Bhadra
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https://www.army.mil/article/182638..._with_modified_m777a2_extended_range_howitzer
PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. -- Picatinny Arsenal engineers have fired the newly modified M777A2 howitzer at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, completing the next step towards expanding the system's current firing range.
"We put together an integration test bed for the M777A2 Extended Range (M777ER) howitzer program, incorporating a 55 caliber cannon tube on the M777A2 towed howitzer," said Andy McFadzean a Special Project Officer at the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center or ARDEC.
"We shot a total of 70 rounds using the Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS), zone two to zone six, propelling charge. This test marked the first time a MACS zone 6 was fired from the M777 howitzer. Previously, the top charge fired was a MACS zone 5."
The modification added six feet to the cannon while limiting the increase in overall system weight to less than 1,000 pounds.
The total length of the tube increased the chamber volume as well as the rifling length. That, in combination with the additional increment of legacy propellant (MACS zone 6), resulted in an increase in range of several kilometers.
"We were able to push the round harder for longer, so it goes faster and further," said David Bound, M777ER Team Lead.
"Think of it like a guy with a really long arm. He can hold a ball longer and throw it faster than a guy with a really short arm. So we just integrated that longer 'arm' onto the howitzer so that the same bullet could get acted on longer and quicker. That in turn means more range," said Bound.
"The main point of the test was to build confidence," said Bound "that's not even the best range increase we can get, but there were some doubts that we could even go that far on the system."
https://www.army.mil/article/182638..._with_modified_m777a2_extended_range_howitzer
PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. -- Picatinny Arsenal engineers have fired the newly modified M777A2 howitzer at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, completing the next step towards expanding the system's current firing range.
"We put together an integration test bed for the M777A2 Extended Range (M777ER) howitzer program, incorporating a 55 caliber cannon tube on the M777A2 towed howitzer," said Andy McFadzean a Special Project Officer at the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center or ARDEC.
"We shot a total of 70 rounds using the Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS), zone two to zone six, propelling charge. This test marked the first time a MACS zone 6 was fired from the M777 howitzer. Previously, the top charge fired was a MACS zone 5."
The modification added six feet to the cannon while limiting the increase in overall system weight to less than 1,000 pounds.
The total length of the tube increased the chamber volume as well as the rifling length. That, in combination with the additional increment of legacy propellant (MACS zone 6), resulted in an increase in range of several kilometers.
"We were able to push the round harder for longer, so it goes faster and further," said David Bound, M777ER Team Lead.
"Think of it like a guy with a really long arm. He can hold a ball longer and throw it faster than a guy with a really short arm. So we just integrated that longer 'arm' onto the howitzer so that the same bullet could get acted on longer and quicker. That in turn means more range," said Bound.
"The main point of the test was to build confidence," said Bound "that's not even the best range increase we can get, but there were some doubts that we could even go that far on the system."
