The widespread use of high-precision weapons (WTO) has become a guarantee of victory in military conflicts of recent decades, and its intensive development is the general line of development of weapons of warfare in the leading states of the world.
At the same time, if earlier mainly the WTO was used by aviation, then recently considerable efforts have been made to create high-precision field artillery ammunition for firing from closed positions.
From development to production
Nowadays, serious successes have been achieved in this area. In particular, during the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Americans often fire guided missiles from MLRS MLRS. The development of the 155-mm guided projectile M982 "Excalibur" (Excalibur is the name of the legendary sword of King Arthur) also has a certain breakthrough, and it began in the 90s.
Then the leadership of the Pentagon made a decision with the help of the Navstar space radio navigation system (KRNS) to increase the hit accuracy of 155-mm cluster artillery shells (KAS) with cumulative fragmentation warheads (KOBE) designed to destroy weakly armored targets, primarily artillery pieces and combat vehicles for various purposes. At that time, the program was named ERDPICT (Enhanced-Rang Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition). In 1996, the head of the SADARM (Sense And Destroy ARMor) SADARM (Sense And Destroy ARMor) KAS project was appointed responsible for its implementation.
At the beginning of 1997, new requirements for the UAN with KOBE were formulated: the maximum flight range of a projectile with a bottom gas generator or a propulsion engine must be at least 45 kilometers, the ammunition must be equipped with 72 KOBE M42 / M46 or 85 KOBE XM80.
In January 1998, a contract was signed for the implementation of development work on the KAS XM982 topic. It was assumed that the projectile would be able to overcome the intended distance thanks to a gliding flight, which would allow a special aerodynamic shape and a four-section tail unit of the ammunition.
In addition to UAN with KOBE, it was planned to develop a UAN with a SADARM BETP (XM982 Block II) and a high-explosive fragmentation projectile (OFS) of concrete-piercing action (XM982 Block III). The terms of the contract provided for the release in 2001 of small batches of shells of all three types.
Meanwhile, in 2001, the Pentagon came to the conclusion that the US army, first of all, does not need cluster munitions, but a concrete-piercing OFS with the Increment 1 index. CAS with BETP is still considered as the second version of the projectile with the Increment 2 index. The third option is ammunition. with a seeker with the Increment index 3. Thus, the design of the UAN with KOBE was discontinued, and the main task of the developers was to create a means to destroy structures, including fortified command posts.
It is possible that the rejection of UAN with KOBE was caused by a significant drawback - a significant proportion of unexploded elements after their fall on the ground: with a firing range of up to 10 kilometers - two percent, over 10 - more than three percent. The XM982 hull was supposed to be equipped not with an American four-section tail, but with an eight-section Swedish one, designed for the TCM (Trajectory Correction Munition) projectile, and a bottom gas generator.
In 2003, due to repeated technical problems in the US Department of Defense, a decision was made on the phased development of the ammunition. The creation of its first version included two stages - 1a and 1b. During the first substage, the projectile was designed in two versions - 1a-1 and 1a-2. Version 1a-1 was simplified so much that it made it possible to produce and deliver ammunition to the troops as quickly as possible. The requirements for the various variants of the XM982 1a in 2003 are presented in Table 1. Particular attention was paid to reducing the cost of the projectile.
For the second version of the ammunition, in connection with the termination of the SADARM program in 2001, their foreign counterparts were considered as precision aiming combat elements. The development of the third version of the projectile, starting in 2005, is funded separately. Thus, the main focus of the program was focused on the creation of the XM982 Increment 1 controlled concrete-piercing projectile.
In June 2005, a contract was signed for the production of 140 XM982 1a-1 shells (each cost $ 144,000) with delivery in March next year. However, due to the identified failures during the tests, the first ammunition began to arrive only in September, and the shooting was possible only at the beginning of 2007. In the same year, it was planned to purchase two batches of XM982 1a-1: 321 shells - at a price of 153 thousand dollars and 224 shells - at a price of 120 thousand dollars per unit, respectively.
