Reach out and touch someone.
A M777A2 howitzer fires a 155 mm round equipped with a M1156 Precision Guidance Kit fuze during a live-fire exercise at Orogrande Range Complex, New Mexico, Aug. 7, 2016. (Photo by Wendy Brown, Fort Bliss Bugle)
“Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be an ugly brawl.”
Major breakthrough: Army artillery hits target at 38 miles, doubling range
The Army has successfully fired a 155mm artillery round 62 kilometers (38.5 miles) – marking a technical breakthrough in the realm of land-based weapons and progressing toward its stated goal of being able to outrange and outgun Russian and Chinese weapons.
“We just doubled the range of our artillery at Yuma Proving Ground,” Gen. John Murray, Commanding General of Army Futures Command, told reporters at the recent Association of the United States Army Annual Symposium.
Currently, most land-fired artillery shot from an M777 Towed Howitzer or Self-Propelled Howitzer are able to pinpoint targets out to 30km (18.6 miles) – so hitting 62km marks a substantial leap forward in offensive attack capability.
Murray was clear that the intent of the effort, described as Extended Range Cannon Artillery, is specifically aimed at regaining tactical overmatch against Russian and Chinese weapons.
“The Russian and Chinese have been able to outrange most of our systems,” Murray said.
Citing the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a “wake-up call,” Murray explained that Russian weaponry, tactics and warfare integration caused a particular concern among Army leaders.
“In Ukraine, we saw the pairing of drones with artillery, using drones as spotters. Their organizational structure and tactics were a wake-up call for us to start looking at a more serious strategy,” Murray explained.
I’m way out of my swim lane here- the only friendly “artillery” I was exposed to was Naval Gun Fire Support (NGFS) missions flown in conjunction with USS New Jersey during A Very Bad Time in the Med. They were not a lot of fun to fly. So more power to you Gun Bunnies and Cannon Cockers, 2x the range is a good start, and I am 100% behind using UAVs to spot.
Peruse the entire article at your leisure Here.
Category: Army News
That is some good shit! I was a Light Wheel mechanic, but Uncle saw fit to send me to Germany to hang out with the Gun Bunnies for three years. 8″ self propelled make a hell of a racket out in Graf, but I never was any closer than a half mile away when they went off. Damn, the sound wave that would come across the maintenance pad…
The problem with shooting in Graf was that you had to drive all the way out west to Auerbach and still can’t shoot 3H. You’re limited to 2L’s and low angles. Can’t shoot high angle due to inability to clear the air. And you can only shoot in one direction too. Spent 2 years with Fires Squadron with 2CR and shot artillery (M777) there just once. Had more fun shooting M119’s at Bragg.
Took a couple LEO buddies into a Polizei station in Munich – one of the German cops grew up in Vilseck and remembered the firing from Graf when he was growing up. You could hear the clatter from the 8 inch tracks from a half mile away.
Ahhhh, Graf. The land of always white……mud, dust or snow. I was there from time to time, 614th Maintenance (if I remember correctly), supporting 2ACR, 79-83, commo support, stationed at Merrill Barracks (Sud Kaserne) (spelling?), Neurnberg.
Could still see the bullet holes in the outer walls and some of the overhead tiles as you drove through the gate.
They got some long range but also a lot of weight on the gun itself.
38.5 miles. Now Vlad and Xi know everything**. Youse guys gotta stop with the bragging rights about the BigBangs and their reach because Those Guys just take it as a challenge when you announce it.
**They probably already knew, anyway, just pointing out the obvious.
Glad to see improvements. Some Guard unit fired the MLRS at Dugway Proving Ground before Desert Storm or one of those conflicts then high fived and whooped it up when they actually hit the mountain. “The freakin mountain” not a target on it. Our daughter saw the same unit on TV during conflict reporting and recognized the unit patches.
Ed, this is a popgun compared to what the Army is planning for in the near future. They’re talking 1000 mile ranges for artillery weapons according to this article at Breaking Defense:
https://breakingdefense.com/2018/10/army-builds-1000-mile-supergun/
Check it out and sign up for their email alerts. It’s a good site and a good way to get heads-up on new military developments.
1,000 mile artillery? What’s the circular error probable on that!
I’m all for lobbing rounds into an adjacent continent, but with all this expectation that we’ll hit our targets on the first try with precision munitions, this seems like a long shot.
Pun intended.
Ahhhh left 50, drop 50…. Fire For Effect!
Thanks PT, will do.
Bombadiers……Always shoot big loads
Wow, I don’t know about you folks but this stuff just gets me hot.
Let’s just hope the Chinese haven’t already hacked the design.
If Nancy Legosi had access, you can bet her driver already sent them home..
I’ll see your M777, and raise you one Atomic Annie. Hold my beer and watch this!
Fuck you and everything in that grid square!
