Tis effort includes new artillery weapons—missiles, howitzers, shells and rockets—that are more precise and more lethal over a longer range. Tese new systems must have the capability to target and destroy or degrade the enemy’s anti-access and area denial (A2AD) systems to enable the joint force’s freedom of maneuver and action. Tis makes LRPF an excellent example of RDECOM’s threat-informed development, as well as an early test of the command’s ability to supply overmatch capabilities for Soldiers fighting on an as-yet-undefined multidomain oper- ations battlefield.
To extend the range and destructive power of Army weapon systems, the RDECOM Aviation and Missile Center is work- ing on the LRPF family of technologies, which will replace the Army Tactical Missile System that has been fielded for 35 years. Te Precision Strike Missile is slated to replace the obso- lete Army Tactical Missile System in 2023, with extended range (out to 499 km), along with improved GPS jamming resistance, increased rate of fire from one to two missiles per pod and lower cost per missile.
Te Aviation and Missile Center is looking at projects to improve the energetics and efficiency of these weapons. Advances in ener- getics will result in longer-range weapons without additional volume or weight. Te team is also studying the require- ments and technologies necessary to expand into intermediate ranges with weapons that comply with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty—the 1987 bilateral agreement between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union that limits both nuclear and conventionally armed missile ranges from 500 to 5,500 km. (Today, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan actively participate in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with the United States.)
UPDATING THE HOWITZER While the Army has fielded the Paladin howitzer for more than 25 years with only minor improvements, a new system has been developed to meet the needs of the current force. Te updated Paladin Integrated Management System is much faster than its predecessor, enabling it to keep pace with the maneuver forma- tions that it was designed to support. Te range of the new Paladin self-propelled howitzer will increase from 22 km with standard rounds to 30 km with rocket-assisted projectiles.
Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 5th Artillery at Fort Riley, Kansas, tested the system earlier this year, driving the vehicle more than 60 miles per day while firing more than 100 projectiles daily.
While the state-of-the-art howitzer addresses critical issues of its earlier variants, a next-generation Extended Range Cannon Artil- lery (ERCA) prototype is being developed for fielding in 2025. Te ERCA consists of two parts—a new rocket-boosted shell, the XM1113, and a longer howitzer barrel. Te XM1113, which has a current range of 30 km when fired from the Paladin, was tested at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona in April this year.
Te prototype was tested using the currently fielded Precision Guidance Kit, which is a fuze that turns a conventional artillery round into a semiguided one. During testing, the XM1113 projec- tile exceeded 60 km; the Army is working toward fielding systems that are capable of accurately striking targets 100 km away. Te advanced hypersonic cannon shells that will reach 100 km will provide lethal options for commanders and reduce the need to shoot rockets that cost substantially more.
In addition to longer range, ERCA will have a longer cannon rifle tube, a fully automated ammunition loading system and a communications system that will work in GPS-denied envi- ronments. RDECOM’s Ground Vehicle Center is developing high-voltage components that will give the ERCA system more power to maintain overmatch against evolving threats. For example, by replacing a four-channel distribution box with a 12-channel high-voltage power controller, ERCA will not only have significantly more capability, but also improved reliability and safety. Tese changes will enable the system to distribute all of the electrical power that it can generate without negatively impacting space and weight.
SMART, FAST, INTERCONNECTED WEAPONS In multidomain operations, the Army anticipates that Soldiers will be attacked from land, sea, air, cyber and space, and they will need to perform a variety of missions quickly. Soldiers will not only need the most advanced weapons avail- able, but they also will need to know which weapons will be most effective in different scenarios. While a weapon directed at a single target may result in destroying the target, other situ- ations may require delivering artillery shells that amass over an area, loitering until needed.
Te U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is developing tech- nologies to support collaborative weapons that are interconnected, precise and smart. By sharing sensing, computing and navigating capabilities using a network of sensors, these weapons will send information back to the warfighter, including situational aware- ness to make informed decisions.
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