Raytheon smart munitions experts to build GPS-controlled artillery shells

Smart munitions experts at the Raytheon Co. potentially will build additional M982 Excalibur satellite-guided heavy artillery shells for the U.S. Army under terms of a $93.7 million order. Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., are asking the Raytheon Missile Systems segment in Tucson, Ariz., to produce Excalibur 155-millimeter projectiles. Excalibur first was fielded in Iraq in 2007 for urban or complex-terrain engagements in which collateral damage must be kept to a minimum. Excalibur has a ruggedized Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite navigation receiver and uses satellite signals to help guide itself to its intended targets. The 155-millimeter artillery shell can hit targets as far away as 25 miles, or detect and attack moving targets in cities and other complex terrain after being fired at high angles and high altitudes. The M982 Excalibur precision-guided, extended-range artillery shell is a fire-and-forget smart munition with better accuracy than existing 155-millimeter artillery rounds. These shells are fin-stabilized, and are designed to glide to targets with base bleed technology, as well as with canards located at the front of the munition that create aerodynamic lift. For more information contact Raytheon Missile Systems online at www.raytheon.com, or the Army Contracting Command-New Jersey at www.slideshare.net/ArmyContracting/nj-22934540.