AUSA 2023: BAE Systems, Boeing face off for US Army extended-range adv…

BAE Systems displays the XM1155-SC projectile at the AUSA 2023 annual defence conference. (Janes/Meredith Roaten)

BAE Systems and a Boeing-Nammo team have both claimed to break records for the US Army's XM1155 programme, the companies announced on 9 October.

In September, BAE Systems fired its XM1155-SC guided projectile “the furthest distance an M109 Paladin has ever fired a guided projectile”, according to a press release. The Boeing- and Nammo-developed 155 mm projectile set the record for the “longest indirect fire test of a ramjet-powered artillery projectile”, the company said in a release.

Both companies declined to share the exact range travelled, citing army restrictions on sharing the data. Boeing's test took place using a 39-calibre towed artillery cannon at Andøya Test Center in Norway, according to the press release.

BAE Systems claims that its projectile travelled further than Boeing-Nammo's even though its competitor uses a ramjet, said Jim Miller, senior director of business development for combat mission systems, on 9 October. “We believe we've beaten them several times over,” Miller told reporters during a roundtable at the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) 2023 annual conference.

The company tested the projectile using a 39-calibre standard M109A7 and exceeded “more than double” the artillery's current range.

Miller said advancements in “miniaturised” technology enabled the guidance systems for the projectile but declined to provide details for the “secret” package developed by BAE Systems.

Boeing confirmed that the Boeing-Nammo projectile test was not guided, but the next test will involve a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) mission computer to guide the projectile. Miller said BAE's next projectile tests will “get after other targets and target sets”.