XM982 Excalibur

Some quick Excalibur facts:

• The Excalibur Ia projectile can fire up to 24 kilometers. Excalibur Ib, currently in competition phase, will reach up to 40 kilometers.
• Both Excalibur editions hit with unprecedented accuracy, hitting targets within 10 meters of aim.
• Applicable to 155 mm howitzers, including the M109A6-PIM and M777A2, the Excalibur round was first fired in combat in Iraq in May 2007.

In-depth Background

Excalibur is the next-generation family of projectiles for U.S. Army and Marine Corps artillery. Excalibur uses satellite guidance to provide precision accuracy for all current and future 155 mm howitzers, including the M109A6-PIM and the M777A2. Excalibur produces a wide range of effects in all terrains, at extended ranges and in all weather conditions.

In November 2004, the Raytheon Missile Systems and BAE Systems Excalibur teams successfully fired an Excalibur Ia round to a target 20 kilometers down range, impacting 3.4 meters from the aim point. In December 2004, the program proved reliability by repeating the test and impacting within 6.9 meters.

The current variant (Excalibur Ia) has a minimum range of 7.5 kilometers and can be fired as far as 24 kilometers. The Excalibur projectile also has a better than 10 meter accuracy, which is the current requirement. Fuze settings including height of burst (HOB), point detonating (PD) and point-detonate delay (PDD) are used on the Excalibur round to target obscure or hard-to-reach areas including rooftops, trenches and the insides of buildings. Successful First Article and Sequential Environmental Test-Safety (SET-S) tests in 2006 validated the performance, safety and reliability of the Excalibur under a full spectrum of environmental conditions.

In March 2007, Excalibur Ia successfully completed a Limited User Test in Yuma, Ariz. According to industry officials, having passed this final testing phase demonstrated that Excalibur was ready for early fielding. Inside the Army reported the 155 mm precision artillery shell was successfully fired in combat for the first time in May of that year. According to DVIDS, Soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 7th Calvary Regiment and the 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, who had the honor of firing Excalibur’s historic first round in combat, two consecutive rounds of the XM982 Excalibur penetrated an observation post in an insurgent safehouse. On Feb. 25, 2008, the Excalibur round was fired in Afghanistan for the first time from a M777A2.

The next iteration of the Excalibur, Ib, is a less expensive and more reliable version of Excalibur Ia. Currently in a competitive bidding process, the Ib round will reach up to 40 kilometers with clear-cut ballistic exactness of less than 10 meters from target.

Learn more about Excalibur.