{"id":25297,"date":"2018-10-08T14:07:54","date_gmt":"2018-10-08T14:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/10\/08\/army-leans-on-scientists-to-push-the-boundaries-of-munitions-range-precision-lethality\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:12:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:12:03","slug":"army-leans-on-scientists-to-push-the-boundaries-of-munitions-range-precision-lethality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/10\/08\/army-leans-on-scientists-to-push-the-boundaries-of-munitions-range-precision-lethality\/","title":{"rendered":"Army leans on scientists to push the boundaries of munitions range, precision, lethality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Army researchers are speeding up development on key conventional munitions<\/a>, from field artillery<\/a> to long-range missiles, and making them more deadly<\/a> when they land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a panel hosted by Defense News at the annual Association of the United States Army annual meeting, commanders with the Army\u2019s Research, Development and Engineering Command, Program Executive Office-Ammunition and the Long-Range Precision Fires Cross-Functional Team gave a few updates on those efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brig. Gen. Alfred Abramson III, head of PEO Ammo and Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, told audience members that his researchers are finding the quickest ways to go after extending ranges, saying that the XM1113 round will be \u201ccritical\u201d for the conventional artillery in the Extended Range Cannon Artillery program, a centerpiece of artillery modernization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abramson noted that the existing M795 High Explosive artillery round, the base of the 155mm munition portfolio, includes about 614,000 rounds in the nation\u2019s stockpile. But those rounds only reach out to about 30 kilometers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more coverage from the AUSA annual meeting, click here.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem developers face in pushing the ranges of conventional rounds is keeping them both accurate and having a real effect when they strike, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou want to push it out to 70 kilometers and ensure it\u2019s not just a long-range paintball,\u201d Abramson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The XM1128 pushes those ranges to about 40 kilometers currently. But work with \u201clithographic fragmentation technology,\u201d Abramson said, makes the round more lethal on target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Col. John Rafferty, director of the LRPF CFT, said that recent testing has gotten 155mm artillery rounds to the 60-kilometer range at the Yuma, Arizona, testing facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\t