Army Innovations Break Through with Range-Doubling, Course Correcting Artillery Attack

Video Above: Maj. Gen. John Rafferty, Director, Army Futures Command, Long Range Precision Fires Cross Functional Team discusses the latest in human machine learning

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

If a mechanized armored unit were approaching uneven terrain in a move-to-contact with the enemy, yet large amounts of weaponry and enemy force concentrations were obscured from view beyond a ridge, how could the advancing forces attack? Without a linear approach or line-of-sight target trajectory, a heavily armed armored unit might need a drone to receive intelligence about enemy forces on the other side of a hill. 

Should the armored column learn of the location of the enemy forces on the other side of the hill, they may have few attack options apart from calling for a drone strike or firing a mortar or artillery with an upward trajectory to descend upon the enemy.

Essentially, options in this kind of scenario might be limited. Just how would an artillery weapon, for instance, attack an enemy vehicle on the other side of a mountain or beneath a bridge? There are few options without entering a direct line of enemy fire, and even then there may not be an opportunity to pinpoint the obscured or hidden target.

These circumstances, likely quite familiar throughout the history of ground war, have presented ground war commanders with particular tactical challenges. This often encountered predicament is exactly why the Army has partnered with Excalibur-maker Raytheon to engineer the new “shaped trajectory” 155mm precision-guided artillery round.” 

Shaped Trajectory 155mm Precision-Guided Artillery Round

Some of the technical specifics are of course not available for security reasons, yet the round is engineered with an advanced ability to change course in flight and maneuver itself into position to kill an otherwise unreachable target.