The United States of America has made another step towards its cherished goal - to surpass the firing capabilities of artillery weapons, which are used by Russia and China.
Throw further
"We have increased the range of our artillery at the Hume range," said US Army General D. Murray, who heads the department for designing, developing and developing weapons for the US Army.
Not long ago, howitzer type M777 or other artillery systems could hit targets only at a distance of about 30 km. The increase in range can be called a major shift in enhancing the offensive capabilities of the American army.
General Murray does not hide the fact that the main goal of the work carried out by his division is to obtain a tactical advantage over the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China. In his speech, he recalled the invasion of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine. He said that this was the wake-up call for the US military. Murray said that the concern of the command of the American army caused the weapons and tactics used by the modern Russian army.
"In Ukraine, we saw the interaction of unmanned aircraft with artillery. UAVs were used as gunners. The updated Russian organizational structure and tactics became a wake-up signal for us. Therefore, we began to look for a more serious strategy," the American general said.
The strategy of the American army is changing in the light of how Russia is using its new weapons and armored vehicles in Ukraine.
“Russia uses new and upgraded types of tanks and other armored vehicles against Ukraine. Many of these models use 125 mm shells in combination with anti-tank and anti-helicopter missiles at a distance of 6 km. The Russian Armed Forces have modern armor protection complexes that include active armor and other means, "the strategy says.
ERKA - this is not the Red Army
Military designers in the United States are working on a prototype of large-caliber artillery weapons as part of the Extended Range Cannon Artillery ERCA program. In particular, we are talking about the modernization of the M777A2 howitzer. In accordance with the terms of the project, its firing range should exceed 70 km. When it comes to increasing the firing range, a longer, large-caliber barrel is required. To increase the radius of firing will be used longer ammunition. In addition, the chemical composition of the charges is updated, the hydraulic system of the guns will be changed. For projectiles used new jet engine ramjet engine. That is, the projectile becomes more like a rocket.
In the frames of this initiative, the development of the XM907 cannon, XM1113 missiles and XM654 charges is underway. In addition, they design automatic recharge and fire control systems.
Today, the ERCA program has already been adapted for implementation to change from self-propelled M109A8. The use of ERCA in practice will lead to the fact that all strategic scenarios of land combat change.
ERCA vs "Coalition-SV": who to whom?
Increasing the firing range by 70 km is a significant advance for barreled artillery. When the shells were adopted in 155-mm caliber, guided by the GPS system, their range was 30 km. Self-propelled gun, which can shoot a projectile at 70 km, puts such weapons on par with some missiles. For example, with such as volley fire systems. The range of their charges exceeds 70 km.
According to the American "partners", the non-compliance of the INF Treaty with the Russian side, the new S-500 air defense systems, the ARMATA tanks and the growing fleet of drones - all this is boosting the activity of weapons developers for the needs of the NATO army. The United States hopes that the ERCA program will help the US Army to surpass weapons developed and produced in Russia.
American experts cite as an example the Russian howitzer 2S33 Msta-CM2, which can hit a target more than 40 km away. This significantly exceeds the capabilities of the 2S19 Msta system, which entered service in the late 1980s. According to some data, the 2S19 Msta-S complexes are equipped with a high-rate fire control system, digital maps, and ballistic computers. The control system uses data from navigation satellites. But the review of the modernized artillery complex "Coalition-SV" in the review is not a word - probably, the authors did not like its firing range, exceeding 80 km. Naturally, this is unpleasant news for overseas progressive militarists.
Today we can say with confidence that the ERCA, capable of shooting at a distance of up to 70 km, significantly exceeds the capabilities of the Russian Msta-S howitzer, which has the ability to fire at 40 km. But the overwhelming American superiority in terms of artillery systems is not even close, if not to say the opposite.
Note:
In the projectile of the new generation XM1113 developers have used rocket technology. It has a productive jet engine, which provides thrust three times greater than that of the M549A1 RAP projectiles. In addition, its form is optimized to reduce air resistance, and this allows a range of 40 km to be achieved using 155 mm artillery systems in service.
