LATEST NEWS

U.S. Army awards BAE Systems $45 Million contract for Extended Range Cannon Artillery prototype

David Schacher Photography LLC

The development of ERCA is in collaboration with the Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Armaments Center.
This prototype phase will address capability gaps in the Army’s indirect fire systems and improve the rate and range of fire with the development of power distribution software and hardware integration solutions. ERCA will be integrated onto the M109A7 and will require the M109A7’s current 39-caliber turret to be replaced with a 58-caliber, 30-foot long gun barrel with the objective of creating firepower double the current range.

“ERCA is a significant technological step forward for the Army’s artillery portfolio,” said Scott Davis, vice president or programs, BAE Systems’ Combat Vehicles business. “We were selected based on our years of experience in the development of self-propelled howitzer systems. Long-range precision fire is a top priority for the Army, and we are pleased to be a partner in efforts to equip soldiers with the latest technology.”

The development program aims to provide the warfighter with extended range while maintaining the weight found in current systems to minimize performance impacts on the chassis. Under separate contracts, BAE Systems is also developing precision guidance kits with anti-jamming capabilities (PGK-AJ) that can operate in the challenging ERCA firing environment. PGK-AJ is compatible with existing and new long-range rounds for multiple firing platforms, including the M109 self-propelled howitzer.
BAE Systems is currently producing the M109A7 configuration for the Army in the low-rate initial production phase.
Development work on ERCA Self Propelled Howitzer will take place at the Army’s Picatinny Arsenal and BAE Systems’ facilities in York, Pennsylvania; Sterling Heights, Michigan and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Lihi

Share
Published by
Lihi
7 years ago

Recent Posts

Stratasys Secures $7.8M to Advance In-Situ Quality Assurance for Additive Manufacturing

The 24-month program will develop real-time process monitoring capabilities for the F3300 and F900 industrial…

6 hours ago

OpenLight and Tower Semiconductor Expand PH18DA Photonics Ecosystem to Accelerate Photonic IC Development

OpenLight’s PDK is now available on Cadence’s EDA tools, enabling PIC development on Tower’s PH18DA…

7 hours ago

Starstone and Ashtrom Industries Sign Industrial Cooperation Agreement to Evaluate Innovative Biogenic Cement Technology

Under the agreement, Ashtrom Industries will evaluate the material's performance and its potential integration into…

1 day ago

Thin-Film Polarizers for High-Power Laser Systems

LASER COMPONENTS has expanded its offering of custom thin-film polarizers (TFPs) for high-power laser applications…

2 days ago

Pickering Introduces LXI High-Current Switching Family for Signals up to 80 A

Pickering Interfaces has introduced the 60-191 LXI high-current and sense SPST switching family, designed for…

2 days ago

Nordic nRF9151 Enables Cellular and Satellite IoT Connectivity

Nordic Semiconductor announced that LooUQ’s MTC2-N9151 embedded modem, based on Nordic’s nRF9151 cellular IoT module,…

2 days ago