The advent of precision changed this
equation and given warzone commanders
new options to find and precisely, destroy fixed enemy ground targets from
ranges out to 30 kilometers. This change is a major technical leap
which greatly improved
counter-insurgency warfare in iraq for
many years.
The same phenomenon was quite relevant
in afghanistan with related precision
weapons such as the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS). A GPS guided
missile able to destroy targets out to
80 kilometers. Upon several occasions the GMLRS was
used to destroy high-valued taliban
targets. Now the army is taking this technology
several steps beyond this by not only
more than doubling the range of standard
155 millimeters artillery through a
program known as extended range cannon
artillery which has hit targets at 70
kilometers, but also through an effort to
engineer what's called a shaped
trajectory s caliber round.
Brigadier General John Rafferty who
directs the army's long-range precision
fires cross-functional team for army
futures command told the National Interest that service weapons developers
are now refining flight software, for the
shaped charge to better enable them to
adjust course in flight.
What this means as he describes us is
that an S-caliber round is through
software upgrades. Acquiring an ability
to destroy otherwise obscured or
unreachable targets.
"We are working on flight software that
enables S caliber to adjust its
trajectory. It has fins in the back and in the front
so it is steerable. We are changing the software so that it
can overcome what are normally indirect
fire limitations when it comes to what
we call intervening crests," Rafferty told
the national interest in a recent
interview.
As examples Rafferty said the shaped
charge might be able to destroy a target
that is hidden in a cave or beneath some
kind of overhead cover. What if an enemy tank were parked under
a bridge or behind a ridge. Escaliber
might typically be challenged to destroy
it even if its location were identified
in some way.
As caliber 155 millimeters rounds
descend directly or in a more linear way
yet a shaped trajectory round can be
pre-programmed by an observer to perform
a high GU turn to alter its course in
flight. When it gets to the highest point in its
trajectory the canards are deployed and
the body gives it lift and glide. Then it separates from what a
conventional round looks like, with a
shaped trajectory you can bend that
trajectory sean ball s caliber business
development lead raytheon told the
national interest in an interview last
year.
