XM1299 155mm 58-caliber Extended Range Cannon Artillery [ERCA]
The M1299 155mm 58-caliber turreted self-propelled howitzer is under development in the Extended Range Cannon Artillery [ERCA] program. The US Army designated this new 155mm self-propelled howitzer as M1299 in July 2019. The XM1299 is based on a new US M109A7 self-propelled howitzer that is produced since 2018. With the cancellation of the U.S. Crusader and Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon, the M109A6 ("Paladin") will remain the principal self-propelled howitzer for the U.S. for the foreseeable future until the new M1299 enters service. The Army has ordered 18 XM1299s from BAE Systems, and planned to send them to battalion service in 2023.
Among the Army's six modernization priorities, long-range precision fires is at the top of the list to gaining overmatch against near-peer competitors. An extended-range cannon that can shoot rounds at least 70 kilometers is being developed. The Long Range Cannon, a near-term [in under three years] development project for a gun with a range of at least 70 kilometers should not be confused with the unrelated Strategic Long Range Cannon, a long-term development project for a gun with a range of over 1,500 kilometers or more.
The Long Range Precision Fires Cross-Functional Team made great strides in 2019. The LRPF CFT is a key component to the Army's modernization effort, aimed at delivering field artillery capabilities to enable combined arms against a near-peer competitor. The Extended Range Cannon Artillery will push the envelope in terms of maximum range for tactical units, meaning division and brigade-level forces. The first [Extended Range Cannon Artillery] prototype will arrive in 2019, followed by Soldier feedback to improve later prototypes. All of these advancements are moving toward the goal of having game-changing technology by the year 2023.
The genesis of the Long Range Cannon project was the M777 Extended Range (ER) Howitzer project, a 2014 prototyping initiative to significantly extend the range of the currently fielded M777A2 variant. That effort involved the incorporation of a longer cannon tube for extended range firing; a more efficient muzzle brake to minimize blast-over-pressure on the gun crew; a reinforced recoil yoke for higher firing loads; longer road arms to compensate for the increased tube length; an upgraded recoil system for extended range charges; and upgrades to the balancer system. In all, no structural changes are needed, as all of these are bolt-on assemblies. Dubbed the ER Kit, the prototype components can quickly be retrofitted onto existing howitzers.
In 2018, Army leadership prioritized the M777ER for acceleration and expanded the scope of the effort by adding the condition of improved accuracy at extended ranges. That, in turn, called for a new name—the Long Range Cannon. To achieve the dual goals of expanded range and improved accuracy as expeditiously and cost-effectively as possible, the Long Range Cannon team hopes to maximize use of existing resources and leverage several technologies already in development.
Through a system-of-systems approach, the Long Range Cannon program integrates the M777ER with several high-potential, extended range and GPS-degraded or -denied artillery technologies, including the Location and Azimuth Determining System for more secure and accurate survey control and target acquisition; a projectile tracking system for improving impact accuracy; and a high-explosive, rocket-assisted projectile along with a supercharged propellant to achieve the desired maximum ranges.
The team plans to use the extended range armament to modernize the current weapon-ammunition interface, in an effort to further increase the maximum effective range that the M777ER can achieve. The information resulting from the interface modernization will also provide early data points for the Army’s emerging Mobile Howitzer program.
The Army fired a modified M777 howitzer double its previous range, bringing the service one step closer to delivering the prototype Long Range Cannon capability. The live fire demonstration, which took place at Yuma Proving Ground on Sept. 19, was a significant step in the Army's effort to rapidly prototype and equip select units with an interim Long Range Cannon solution. This increase in firepower, targeted for Army Infantry and Stryker Brigade Combat Teams and Marine Corps Expeditionary Formations, is a subset of the Army's top modernization priority of Long-Range Precision Fires.
"This demonstration highlighted how the Long Range Cannon system-of-systems can achieve ranges with the cannon, projectile and propellant combinations that will help shape the battlefield for battalion and brigade commanders," said Col. Cobb Laslie, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command capability manager for Brigade Combat Team Fires. "The partnership between the organizations that participated in the demonstration is focused on putting the best cannon with the most lethal projectiles into the hands of our Soldiers." The Long Range Cannon's increased range, effectiveness and accuracy of beyond-line-of-sight fires is in direct response to operational needs in the Pacific and Europe, and will deliver air mobile extended range capabilities to light and Stryker units. Complementary to the Extended Range Cannon Artillery, or ERCA, program for Armored Brigade Combat Teams, the Long Range Cannon is also leveraging other Army Long-Range Precision Fires prototyping and programmatic efforts, including existing and experimental munitions and future propellant upgrades.