Combat application and prospects
In April 2007, north of Baghdad, XM982 1a-1 was fired for the first time at a real enemy. In May - August, the Americans used up several more of the same shells in Iraq. Their deviation from the target did not exceed four meters. But in Afghanistan, the ammunition did not show the expected high efficiency, as a result of which the total production of the version 1a projectile was not 30 thousand, but 6264 units.
The first batch of the XM982 1a-2 variant in the amount of 362 pieces was manufactured in 2008, another 458 in 2009. In October 2010, the M982 index was assigned to the 1a-2 version of the projectile, and in 2011 it was planned to deploy a full-scale release of the ammunition.
In September 2008, the Pentagon signed a contract for the development of the Increment 1b Excalibur variant. The main requirement for the developers was to reduce the cost of the projectile. It must have the following characteristics: circular probable deviation (CEP) - no more than 10 meters when used without interference of the KRNS, 30 meters - in jamming conditions, maximum firing range - 35-40 kilometers, minimum - 3-8, operational reliability - not less 0, 9, guaranteed penetration of concrete 10–20 centimeters thick.
As you can see, the requirements for the projectile in terms of firing range and reliability after 12 years of development have not only not become tougher, but noticeably softened. The achieved parameters for Option 1a and the requirements for Option 1b in 2008 are shown in Table 2.
Preliminary tests of Option 1b are planned for the third quarter of 2012, and development is scheduled for completion in 2014. According to the intentions of the creators of the ammunition, it should be equipped with a bottom gas generator, thanks to the introduction of new technical solutions, it will have a lower cost. Two versions of the 1b projectile are offered: the first (Saber) - with a sustainer engine, its flight range will reach 48 kilometers, the second - with a new titanium tail unit, a bottom gas generator (version 1a), capable of hitting a target at a distance of up to 45 kilometers.
The fundamental differences in the design of the variants of the projectile 1a and 1b are as follows. The tail section of version 1a rotates relative to the body and is closed with a lid when fired. In option 1b, the bottom of the projectile is stationary, no protective coatings for the tail unit are provided. The data for the projectile movement control system 1a is entered into read-only memory before firing. For 1b, it is supposed to use an external reprogramming device, which makes it possible to change the nature of the impact of the ammunition on the target during its flight. The M982 projectile software with the Increment 3 index should autonomously determine the optimal aiming points, flight trajectory and detonation method. It is possible that option 1b will have the following types of equipment: smoke, thermobaric, lighting and non-lethal effects. It is planned to use a laser seeker and implement the possibility of striking a target at a given time.
The development of the M982 turned out to be more expensive and time consuming than anticipated. With the production of 30 thousand shells, it was expected that the price of each of them would be at the level of 75 thousand dollars, taking into account the cost of R&D. In fact, it turned out to be twice as large. The work continues and, therefore, the financial costs and the cost of ammunition increase, which can lead to at least a reduction in the number of purchased products.
In the course of the combat use of "Excaliburs", a number of shortcomings were revealed. The projectile hitting accuracy depends on the stability of communication with at least three spacecraft simultaneously. A negative point is also the mandatory presence of special equipment in the howitzer equipment for preparing the ammunition for firing, since it differs significantly from similar actions when firing with standard projectiles.
Despite the fact that the M982 was officially adopted for service, its entry into the army and its massive use in battles can be expected no earlier than 2014-2015. It is important to note that the development of only the first version of the projectile has been completed, which meets the minimum requirements. It is possible that ammunition with the index 1b, which meets all the customer's requirements, will appear only in 2015.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the creators of the 155-mm high-precision M982 projectile faced serious scientific and technical problems, which greatly delayed the creation of a new ammunition and increased its price. It is now equal to the cost of 120-150 conventional OFS. Probably, "Excaliburs" can become cheaper, but not enough to displace the latter from the ammunition of field artillery guns.
The “biting” price of high-precision shells means that they will be used in decisive directions and for the destruction of certain critical targets (command posts, infrastructure facilities), as well as in conditions when it is necessary to avoid continuous destruction and death of persons not involved in an armed conflict.
