Vice Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Joseph Martin took a page out of the commander in chief’s rhetorical playbook while referring to tests to the nation’s improved Paladin: “We’re making artillery great again.”
Recent testing of the new howitzer — “Prototype Zero” — recently wowed officials at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.
Tests sent a 155 mm projectile to an altitude of 50,000 feet and a total distance of over 40 miles.
“The room erupted in cheers, the culmination of more than 18 months of planning, tooling, and tinkering bringing dreams of the Extended Range Cannon Artillery program another step closer to reality,” Army Times reported Wednesday.
The defense website noted that divisions supporting brigade combat teams can typically count on support that reaches around 37 miles.
Plans are underway, however, to extend the weapon’s reach to over 60 miles.
“[This effort] comes down to providing them additional range capability at the division level,” Gen Martin said.
Military leaders will be tasked with developing new doctrines for cannoneers as the range of such weapons increase, Army Times added.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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