When only a huge smoking crater will do…
I actually sat in the public bleachers at Fort Sill back in the 50’s, on a school trip, and watched that big sumbitch fired.
Not a nuke round, of course.
Did they fix the steam wand on the espresso machine?
It always seemed to scald the milk in my lattes.
F**king gun bunnies.
ILTW!
I never met Arty but seems to me the maximun range of a projectile is when fired at an angle of 45 degrees. The other factors are initial velocity and gravity. Can’t change the latter so velocity is the only variable.
Increased by how? More powerful charge thus much heavier gun?
Asking for a Signal guy.
Its got more ‘Merica in it so it goes further.
Re-physics-ing the muzzle, testing, and increased initial velocity.
And magic, a potion made from liberal tears.
-Do NOT try to load this into your rifle, kaboom will happens-
https://www.army.mil/article/182638/picatinny_engineers_double_range_with_modified_m777a2_extended_range_howitzer
I suspect it’s an enhanced rocket-assisted projectiles… possibly sacrificing some payload for propellant.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M549
“rocket-assisted projectiles”
That’s cheating.
Doctor Evil “quotes”
I also suspect that the physical ability to fire shell 62 km might have been possible for decades; however, why bother, if you can’t hit the target. The Precision Guidance Kit coupled with a RAP Round on steroids, I speculate, is the game changer.
Just one MORE reason to protect our GPS satellites. (Hello SpaceForce).
The Paris Gun in WWI. Range–81 miles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Gun
Sure but can you sling it under a Chinook?
So, it makes a really big kaboom?
(Nothing worthwhile to contribute; will go sit quietly in the corner now.)
Probably makes more of a Kaboom when it is fired than when the projectile hits the target.
Can you imagine the shore bombardment if you had a bunch of these M777’s chained down to the flight deck of a LHD or LHA????
Bring back the battleships and fire the 16 inch guns.
Hey, this is where I came in! No problem with the concept, as long as some pimply-faced youngster is spotting with a UAV while seated somewhere in Passal ‘O Toads, Nebraska, instead of my ass in a bird on site operating radar and optics, flying between the big guns and the VERY upset locals who manage to survive the barrage. Not a happy place. Airspace deconfliction and a close eye on the RWR was the way to survive.
(someone is about to have a very bad, but short, day)
I got my first Naval Gunfire Spotter quals while controlling the 16-inch guns of USS IOWA (BB-61) at Vieques Island.
VERY impressive firepower. You can’t appreciate the magnitude of it until you actually see a salvo of 16-inch High Capacity rounds impact the target.
Heard by the distant enemy:
– ore loud noises
– more peculiar whistling noises
– more of something that sounds like incoming artillary
BOOM!
I think there was a supergun being worked on during WWI but it never was used. And there was the German supergun for WWII that was put together, but I don’t think that did much of anything. And Gerald Bull (Remember him? Worked on a HARP gun for Saddam Hussein?) was also working on a super-long range gun to hit Israel, but he was mysteriously found dead and that was the end of that.
Haven’t the South Africans had a 155mm with up to 70 or so kilometers for years now? Why not buy it?
fap fap fap fap fap fap fap I want one (1) or two (2) or six (6) maybe nine (9)!!! and some drones, several, with support troops including commo persons, supply, motor pool, rifle persons for perimeter defence; might wanna throw in some AA Bat rees, you know, just for gits and shiggles case the bad guys got some close in air support. Ranges like that, we could sure be in the rear with the gear. Might could even have cold beer (Air Force) or even ice cream (Navy). Missiles and super sonic Aircraft are nice toys to have, but some times a feller just wants a real big gun to feel all warm and fuzzy. They made mention, way back when the longest ranger we had was the 175 Long Tom, that eventually tubes would be replaced by missiles, or they would make a big/heavier enough tube that could handle a hotter charge. We’ll soon know. fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap fap
What? You don’t want a cook? Well, who is going to feed your grumbling grunts? Superman and Green Lantern?
Comes under support troops. Was planning on drafting you for OIC. No time for half measures, figured I’d go ahead and recruit the best. Just go easy on the Gravy Ladle. (grin)
Sorry, I can’t go easy on the Gravy Train.
My gravy is a food group all by itself. It is round, it is firm, and it is fully packed.
Just, damn. Only you could get away with this here, Ex. Congrats.
Former Artillery guy here.
It was a big deal back in the 80s and 90s when they came out with the RAP ( Rocket assisted Projectile) and Laser Guided Munitions. When firing with “Red Bag” a projectile could go 30,000 meters and hit a target designated by a Forward Observer with a Laser Designator, The issue was that the LD weighed a shit ton and the weather had to cooperate.. plus you had to have a matching “Glide code” on both the round and the LD” Firing the round also created much more tube wear and stress.
Makes sense with today’s advances that a drone could designate multiple targets deep in the Battle zone and extend the range of arty.