEP) of around 10 m. The extended range is achieved through the use of folding glide fins, which allow the projectile to glide from the top of a ballistic arc towards the target. The accuracy is achieved through the use of a GPS guidance system. In contrast, standard U.S. 155 mm shells have a CEP of 200 to 300 m at moderate ranges.[1]

The munition is being developed with $55.1 million in financial assistance from Sweden, which expects to receive service rounds in 2010. As of 2007, unit costs were expected to be $39,000 per round in full-scale production.[2]

Initial combat experience with Excalibur in Iraq in the summer of 2007 was so successful (92% of rounds falling within 4 meters of the target) that the US Army planned to increase the production rate to 150 rounds per month vs the previous 18 rounds per month.[3]

The Forward Observers (FO) who successfully destroyed the initial targets in a combat environment cite Randy Meece for the quality training he provided in the use of the software that enables FOs to acquire and mensurate coordinates. Randy, a government contractor, risked life and limb moving from one Forward Operations Base (FOB) to another and provided all the initial Fire Support instruction for the FOs. Randy's instruction is in such demand that units in the United States are asking for him by name to train their FOs; thus, he is known as "Mr. Excalibur".[dubious – discuss][citation needed]

Program status

  • June 2005 - Raytheon awarded a $22.1 million contract for initial production.[4]
  • September 2005 - Successful demonstration at Yuma Proving Ground, AZ.[5]
  • June 2006 - Raytheon awarded a $42.7 million contract for fiscal year 2006 production of 335 Excalibur projectiles and related test articles and services.[6]
  • August 2006 - Due to technical problems relating to environmental sensitivity and GPS signal lock, the expected in service date put back to Spring 2007.[7][8]
  • September 2006 - Successful firings in safety testing demonstrate an actual average CEP of 5m or better.[9]
  • May 2007 - First operational firing of Excalibur in Iraq.[10]
  • October 2007 - FMS request by the Australian Army. Estimated cost US$40m. [11]
  • April 2008 - Revised Australian FMS request. Estimated cost US$58m.[12]

Specifications

  • Caliber: 155 mm
  • Guidance: GPS/INS
  • Unit cost: $80,000 [13]
  • Range:
    • Block 1a-1: 23 km
    • Block 1a-2: 35 km to 40 km

Variants

There are 3 versions of the system (current development effort is towards Block I):

  • Block I has a unitary penetrating warhead.
    • Block Ia-1: Accelerated development, reduced range round. Entered service in 2007.[8]
    • Block Ia-2: Extended range round.
    • Block Ib: Full capability, reduced cost round. Will be re-opened to competitive selection. Alliant Techsystems has announced its intention to submit an offering based on its Saber technology.[14][15]
  • Block III will carry as yet undefined smart munitions, which are required to be able to "detect, discriminate and engage specified target(s) located in a complex urban environment".

Operators

Weapon systems

The round is compatible with the following weapon systems:

References

  1. ^ a b c "XM982 Excalibur 155mm Precision Guided Extended Range Artillery Projectile". Globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2007-05-27.
  2. ^ High-tech shell from Raytheon likely to be sent to Iraq in May Published: 2007-04-19
  3. ^ Aviation Week & Space Technology, 2007-09-03, page 20
  4. ^ Find Articles - United States Army Aug 2005
  5. ^ Troops could have new Picatinny-developed smart artillery munition by March - RDECOM Magazine
  6. ^ XM982 Excalibur - Deagel
  7. ^ Strategy Page - Excalibur Freeze Out
  8. ^ a b Strategy Page - Excalibur Delayed Again
  9. ^ Successful Safety Testing of GPS-Guided Artillery Projectile Puts Raytheon-BAE Systems Bofors' Excalibur Closer to Fielding - Raytheon
  10. ^ "America's First Team first-ever to fire Excalibur precision munition in combat".
  11. ^ Defense Security Cooperation Agency, 1 October 2007
  12. ^ Defense Security Cooperation Agency, April 2008
  13. ^ Strategy Page - Excalibur Gets Closer and More Expensive
  14. ^ "Production effort for the XM982 Excalibur unitary warhead sub-assembly".
  15. ^ "ATK Successfully Tests Advanced 155mm Projectile - ATK PR".
  • Jane's Ammunition Handbook 2003-2004

See also

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