June 27, 2020 - U.S. Army Fire sequence - Carnage Battery,
5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade
Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division made Joint Readiness
Training Center and Fort Polk history by firing a M982A1
Excalibur GPS guided precision artillery projectile at
low-angle using a M777 howitzer in the Slagle training area.
Observer-controller-trainers from Operations Group, JRTC,
supervised and validated tactics, techniques and procedures
as well as mission essential task list functions at firing
point 700.
Excalibur Precision 155 mm Projectiles
The Excalibur (XM982, M982 and M982A1) is a 155 mm, Global
Positioning System (GPS)-guided, extended range artillery
projectile in use as the Army’s next-generation cannon
artillery precision munition. It provides improved fire
support to the maneuver force commander, increases lethality
and reduces collateral damage. The target, platform location
and GPS-specific data are entered into the projectile’s
mission computer through an Enhanced Portable Inductive
Artillery Fuze Setter.
The Excalibur projectile uses a jam-resistant internal GPS
receiver to update the inertial navigation system, providing
precision in-flight guidance and dramatically improving
accuracy to less than two meters miss distance regardless of
range. The Excalibur projectile has three fuze options
(point-detonation, point-detonation delay and
height-of-burst) and is employable in all weather conditions
and terrains. The Excalibur’s capabilities allow for
first-round effects-on-target while simultaneously
minimizing collateral damage and the number of rounds
required to engage targets.
