At the end of 2020, it was announced that CAESAr [Camion équipé d’un système d’artillerie de 155 mm] in 6×6 version was soon to be evaluated at the Yuma Proving Ground [Arizona] by the US Army, then looking for a new artillery system to replace its M777 towed howitzers. Only, there was no further question of this evaluation thereafter.
Is it currently in progress? The American company Raytheon Missiles & Defense did not specify this in the press release it has just published. On the other hand, she indicated that, in partnership with the US Army and the French group Nexter, a CAESAr had just hit two targets located more than 46 km away by firing M982 Excalibur shells during tests carried out in Yuma Proving Ground. And to ensure that it was a “record” for such an artillery system.
As a reminder, the CAESAr is able to “hit the mark” at a distance of 40 km, with the ammunition it usually fires.
“This success highlights the interoperability of a French howitzer with American ammunition and gives our customers more options for using [l’obus] Excalibur from a wider range of platforms,” said Sam Deneke, head of “land warfare and air defense” at Raytheon Missiles & Defense.
Commissioned in 2007, the Excalibur is a GPS-guided and inertial shell. Result of work carried out jointly by the US Army Research Laboratory [ARL] et l’US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center [ARDEC], it is produced by Raytheon Missiles & Defense and BAE Systems AB. It is compatible with the M777, M109, M198, Archer, PzH2000, SIAC howitzer and therefore, now, with the CAESAr.
“Chosen by eight partner countries, CAESAr is without doubt the most efficient truck-mounted artillery system available today,” said Thierry Soulat, program manager at Nexter. “This demonstration with Excalibur highlights CAESAr’s compatibility with NATO standards for conventional and ‘smart’ ammunition,” he added.
That said, it is not said that the Army in turn will adopt the Excalibur shell, even if the feedback [RETEX] of CAESAr’s commitment in Iraq, in the context of operations against the Islamic State [EI ou Daesh] all underlined the need to obtain so-called “intelligent” ammunition because it is precise. Indeed, Nexter is currently developing the Katana shell, which, with GPS and inertial guidance, would increase the range of CAESAr up to 60 km.
–
