M777ER Extended Range Cannon Artillery ERCA
The M777 can shoot about 30 kilometers, but once all of the upgrades are complete it will be able to shoot about 70 kilometers. So, it will be able to reach out and hit targets well in excess before the targets can reach them. It will also give a lot of operational over match so the warfighter won’t have to worry about coming into a situation where they are under fire before they can return fire.
Artillery Concepts and Design Branch, which is part of the Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, or ARDEC, at Picatinny Arsenal engineers worked to create a longer, newly modified M777A2 howitzer that had the potential to double the system’s current artillery range. The modification added six feet to the cannon and less than 1,000 pounds to the overall system.
The Extended Range Cannon Artillery, or ERCA, project is funded by ARDEC’s science and technology office and charged with developing technology to extend the range of all 155mm artillery. The ERCA program is developing the cannon to give it more range. PM-TAS is doing the demonstration to the Marines to show how it would look, feel and move when integrated into the M777A2 carriage.
The ERCA program develops not only the XM907 cannon but also products, such as the XM1113 rocket assisted projectile, the XM654 supercharge, an autoloader, and new fire control system. Program Manager Towed Artillery Systems, or PM-TAS, which leads the M777ER program, took the ERCA cannon design and adapting it to the M777 to determine if it can be a cross-platform solution. This PM-TAS effort was a dual-funded program by the Army and the Marines. PM-TAS is part of the Program Executive Office for Ammunition at Picatinny Arsenal.
A mobility demonstration was the first step to determine if the howitzer can be modified for extended range, or if a new system is required. The user concern was that when the self-propelled program is done they will be left with a towed cannon variant that they can’t tow around, which was its number one mode of transportation.
To begin efforts to test mobility, PM-TAS demonstrated a modified M777A2 Howitzer with an integration kit for the mass mock-up of the modified XM907 ERCA cannon at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. Follow-on mobility testing will be conducted at Aberdeen Proving Grround, Maryland, to document the changes in mobility from a standard M777A2, if any. The demonstration did not include firing the weapon, but did show how the gun responds when it travels and how it feels when the crew interacts with the controls.
With nearly 1,000 pounds added to the system’s overall weight and an additional six feet of cannon tube, the demonstration gave the Soldiers and Marines more confidence that the gun will still meet all of its mobility requirements. The visual prejudice was that it looked like it may tip over with all that extra cannon.
In efforts to ensure that the gun will meet all of its requirements, a mobility cannon tube was created. The mobility tube consists of an old 52-caliber tube that was modified to fit into an M777A2 at the weight of the XM907. Additionally, grooves were added to the exterior of the tube to allow Picatinny engineers to hang weights at different positions, enabling them to move the center of gravity of the weapon forward or rear. This cannon allowed the Army and the Marines to assess the impacts to the M777 and how it’s operated as the ERCA program optimizes the cannon design.
After the ERCA program, the M777ER program engaged in making sure that ERCA’s system is suitable for the M777 system. The final ERCA system would be demonstrated with an M109A7 system, which is the Paladin self-propelled howitzer.
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