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 Excalibur projectile |
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There has been some recent reports about the US Navy canceling the LRLAP (Long Range Land Attack Projectile) due to excessive cost overruns (a direct consequence of the number of Zumwalt-class ships reduced from 32 to just 3). Raytheon's Excalibur may be a replacement solution but the AGS and/or weapon itself will require some modifications and adaptations.
"The Excalibur family of projectiles has now been fired in combat almost 1100 times" said Paul Daniels, Excalibur Business Development Senior Manager at Raytheon, to Navy Recognition. "We have integrated Excalibur 1B into many different howitzer guns, we also have experience integrating and test Excalibur with a 5 inch gun [...] The key questions on integration include: - how do you initialize the projectile, provide it with mission data that it needs - how is it stored in containers on the ship - how is it handled, removed from the containers, paired with a propelling charge and rammed into the gun. [...] We do have some concepts for integration, not an easy task but a verry feasible task from an engineering perspective. We think it is the best candidate for integration because of its maturity" added Daniels. |
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Video interview on Excalibur for DDG 1000 at SNA 2017
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According to Raytheon, the Excalibur projectile is a true precision weapon, impacting at a radial miss distance of less than two meters from the target. Unlike “near precision” guidance systems, the Excalibur weapon provides accurate first-round effects at all ranges in all weather conditions. This weapon system also extends the reach .52-caliber artillery to more than 50 km. The weapon is fully qualified in multiple systems, including the M777, M109 series, M198, the Archer and PzH2000. It’s also compatible with the AS90, K9 and G6 howitzers.
Raytheon is also developing a 5-inch variant, the Excalibur N5 munition. This sea-based projectile is expected to more than double the maximum range of conventional 5-inch munitions and will provide the same accuracy as the land-based version. According to Lockheed Martin, the 155mm LRLAP is both the most accurate and longest-range guided projectile in U.S. Navy history, with a maximum range in excess of 63 nautical miles (116.6 km). Its precision and near vertical angle of fall enables the Warfighter to defeat targets in the urban canyons of coastal cities with minimal collateral damage. Each Zumwalt-class destroyer features a battery of two AGS, fitted forward, as main guns which role is land attack. |
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 Land based trials of the LRLAP from the AGS |
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Video: Raytheon Believes Excalibur is the Best Candidate for DDG 1000 / Advanced Gun System
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