Copperhead

The American 155 mm M712 Copperhead is the only such munition in Western service. The-then Martin Marietta (now part of Lockheed Martin) received a US Army development contract for the Copperhead in 1975. The company built 20,000 for the US Army and Marine Corps before production finished in 1990.

	The KBP Krasnopol, converted as seen here to 155 mm for firing tests from a Denel G6 in South Africa, is available with a Cilas sensor for use with a laser designator from the same French manufacturer. (Armada/EHB)

In the ballistic mode the Copperhead’s guidance vanes extend when the projectile is 3000 metres from the target, the semi-active laser seeker acquires the energy reflected off the target and the on-board guidance system adjusts the guidance vanes to manoeuvre the projectile onto the target. The Copperhead can also be fired in glide mode when the cloud ceiling is low or visibility is poor. The projectile has a minimum range of three kilometres and a maximum range of 16 km in glide mode.

The KBP Instrument Design Bureau developed the laser-guided Krasnopol 152 mm projectile for the Soviet Army in the mid-1980s with a high explosive fragmentation warhead designed to attack bunkers and command posts as well as armoured vehicles. For the export market the KM-1 155 mm round was also developed. The Krasnopol/KM-1 is a two-piece round that uses a rocket booster to achieve a maximum range of 22,000 metres. These were followed by the one-piece Krasnopol-M/KM-2 round designed to be fired from self-propelled howitzers, and which can achieve a maximum range of more than 17,000 metres. The Krasnopol series is in service with Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine and has been exported to China and India.

	Oto Melara’s Vulcano programme is intended to see the development of 155 mm unguided extended range projectiles with a range of 70 km and guided long-range projectiles with a range of 100 km. Using GPS and INS guidance the Vulcano is expected to achieve a CEP of less than 20 metres while the incorporation of a laser seeker could reduce this to three metres. (Oto Melara)

The company, in partnership with Cilas of France, which produces the DHY 307 ground laser designator, will supply 500 KM-2 projectiles to the French Army from 2007. KBP also produces the Kitolov-2M 122 mm laser-guided projectile which delivers a high explosive fragmentation warhead to a maximum range of 14,000 metres.

Excalibur

The 155 mm Excalibur, designated the XM982 Excalibur by the US Department of Defense, is a co-operative effort between Raytheon Missile Systems and BAE Systems Bofors of Sweden to field the first GPS-guided artillery round. In its present structure the project is a result of an American congressional directive in 2001 that dictates the US Army merge its efforts with the Swedish Army’s Trajectory Correctable Munition programme. Excalibur has been selected as the next-generation 155 mm precision round for the US Army, Marine Corps and the Swedish Army. In March 2004 the Department of Defense decided to accelerate the fielding of the Excalibur to the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2006 in response to an urgent needs statement from the American ground forces commander in Iraq. Early fielding will be provided by the FY05 development contract that included the delivery of 165 initial capability rounds (designated Block Ia-1) by the end of 2005; these first Excalibur rounds could be in use in Iraq before year-end. The Canadian Army’s C$ 70 million contract to acquire six BAE Systems M777 155 mm Lightweight Howitzers (LW 155) to support operations in Afghanistan also includes a quantity of Excalibur rounds for delivery this year. The US Army awarded Raytheon a $ 42.7 million contract in mid-June 2006 covering the production of 335 Excalibur projectiles and related test articles during FY06. The stated procurement objective is for 61,483 Excalibur projectiles worth more than $ 3 billion.

The US project covers three components: the Excalibur artillery round, a software update for the Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System, integration into the army’s digitised M109A6 Paladin, the M777 now being produced for the army and marine corps and eventually the Non Line-of-Sight-Cannon being developed by BAE Systems as part of the army’s Future Combat System. The army plans to issue Block Ia-1 rounds in early FY07 for use by the LW 155 howitzers that will be fielded with the fifth Stryker Brigade Combat Team now being formed in Hawaii. Block Ia-2, scheduled for delivery in FY08, is expected to be fully compliant with the army’s Operational Requirements Document in terms of range (30,000 metres), accuracy (20 metres circular error of probability, with 10 metres as the objective) and reliability (greater than 85% The third planned increment, Block Ib, is planned to be fielded in FY11 and will provide a further performance improvement while ‘significantly lowering unit costs’.

The Excalibur is designed to carry several payloads, including the Block I Excalibur-U which munition will have a unitary warhead, the Block II Excalibur-S; a sensor-fuzed munition and the Block III Excalibur-D; a discriminating warhead. Block II and III munitions are not yet funded. The three projectiles will use some common components including the guidance, navigation and control section, the Bofors spinning tail fin assembly with its integral base bleed unit and four canard control fins in the ogive. For the Swedish Army, which plans to use the Excalibur with its future truck-mounted BAE Systems Bofors Archer 155 mm/52 calibre howitzer, the projectile will be fitted with a datalink to allow targeting information to be updated in flight.