The Long Range Cannon started as the Extended Range M777 project, a partnership between the Army's Program Executive Office Ammunition and the Marine Corps' PEO Land Systems. Managed by their Joint Program Office, Project Manager Towed Artillery Systems, the M777 Extended Range leverages technologies being developed by the Armaments Research, Development and Engineering Center for the ERCA program. In 2016, PM-TAS and ARDEC demonstrated the ability to integrate a longer tube into the M777 with minimal modifications to the system.
In early 2018, The Army Rapid Capabilities Office, or RCO, and PEO Ammunition partnered with the Army's Long-Range Precision Fires Cross-Functional Team and the Army and Marine centers of excellence for cannon artillery on the Long Range Cannon project to ensure programs can leverage lessons learned across their developmental paths.
In creating the prototype, the Army is combining an M777 Extended Range howitzer, a projectile tracking system radar, a surveying device and a variety of advanced projectiles. The demo also showed what a new "supercharge" element could do to achieve double the range of current unguided High Explosive projectiles.
Through a close-knit partnership with U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) engineers at Picatinny Arsenal and Benét Laboratories in Watervliet, New York, the PM TAS team developed an extended-range variant, the M777ER, which has only five major components requiring modification. The cost to retrofit an M777 is comparable to that of a standard depot reset, and the weight increase is minor. With few changes to the howitzer’s operation, it offers the warfighter enhanced lethality at a cost the Army can afford.
The Projectile Tracking System Radar began in ARDEC as an element of the now-defunct Crusader and Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon projects. It provides enhanced accuracy and new capabilities for artillery. By tracking projectiles in flight, it predicts an impact point, allowing the fire control system to make corrections for subsequent shots. Circular error probable, an inverse measure of artillery accuracy, decreases substantially. The Projectile Tracking System can also communicate with a round in flight.
The Location and Azimuth Determining System (LADS) program serves as a single survey device replacement for two systems: the Improved Position and Azimuth Determining System and the Gun Laying and Position System. Already under development, the LADS will enable survey teams to register more accurate survey control points in a smaller form factor. Soldiers and Marines can use the man-portable LADS in a wider variety of conditions than the vehicle-based Improved Position and Azimuth Determining System.
Another program in advanced stages of development before its inclusion in the long-range cannon project is the XM1113 rocket-assisted projectile. As a replacement for the M549A1 rocket-assisted projectile round in inventory today, the new projectile can be fuzed with a Precision Guidance Kit for improved accuracy. The XM1113 will provide a range increase in this class of projectiles with legacy artillery systems and offer an even greater capability with the M777ER armament. The PM for Combat Ammunition Systems is taking the lead on the XM1113, making it an integral part of the projectile and propellant work on the long-range cannon project.
Together, these components are intended to serve as an interim solution to a critical capability gap, while also informing future Long-Range Precision Fires systems. The demo on 19 September 2019 was a proof of concept using production representative hardware, developmental propellant and a projectile, in order to demonstrate readiness for continued prototype development and production.
"This approach, of adapting existing systems and combining them with emerging technology to deliver a new capability, is a proven way to move faster and meet an urgent need now while the Army continues to work on a more permanent, long-term solution," said Mike Foster, Army RCO lead for the Long Range Cannon project. "This demo shows we are on track to provide integrated Long Range Cannon technologies to the units that need them." Directed by the secretary and chief of staff of the Army through its board of directors, the RCO frequently partners with other organizations to deliver integrated prototypes to enable the Army to move faster than traditional acquisition systems have allowed in the past.
If successful, the Long Range Cannon could provide the Army with a mobile extended range capability that could be retrofitted into an existing howitzer system to provide new effects. This could provide an interim solution for select units of the Army's brigade combat teams with towed artillery, which deliver the external helicopter sling-load capability required for artillery raids and provide mobility to locations inaccessible by heavier systems. The technology might also be leveraged for a wheeled 155mm howitzer. At the same time, the Long Range Cannon prototype will help bridge efforts, providing data and lessons learned that the Long-Range Precision Fires Cross-Functional Team can leverage to reduce risk and inform requirements before the ERCA and other enduring programs are fielded.
Following the demonstration, the Army planned to continue testing and development of the Long Range Cannon components, with the first operational assessment in fiscal year 2020. The demo also provided information to support improvements in training, maintenance and operational procedures for the system.
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