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   From: rot@nytimes.com   
      
   When a precision-guided artillery projectile exploded an enemy   
   target from 64km (39.8 miles) away in the Arizona desert during   
   a recent live-fire exercise, the Army took a new step toward   
   redefining land-attack tactics and paving the way toward a new   
   warfare era in long-range fires.   
      
   In a March 2020 demonstration firing of the emerging Long Range   
   Precision Fires program at Yuma Proving Grounds, Ariz., an Army   
   Howitzer blasted an Excalibur 155m artillery round out to ranges   
   twice that of what existing artillery weapons are now capable   
   of. The new weapon in development, called Extended Range Cannon   
   Artillery, not only preserves the GPS-guided precision attack   
   options characteristic of present-day artillery, but also   
   extends attack ranges from roughly 30km (18.6 miles) out to   
   nearly 70km (43.5 miles). This, senior Army weapons developers   
   explain, gives ground artillery commanders the ability to   
   destroy previously unreachable air and ground targets.   
      
   “It enables commanders to attack their fight differently,   
   provides them a number of weapon systems besides attack   
   helicopters and unmanned aerial systems to go after targets that   
   are further down the battlefield, deeper as we like to call it,   
   in the battlefield," Gen. Joseph Martin, vice chief of staff of   
   the Army, told reporters following the demo.   
      
   The new ERCA cannon, fired from a prototype self-propelled   
   howitzer called the M1299, features a longer barrel and new,   
   self-described “super-charged” propellant. The first operational   
   systems are slated for delivery to the Army by 2023.   
      
   Martin explained that the service is now evaluating the   
   operational concept of how this new weapon will be integrated   
   and deployed, given that it naturally gives commanders new   
   attack options that impact developing combat tactics and   
   strategies.   
      
   Senior Army weapons developers explain that the ERCA system   
   upgrades the breech and metallurgy of the tube, changes the   
   hydraulics and uses a new ramjet projectile. The new weapon adds   
   1,000 pounds to the overall weight of the weapon and an   
   additional six feet of cannon cube. "It also uses a redesigned   
   cab, new breech design and new 'muzzle brake,'" a senior Army   
   weapons developer told Warrior in a previous interview earlier   
   in the program's development.   
      
   For example, a weapon with this reach could destroy enemy troop   
   fortifications, bunkers, command and control centers or armored   
   vehicle columns while keeping soldiers at safer stand-off   
   ranges. This brings a particular added value in today’s threat   
   environment, given that Russian and Chinese weapons and sensors   
   are now reaching unprecedented ranges. The ERCA system could   
   also destroy things like enemy air defenses ... from land …   
   preventing air assets from needing to enter extremely high-risk   
   airspace. Finally, as Martin described, an ability to hit enemy   
   drones and helicopters from ground-fire artillery positions at   
   long ranges enable advancing ground forces to protect their air   
   space and thwart any approaching air attack.   
      
   The emerging system, which brings precision land-attack into a   
   new era, is being engineered with a mind to integrating   
   applications of AI as new technologies and algorithms become   
   available, Martin explained. Of course, humans would be in the   
   loop regarding decisions about lethal force, yet AI-enabled   
   sensors, targeting systems and fire control could aggregate,   
   organize and transmit crucial warfare information to commanders   
   much faster and more efficiently than is currently possible.   
   This, of course, opens up a new sphere of attack possibilities   
   and massively expedites sensor to shooter timelines, increasing   
   a commander’s ability to operate inside of or ahead of an   
   enemy’s decision cycle. Martin explained that organizing data to   
   identify the critical items of importance through AI will bring   
   new advantages to soldier attack.   
      
   "We want the sensors to quickly get soldiers relevant data   
   regarding what they are seeing. Our agile developmental process   
   lends itself to this vision (AI), as it allows people to come in   
   as innovators and make contributions,” Martin added.   
      
   This means that computer algorithms quickly analyze newly   
   gathered sensor information and compare it against a vast   
   database of known information to perform analytics, solve   
   problems, sort out ambiguities and pinpoint moments of combat   
   relevance from large amounts of otherwise difficult-to-organize   
   sensor data.   
      
   Also, as a way of advancing cross-domain warfare coordination   
   regarding targeting, AI and autonomy, Army LRPF developers are   
      
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