The Excalibur round follows a ballistic path until it reaches the apogee of its trajectory, at which point the canard control fins deploy. A satellite and inertial guidance system controls the remainder of the flight culminating with a vertical attack on the target. During testing the Excalibur has demonstrated an accuracy of 4.5 metres in twelve successful guided flights. The tests also successfully demonstrated the three fuzing modes, namely delay, height-of-burst and point detonation. Targets included wheeled and tracked light armoured vehicles, simulated personnel and a steel-reinforced concrete structure.

Saber

Alliant Techsystems announced in mid-June that it had successfully tested its Saber 155 mm precision projectile to a range of 48 km at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona. After leaving the barrel the Saber’s tail fin assembly first deploys and then its rocket motor ignites.

	The BAE Systems Bofors spinning tail fin assembly on the Excalibur projectile is designed to ensure the stability of the projectile during flight. When the projectile reaches its trajectory apogee the canard control fins deploy and its GPS/INS guidance cuts in to control the remainder of the flight. During twelve test flights it has demonstrated a CEP of 4.5 metres. (Raytheon)

The round is guided to the target by a satellite/inertial system. ATK is proposing the Saber as a cost-effective solution for the Block 1B upgrade to the Excalibur.

	The Impaqt consortium’s Mk 1 projectile (left) is intended to have a maximum range of 60 km while the Mk 2 (right) could have a range of between 100 km or 150 km using rocket assist. (Giat)

Vulcano

Oto Melara is leading the Vulcano programme to develop 127 mm extended range ammunition for naval use and 155 mm ammunition for use on land. The Netherlands Ministry of Defence and Thales Nederland are co-operating in the development of the naval ammunition while Spain and Italy agreed in June to co-operate on the 155 mm programme. In both calibres the Vulcano rounds are being developed in unguided extended range (ER) – 70 km – and guided long range (LR) – 100 km – variants with unguided ammunition scheduled to be ready for serial production in 2008 and guided rounds in 2011. The guided rounds employ the canard-control technology that Oto Melara first developed for its Davide 76 mm guided ammunition. The Vulcano LR is a fin-stabilised, saboted, sub-calibre projectile fitted with control canards in the nose section. Using satellite/inertial guidance the Vulcano is expected to achieve a CEP of less than 20 metres while the incorporation of a semi-active seeker could reduce this to only 3 m.

MPPA

The European Impaqt consortium was formed in 2004 by BAE Systems - Bofors, Giat, MBDA France, MBDA UK and QinetiQ to develop a family of artillery munitions capable of hitting targets at ranges of up to 80 km with a CEP measured in metres to meet a number of European requirements. In 2005 France’s Délégation Générale pour l’Armement (DGA) signed a contract with Impaqt for the definition of the Munition de Précision à Portée Accrue (MPPA) demonstrator. A contract is expected to be awarded later this year or early next year covering a three-year demonstration phase.This Mk 1 demonstrator must be capable of carrying two Bonus submunitions or a unitary blast fragmentation-penetrating warhead to a maximum range of 60 km.

	Operational sequence of the BAE Systems Course Correcting Fuze (CCF): 1) GPS tracks the round in flight. 2) The initial range corrector, vernier drag brakes, deploy. 3) The cross range corrector, spin brakes, deploy. 4) The final range corrector, the main drag brakes, deploy. (BAE Systems)

Under a contract from the British Defence Procurement Agency, Impaqt is conducting a definition study of a Mk 2 round that will carry three Bonus submunitions to a range at least 100 km or 150 km using rocket assist. This forms part of the British Army’s Indirect Fire Precision Attack Project which is intended to deliver a 155 mm shell with a sensor fused submunition, a guided sensor fused shell, an extended range rocket for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, a large long range rocket and eventually an airborne loiter munition. To reach these extended ranges Impaqt rounds will use an aerodynamic shell case built from composites to save weight and improve durability. Both the Impaqt Mk 1 and Mk 2 will incorporate four control surfaces in the nose, while the Mk 2 will gain additional range from folding fins at the rear.

PGK

As defence chiefs seek to balance the cost of ongoing operations with modernisation, or in some countries such as the United States, there is a growing interest in technology that can give existing inventories of unguided artillery ammunition an accuracy that approaches that of their purpose-built counterparts. Invariably this means a course-correcting fuse unit with air brakes, or a similar system, to guide the projectile in the final stages of flight. The US Army is funding the development of a Precision Guidance Kit (PGK), a course-correcting fuse intended for its existing inventories of 105 mm and 155 mm ammunition. The unguided M549 155 mm projectile has a CEP of 95 metres at a range of 15 km, 140 metres at 25 km and 275 metres at 30 km. Using the M549 fitted with a PGK the army is seeking to achieve a CEP of less than 50 metres at ranges of up to 50 km for the first stage of the project (Increment 1). For Increment 2 a CEP of less than 30 metres firing all natures of 155 mm ammunition is the objective. Increment 3 is a 30-metre CEP for 105 mm ammunition. The eventual objective is a CEP of ten metres. The army will use standard fuses for saturation fire and the PGK fuse to achieve more precise suppression fire while the Excalibur will be used for single-round precision attacks.

