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Raytheon receives $127M contract for Excalibur artillery rounds

By Stephen Carlson
M109 155mm self-propelled howitzer capable of firing the Excalibur round. U.S. Amry photo
M109 155mm self-propelled howitzer capable of firing the Excalibur round. U.S. Amry photo

Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Raytheon Missile Systems has received a $127 million modification to an existing contract for Excalibur 155mm guided artillery rounds.

The contract, announced Friday by the Department of Defense, will be performed at locations throughout the United States, England and other locations, with the production run anticipated to be completed by April 30, 2019.

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The M982 Excalibur is an extended-range GPS-guided shell used by 155mm artillery guns like the M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzer used by the U.S. Army and similar weapons systems.

It uses a GPS receiver and guidance fins to provide first-round precision strike on targets much closer to friendly troops than is generally considered safe under combat conditions. Depending on the variant used, it has an effective range of over 50 km.

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