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New ammunition currently under development could
extend the current effective range of artillery beyond 40 km,
which was the realistic limit of conventional 39 and 45 caliber 155mm
guns. In the UK, QINETIQ, the prime contractor for Team
IMPAQT's Advanced
Ordnance demonstrator program, is developing a composite airframe
design suitable for precision delivery of a variety of payloads. IMPAQT aims at the development of a new type of artillery ammunition
capable of attacking targets with an accuracy of less than 10 meters, at
a range of 80 km. The British consortium is currently evaluating three IMPAQT munitions.
One is an extended range variant utilizing roll stabilized projectile
which employs an attitude controlled steel projectile to deliver two
BONUS sensor fused
munitions or a unitary warhead to a range beyond 60 km. A different
variant uses an advanced lightweight composite projectile to deploy
three BONUS SFMs to a range of 75km. The third will utilize
composite projectile form making precision attacks over a wide area
from a
single 155mm round.
Two versions of precision attack artillery munitions are already in
service with European armies. Germany, Greece and Switzerland are
fielding the Rheinmetall Waffe Munition's
SMArt 155 (DM702)
intelligent, autonomous artillery round while, BONUS, designed primarily to
engage mobile, armored formations, is in service with Sweden and
France (over 4,500 rounds have been produced). A twin-warhead BONUS MkII Sensor Fuzed Munition (SFM)
is in development,
fitted with IR and profile detector sensors, enabling target
discrimination and detection even through camouflage. Further work is
being done on a new version of BONUS Insensitive Munition (IM), to
address current restrictions imposed by European regulations. BAE
Systems Bofors and GIAT are developing the BONUS IM for consideration
for the British
Indirect Fire Precision Attack (IFPA) program. BONUS could also be
part of the program's advanced phases, addressing Guided Artillery
Shells.
Aerodynamic projectile design will also enable range performance
similar to conventional ordnance systems with reduced barrel pressures, matching
the capabilities of lightweight artillery platforms. This program is
pursued as a joint initiative supported by the defense ministries of
France and the UK as part of the IMPAQT team,
including GIAT, BAE Systems Bofors, MBDA and Qinetiq. Rheinmetall was
recently able to fire Dm131 155mm high explosive artillery rounds at
ranges over 40 km. This round uses insensitive explosive and is loaded
with DM662 bomblets. DM131 has been accepted by the German Army and
is currently in production for the Netherlands and Greece. To improve the precision of current artillery
projectiles, the US Army is pursuing the development of Precision
Guidance Kit (PGK) upgrades for its 155mm ammunition stockpiles. Under
the 6 months technology demonstration program, the Army will evaluate
several proposals, to be followed with down-select the final PGK
system. ATK, with team members Rockwell Collins and Draper Labs
are proposing a PGK utilizing a GPS guidance and navigation system
designed to fit the fuze well of an existing 155mm round. ATK's PGK
solution features fixed canard guidance, gun-hardened electronics,
self-generated power, and a minimum number of moving parts. The
company expects its system will exceed the Army's requirements for
accuracy, effectiveness, range, and cost. Another multinational program is the
Excalibur - a
cooperative effort between Raytheon Missile Systems and BAE Systems
Bofors of Sweden for developing a GPS guided projectile, providing current
155mm artillery with high precision attack capability at extended
ranges. In June 2006 the U.S. Army awarded Raytheon Company a $42.7
million production contract for tactical and test projectiles. The US
Army is already pursuing Block 1B upgrades for Excalibur with the
Saber program. A successful test firing of the Saber was conducted in
June 2006. The advanced projectile was fired to a range of 48 km from
a 155mm cannon.
Other recent
Improvements made to conventional munitions primarily address
adherence to Insensitive Munitions regulations which have been imposed by the
European community. GIAT is already manufacturing insensitive
artillery ammunition, producing the 155mm LU211-IM for the
Caesar. Artillery rounds
using Insensitive Explosives are also in production at BAE Systems.
In May 2006 the company opened its new production facility, with
filling capacity of more than 375,000 shells per year, at Glascoed,
UK. Specializing
in insensitive explosives, the new facility is filling 105mm and 155mm
shells with Rowanex 1100
Polymer Bonded Explosive (PBX). Under a new
12,000 105mm HE improved ammunition shells are to be delivered by October 2006.
105mm artillery is again becoming popular among many armies due to
the high mobility and low weight of the 105 mm gun, which makes it suitable for
supporting Rapid Deployment Forces. IMI is also entering the field of
105mm ammunition and is developing a new series 105mm artillery
projectiles that are designed to fit all types of 105mm artillery systems
currently in service. The new range will include Dual Purpose
Incendiary Counter Material (DPICM) and Extended Range (ER)
ammunition. Hollow Base (HB) versions extend the reach of 105mm guns
up to 14 km and the extended range Base Bleed (BB) versions, currently
in development, will reach ranges beyond 20km. IMI's 105mm cargo round
carries 42 "Hornet" bomblets, each equipped with IMI’s combat proven
Self-Destruct Fuze (SDF) the same fuse used for the 155 mm cargo
projectiles. Each bomblet produces has a kill radius of approx.
five meters and can
penetrate more than 50 mm of RHA steel. Smoke, illumination and WP
rounds are also available. |