	BAE Systems has successfully demonstrated that projectiles from the BAE Systems Future Combat Systems Non-Line-Of-Sight Cannon demonstrator and an M109A5 are at least three times more accurate than rounds fired with standard fuses. (BAE Systems)

In early July 2006 the army’s Project Manager for Combat Ammunition Systems awarded contracts to two contenders to demonstrate their solutions by year-end after which a preferred design will be selected. Low-rate initial production of the 155 mm PGK should begin in FY 09. Raytheon successfully completed, fully integrated round testing of its GPS-guided XM1156 PGK fired from an M198 155 mm towed howitzer at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona in early May. The Spearhead 1D course-correcting fuse at the heart of Raytheon’s proposal exploits components and subassemblies from the M782 Multi-Option Fuze for Artillery (Mofa) and the US Navy Guidance Integrated Fuze programme. BAE Systems received a contract after demonstrating its two-directional Course Correcting Fuze (CCF) fired from the BAE Systems Future Combat Systems Non-Line-Of-Sight-Cannon demonstrator and an M109A5 at Yuma. It states the CCF, “makes conventional cannon projectiles at least three times more accurate”. The team also includes Rockwell Collins and L3 Communications BT Fuze Products.

	ATK’s XM395 Precision Guided Mortar Munition relies upon an optimised ballistic design and impulse seekers to achieve an accuracy measured in metres. (ATK)

In mid-June 2006 the first closed-loop firing of the Spacido (Système à Précision Améliorée par CInémomètre DOppler) course-correction fuse system took place at France’s Etablissement Technique de Bourges. The Spacido, which screws into the standard two-inch fuze well of Nato standard 105 mm and 155 mm ammunition, is expected to improve the accuracy of these projectiles by a factor of four. The Spacido is a nose-mounted electronic fuze fitted with an aerodynamic brake that works in conjunction with the In-Sec RD84 muzzle velocity radar. These radars have been mounted above the barrels of the Armée de Terre’s upgraded AUF1 TA 155 mm tracked self-propelled howitzers and are fitted as standard on Giat’s new truck-mounted Caesar 155 mm/52. During the first 5000 metres of flight the Spacido compares the actual trajectory of the projectile with its theoretical trajectory and then calculates the optimum moment to activate the air brakes.

The Spacido is being developed under contract to the DGA by a consortium consisting of Giat, TDA Armements and In-Sec. The present Phase II contract runs until March 2007 and will be followed by a two-year Phase III contract that will cover full scale-development and qualification. The system is expected to be ready for fielding with the French Army in 2010.

PGMM

The US Army also plans to give its infantry battalion commanders a dedicated indirect precision strike capability. Alliant Techsystems (ATK) received an initial $ 80 million contract from the US Army in December 2004 to design, develop and begin low-rate initial production of the XM395 120 mm Precision Guided Mortar Munition (PGMM). Low-rate initial production is scheduled to begin in 2008 leading to fielding by 2010 although, if demonstrations scheduled for 2006-07 are successful, the army is considering bringing forward the fielding date to 2009. With the army planning a 42% increase in the number of 120 mm smoothbore mortars in service, from 872 to 1242 weapons, full rate production contracts for the PGMM are expected to exceed $ 500 million. BAE Systems is responsible for the development of the PGMM’s semi-active laser.

	The US Army plans to deploy ATK’s XM395 Precision Guided Mortar Munition down to company level giving infantry commanders a unique capability especially when operating in urban and other difficult terrain. Under an incremental development strategy the range of the PGMM will eventually be doubled to 15 km. (ATK)

To simplify training and use the PGMM looks and loads almost identically to standard mortar ammunition. The round flies a ballistic trajectory to the target acquisition basket with the seeker being turned on after the PGMM reaches its apogee. The forward observer designates the target, enabling the Sal seeker to lock on and impulse thrusters perform course correction in the final stages of flight. The programme objective is for the PGMM to impact within one metre of the target.

	A consortium led by Giat is developing the Spacido course correction fuze (basically an airbrake) for the French Army. (Armada/EHB)

The standard PGMM will achieve a range of 7.2 km but it is planned to extend this to 15 using rocket assist. ATK and army programme officials successfully completed the preliminary design review of the PGMM at the beginning of 2006 with the critical design review scheduled to take place later this year.