The U.S. State Department has approved a potential Foreign Military Sale to Denmark, which includes Excalibur projectiles and related logistical support, with an estimated value of £94 million, according to a press release issued by the Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).
Denmark has requested the purchase of 339 M982A1 Excalibur tactical projectiles.
The sale also includes “Portable Electronic Fire Control Systems (PEFCS); Improved Platform Integration Kits (iPIK); Simple Key Loaders (SKLs); extractors; Surface Danger Zones (SDZs); training for new equipment; spare parts; U.S. Government technical assistance; technical data; repair and return services; and other related elements of logistics and programme support,” as outlined in the press release.
According to the DSCA, this proposed sale “will enhance the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe.” The deal is intended to “improve Denmark’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing precision capability equipment and increasing first strike accuracy in its brigades.”
To address potential concerns regarding the regional impact, the DSCA stated that “the proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.”
RTX Corporation, based in Tucson, Arizona, has been named as the principal contractor for this sale. The release mentioned that “the purchaser typically requests offsets,” and any such agreements “will be defined in negotiations between the purchaser and the contractor.”
So, does the British Army have guided and/or extended range 155mm munitions in its arsenal? If not, do we have plans to buy any, sounds like a neat capability to have?
BAE do make an extended range shell.
Supposedly they’re working on a new generation of shells for 2025.
But BAE Bofors (sweden) worked on and make Excalibur so it’s unlikely they’d design a whole replacement product to make in the UK given the volume
FYI In Ukraine effeciency dropped from an initial 70% to 6% due to jamming. a tad expensive at approx $350K a round when a regular 155mm round is about 100x cheaper. (339 rounds for $121millon)
Probably needs improvement in the software to identify GPS jamming and prioritise the INS that cannot be jammed being based on lazer interferometry inside closed sensors. Presumably the Dilution of Precision goes out of range up to loosing a Position solution altogether as the Satellite signals are overwhelmed by the jamming. Sounds like fairly normal engineering continuous improvement with some difficult testing that requires acquisition of RF jamming devices. I’ve seen reports of RF jamming devices captured in Ukraine but presume the area navigation denial GPS countermeasures are on RF territory or Satellites, making capture difficult. Let’s hope NATO ELINT… Read more »
Quantum PNT is the future.
Probably, but like superconductivity the requirement for super-cooling is a real world problem with Quantum. Current research seems to need an aircraft, so we’re probably several decades away from the mass commercialization and miniaturization required to put that in a 155mm shell.
I’d be happy to be wrong about the timescale, obviously, but freedom from jamming seems to be solely a military requirement, so a small market.
I’d say you are right about timescales. Decades. But wasn’t some testing done on the Patrick Blackett? What’s the aircraft requirement about?
Using an aircraft as a test platform that can accommodate the Quantum PNT experiment and test equipment. Even without test equipment QPNT is vehicle big, not smartphone or watch small like inertial navigation system is. Thus my point about the mass commercialization and miniaturization required to put that in a 155mm shell.
I’m going to cut’n’paste a paragraph from a DefenseNews article which surprised me: “By now, however, Russians forces have managed to throw a wrench into the calculus of Western high-tech weaponry working its magic. Russian electronic warfare systems have vastly improved, and they are now able to jam technology like the one guiding Excalibur. Without a satellite connection, the vaunted rounds amount to expensive pieces of metal. “It is firing but it is not exploding,” said Roman. “So, it lands, and it is like a dud.” I thought Excalibur would turn into a dumb bomb in GPS denied areas, not… Read more »
Honestly I think you’re on the right track there Jon. GPS denial should in no way impact the fuse of a shell.
The only thing I can think of is that Excalibur is designed to be accurate enough to minimise friendly fire, and is expected to target positions relatively close to allies or civvies. So they put a health and safety switch on it.
Seems pretty unlikely tbh. A shell landing on your position is bad, whether it’s live and goes off, or is a dud. Having to deal with UXO on your position is not exactly great either.
For the high price of these rounds, would so called insensitive explosive be used?
If only the fuse can detonate the shell in its intended target position the UXO risk assessment would depend on knowing that target position. If its nowhere near, will remain dud, otherwise…
If your selling point is no friendly fire, that does suggest that detonation is only possible where the position has high confidence. Landing somewhere that you shouldn’t is still going to cause damage because of the kinetic energy involved.