US Army Doubles M777 Cannon Range in Prototype Demo

26 September 2018

M777 howitzer originally has range 24km (M107) until 40km (Excalibur) (photo : US Army)

YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz. -- 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. 

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