Courtesy Photo | Staff Sgt. Jamare Cousar, 30, of Newbourgh, N.Y., (left) and Staff Sgt. Darius Scott,...... read more read more
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By Army Sgt. Henry Selzer
173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs
KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Soldiers of Charlie Battery, 3rd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment, fired the first 155 mm global positioning system-guided Excalibur artillery round in Afghanistan, Feb. 25.
The GPS-guided Excalibur round was given the proper grid coordinate to seek out and destroy a target using the Enhanced Portable Inductive Artillery Fuse Setter by placing the system on the tip of the round and sending a digital message containing the coordinate for the round to find.
"The Excalibur round travels farther and is designed to hit targets that conventional ammo does not always hit," said Army Staff Sgt. Darius Scott, 36, of Sumter, S.C., deployed with C Battery, 3-321st FAR.
The Excalibur was fired using the M777A2 155 mm Howitzer. The M777 is designed to be a completely digitally programmed weapon and is about 9,800 pounds lighter than the more commonly used M198 Howitzer and is more accurate.
"The main purpose of the M777A2 is that it is more able to help the units in the Korengal Valley by providing more timely and accurate fire," said Army Capt. Ryan Berdiner, 28, of Landsville, Pa., commander of C Battery, 3rd Bn., 321st FAR.
"By using the Excalibur, we are mitigating a lot of collateral damage that other rounds may cause," said Scott.
The test fire was deemed to be a success when word came back from the impact area that the Excalibur successfully completed its mission by finding and destroying the target at the provided grid coordinate.
| Date Taken: | 03.10.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2008 12:24 |
| Story ID: | 17186 |
| Location: | KUNAR PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 467 |
| Downloads: | 258 |
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