Army orders more Excalibur artillery rounds

TUCSON, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Raytheon has received a $31.8 million contract from the U.S. Army for 464 Excalibur Ib extended range artillery projectiles.

The 155mm precision rounds have been in full-rate production since 2014. Raytheon describes the howitzer cannon projectile as the longest-range, most precise, cannon-fired projectile in the world.

"There is growing demand in the international market for Excalibur's accurate, first-round effects capability," said Duane Gooden, Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice president. "Raytheon has also funded an internal development program aimed at bringing Excalibur's unprecedented capabilities to the maritime domain."

The company is developing Excalibur N5, a 5-inch/127 mm variant for the Navy that uses Excalibur Ib guidance. That projectile will uses 99 percent of the Ib system's software. The N5 variant was test-fired last year and scored direct hits on targets more than 20 nautical miles away.

Additional details of the Amy order were not disclosed.

Excalibur Ib is a precision-guided, extended-range projectile that uses GPS guidance.