XM982 Excalibur by US Army.
The M982 Excalibur extended range guided artillery rounds are potentially the most dangerous part of the United States military aid to Ukraine, the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Militia told TASS on January 14.
The Excalibur round, which was jointly developed by BAE Systems and Raytheon, is guided by a GPS-aided inertial navigation system. It has a circular error probable of less than four meters.
The round can be fired from several 155 mm howitzers which were supplied to Kiev forces after the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, including the self-propelled PzH 2000 and AHS Krab as well as the towed M777.
“This is probably the most dangerous part of the delivery. These munitions are equipped with a seeker and can adjust their flight path upon approaching the target. They are GPS-and inertial-guided,” DPR People’s Militia spokesman told the Russian news agency.
According to the spokesman, counter-battery fire and strikes on Excalibur rounds caches are the most effective countermeasures.
“There can be only one countermeasure – effective counter-battery activities, with strikes at warehouses where those munitions are stored and at vehicles transporting them to launchers. They must be prevented from ever being delivered to firing positions,” he said.
In November, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that an Excalibur round was successfully intercepted over the Sumy region. Back then, the ministry didn’t specify what air defense system was used to shot down the guided artillery round, or provide footage of the interception.
The United States and Canada have supplied Ukraine with hundreds of Excalibur rounds, so far. On January 6, the Pentagon announced that it will be providing Kiev forces with 500 additional rounds as a part of a new military aid package worth over $3 billion.
