US Army developing new long range artillery that has twice the range of enemy

Warrior Maven:

The Army is fast-tracking an emerging program to engineer a longer-range artillery cannon able to out range enemy ground forces by hitting targets at more than twice the distance of existing artillery.

The service is now prototyping an Extended Range Cannon Artillery weapons with a larger caliber tube and new grooves to hang weights for gravity adjustments to the weapon – which is a modified M777A2 mobile howitzer.

Existing 155m artillery rounds, fired with precision from mobile and self-propelled howitzer platforms, have a maximum range of about 30km; the new ERCA weapon is designed to hit ranges greater than 70km, Army developers said.

“When you are talking about doubling the range you need a longer tube and a larger caliber. We will blend this munition with a howitzer and extend the range. We are upgrading the breach and metallurgy of the tube, changing the hydraulics to handle increased pressure and using a new ram jet projectile – kind of like a rocket,” a senior Army weapons developer told Warrior Maven in an interview.

The modification adds 1,000 pounds to the overall weight of the weapon and an additional six feet of cannon tube. The ERCA systems also uses a redesigned cab, new breech design and new “muzzle break,” the official explained.

“The ERCA program develops not only the XM907 cannon but also produc
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This is a big deal.  In Vietnam, the Soviet-built systems used by the NVA had greater range than that of the US which required greater reliance on airpower to deal with teh disparity.  In the battle at Khe Sanh the NVA artillery was in Laos and teh US 155 howitzers could not reach it and the bigger artillery pieces were not available because the roads to the base were not available.