Raytheon’s new Excalibur N5 projectile was fired from a 5-inch naval gun during a flight test at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. The new technology effectively triples the range of the Navy’s 5″ naval guns.
Raytheon claims that due to the remarkable precision of Excalibur, significant cost, manpower and time savings will become evident:
By using Excalibur’s level of precision, there is a dramatic reduction in the time, cost and logistical burden associated with other artillery munitions. Analyses have shown that on average, it can take at least 10 conventional munitions to accomplish what one Excalibur can.
With an estimated cost of $80,000 per shot, only time will tell if cost savings will actually materialize, but it certainly will reduce collateral damage.
The N5 is the five inch variant of the Excalibur extended range precision projectile which was designed to be fired from Army and Marine Corps land-based artillery:
Excalibur is compatible with every howitzer with which it’s been tested. This weapon is fully qualified in multiple systems, including the M777, M109 series, M198, the Archer and PzH2000. It’s also compatible with the AS90, K9 and G6 howitzers.
Excalibur is being developed as a joint effort between Raytheon and BAE.
And it’s already being shot in Afghanistan:
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