Western artillery continues to advance. The US Army and the industrial company BAe announced in a press release that they had established a new range record with the XM1155-SC added propulsion shell fired from an M109 Paladin, which would have exceeded the range of current rocket launcher systems, i.e. beyond 70 km.
Beyond this announcement, Western artillery has been engaged, for several years, in an immense leap forward to increase its efficiency and performance, reinforced in its determination by the strategic role it plays in the conflict in Ukraine.
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There is no doubt that the war in Ukraine will have profoundly shaken up many paradigms in terms of the conduct of military and equipment operations. Between the massive use of drones, the intensive jamming deployed on both sides to protect against them, the thunderous return of armored combat, or even the neutralization of the air force, it will have overturned a multitude of certainties inherited from the Cold War and subsequent anti-terrorist wars.
However, it is undoubtedly artillery which, during this war, will have had the most profound change in status, to the point that the consumption of 122 mm and 152/155 mm artillery shells has become, for Russia as for Ukraine, a strategic issue conditioning all military action.
It is therefore not surprising to note the numerous efforts undertaken recently to develop new artillery systems capable of offering increased performance, by being more mobile, more precise and equipped with greater precision, so as to take the ascendant over the adversary in what became the largest and longest artillery duel since the Second World War.
Lengthening the tube of artillery guns
Several technological alternatives are being explored in this area. Thus, the lengthening of the tubes, with the famous 52 caliber tubes (length of the tube relative to the caliber of the weapon, i.e. 52 x 155 mm = 8,06 m) which equip the French Caesar and German Pzh2000 , make it possible to increase the range by almost 40% compared to 39 caliber tubes with conventional shells, going from 24 to almost 40 km.
The United States went further in this area with the 58 caliber (9 meters) tube of the ERCA program (Extended Range Cannon Artillery), allowing targets beyond 55 km to be reached with these same shells.
However, the lengthening of the tube is not done without constraints, in particular concerning its lifespan, significantly smaller than that of the traditional 39 caliber tubes which equip the American M109, the British AS91 or the French AuF1.
However, the war in Ukraine also showed that beyond performance itself, it was essential that artillery systems were robust and could support intense activity over time.
Guided shells with added range
If significant research is being undertaken on both sides of the Atlantic in terms of metallurgy to produce more resistant tubes, a second avenue has been explored for several years to increase the range and precision of artillery systems, by modifying, this time, the shell.
These are guided shells with added propulsion, having a ramjet or a rocket engine delivering additional thrust to extend the flight autonomy, therefore the range, as well as a guidance system, often mixed GPS-inertial, to guarantee its precision. This is the solution adopted by several shells such as BAe's Excalibur, Leonardo's Vulcano as well as Nexter's Katana.
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[…] Western artillery continues to advance. The US Army and the industrial company BAe announced in a press release that they had established a new range record with […]