43-Mile Cannon Shot
"The Russians, and in many ways the Chinese as well, are able to outrange most of our artillery systems." That harsh assessment was announced by General John M. Murray, the first head of Army Futures Command, in a conference held in 2018 at the Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, DC. The US was falling behind its Cold War adversaries in the artillery department. Not just by range, but overall firepower. As far back as 2015, American military studies showed that the Army had to develop a new generation of artillery to catch-up with the latest Russian and Chinese arsenal. And so the US Army's Extended Range Cannon Artillery system, simply known as ERCA, was born. Using an innovative artillery shell called Excalibur, this colossal new artillery weapon has enough power, speed, and accuracy to hit a target from 43 miles away. This is the equivalent to striking Washington from Baltimore. If deployed, the new system could substitute the USAFs close air support role for ground troops, effectively changing US tactics for future operations.
43-Mile Cannon Shot | Watch
**General says new goal is 1,000 miles |
