US equips M777A2 howitzers with super-speed bullets

Information about the new ammunition used for the M777A2 was announced by Brigadier General Stephen Maranian when speaking before the US Congress on March 19. Currently, the US Department of Defense is planning to develop a super-speed ammunition that can easily reach Mach 5 (5 times the speed of sound) for the M777A2 howitzer.

Along with developing the new hypervelocity bullet, the US also decided to upgrade the entire existing M777A2 unit in the country's army by chromium plating.

The chrome-plated barrel will increase the operating time by 50%, and make it easy to clean the barrel after firing. Especially, to avoid unfortunate accidents from the barrel when firing.

American M777A2 artillery.

According to the plan, the first batch of chrome-plated gun barrels will be delivered to combat units in 2019, including units in Syria and Iraq. A representative of the Watervliet Arsenal company said that this is only a trial batch, and in the near future, M777A2 guns with chrome-plated barrels will be equipped in the entire US army.

It is known that the M777A2 is currently being deployed by the US in Iraq and Syria to carry out missions to attack terrorist forces. In particular, in Syria, the US also used Excalibur smart bullets for this super cannon to attack IS terrorists in Raqqa.

To carry out the attack in late 2017, the 24th US Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) used M777A2 Howitzers to shell IS front lines in rural Raqqa province, supporting SDF forces attacking IS on the battlefield.

Although there are no specific numbers, according to the MEU, all of the terrorist targets were destroyed with near-absolute precision, including fortified positions, military vehicles and weapons. In addition, the attack also killed a large number of IS fighters.

Excalibur uses a GPS guidance system to provide high accuracy and efficiency from the first shot in any environment. By using Excalibur, the US military will save a lot of time, cost, and logistics compared to using conventional artillery shells.

Calculations show that it takes between 10 and 50 conventional artillery shells to do what one Excalibur can do. According to the manufacturer's introduction, Excalibur can accurately hit any target within a range of 50km with a circular error of error (CEP) of only about 4m.

Although Excalibur is the longest-range artillery shell in the US arsenal today, it is also capable of operating in close quarters such as in cities or mountainous areas, attacking high-altitude targets, and detecting and destroying mobile targets, such as personal vehicles.

This is the reason why the US believes that the Excalibur and M777A2 pair will be very effective in the war against terrorism, especially in urban environments in Iraq and Syria.