M982 Excalibur

M982 Excalibur
TypeGuided artillery shell
Place of originSweden, United States
Service history
Used byCanada, Germany, India, Italy, Jordan, Netherlands, Sweden, United States, United Kingdom, and Ukraine
Production history
ManufacturerBAE Systems AB: Bofors
Raytheon Missiles & Defense
Unit costUS$112.8k (FY2021 President's Budget Request)
Specifications
Mass48 kg (106 lb)[1]
Length100 cm (39.2 in)
Diameter155 mm (6.1 in)

Caliber155 mm
Effective firing rangeIncrement Ia-1: 23 km (14 mi)
Increment Ia-2/Ib: 40 km (25 mi)[2]
From Archer: 50 km (31 mi)[3]
ERCA test: 70 km (cancelled)[4]
WarheadPBXN-9
Warhead weight5.4 kg (12 lb)[5]

Guidance
system
GPS, inertial navigation
Accuracy4 m (13 ft) CEP
M892A1: < 1 m (3 ft 3 in) CEP (K9 at 50 km (31 mi) range)

The M982 Excalibur (previously XM982) is a 155 mm extended-range guided artillery shell developed in a collaborative effort between the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and the United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC).[6] The Excalibur was developed and/or manufactured by prime contractor Raytheon Missiles & Defense, BAE Systems AB (BAE Systems Bofors) and other subs and primes in multiple capacities such as Camber Corporation and Huntington Ingalls Industries. It is a GPS and inertial-guided munition capable of being used in close support situations within 75–150 meters (250–490 ft) of friendly troops or in situations where targets might be prohibitively close to civilians to attack with conventional unguided artillery fire. In 2015, the United States planned to procure 7,474 rounds with a FY 2015 total program cost of US$1.9341 billion at an average cost of US$258,777 per unit.[7] By 2016, unit costs were reduced to US$68,000 per round.[8] Versions that add laser-guidance capability and are designed to be fired from naval guns began testing in 2015.[7][9][10] By October 2018, over 1,400 rounds had been fired in combat.[11]

  1. ^ "Development of the XM982 Excalibur Fuzing System" (PDF). 7 April 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference DOTE2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "ARCHER mobile howitzer". BAE Systems. 24 August 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  4. ^ "【本周軍事新聞】2020/12/20-12/26" [【Military News of the Week】2020/12/20-12/26]. vocus.cc. 26 December 2020.
  5. ^ ARG. "M982 Excalibur Extended-Range GPS-Guided Projectile". Military-Today.com. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  6. ^ Lyons, John W. "Some Recent Sensor-Related Army Critical Technology Events". Defense Technical Information Center. National Defense University. Archived from the original on 20 June 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  7. ^ a b "GAO-15-342SP DEFENSE ACQUISITIONS Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs" (PDF). US Government Accountability Office. March 2015. p. 79. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2015. Program cost is $1,934.1m (FY15) of which $790.4m is procurement cost, for 7,474 rounds for the US Army
  8. ^ Excalibur Goes To Sea: Raytheon Smart Artillery Shoots Back Archived 1 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine – Breakingdefense.com, 12 January 2016
  9. ^ "Raytheon's combat-proven Excalibur moves closer to sea-based application." Archived 2 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine – Raytheon news release, 30 September 2015
  10. ^ http://raytheon.mediaroom.com/2016-02-16-US-Army-awards-Raytheon-31-8-million-contract-for-continued-Excalibur-production Archived 27 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine – Raytheon news release, 16 February 2016. Contract amount was $31.8 million for 464 rounds.
  11. ^ Raytheon, US Army upgrade Excalibur precision guided projectile Archived 11 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Army Recognition. 9 October 2018.