--- title: "Watch the Army’s new supergun absolutely wreck a target from 43 miles away" description: "The Army last week released footage of its nascent XM1299 Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) system nailing a target from 43 miles away" date: "2020-12-28" modified: "2020-12-28" authors: - name: "Jared Keller" job_title: "Former Managing Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-extended-range-artillery-cannon-video/" categories: - "Army" - "Artillery" - "Military Branches" - "News" - "Tech & Tactics" - "Vehicles" --- # Watch the Army’s new supergun absolutely wreck a target from 43 miles away ![]() *A photo from U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, showing developmental testing of multiple facets of the Extended Range Cannon Artillery project. (U.S. Army)* The Defense Department has a message to allies and adversaries alike: the Army has a supergun, and it works pretty damn well. The Army last week released footage of its nascent [XM1299]() Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) system [nailing a target]() with an M982A1 Excalibur guided artillery shell from 43 miles (70 kilometers) away in a recent test. The demonstration, conducted on Dec. 19 at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, is meant to showcase the progress the service has made in its long-range precision fire capabilities compared to near-peer adversaries like Russia and China, [according]() to the service. Indeed, as Task & Purpose [previously reported](), the test far outstripped the ranges of both the M109A7 Paladin (18 miles, or 30 km, with a rocket-assisted projectile) and the M777 (25 miles, or 40 km, with a rocket-assisted projectile) howitzers. “Not only did the test show the design robustness of a current fielded projectile to demonstrate lethality at extended ranges, it did so while maintaining accuracy, marking a major milestone in support of (Long Range Precision Fires) objectives of achieving overmatch artillery capability in 2023,” Col. Anthony Gibbs, project manager for Combat Ammunition Systems, [said]() in a statement. Translation: [This cannon fucks, am I right?]() Just watch: According to Defense One, defense contractor BAE Systems aims to [deliver]() the ERCA systems to at least one Army battalion by 2023 as part of a $45 million contract signed in 2019. As far as we're concerned, 2023 can't get here soon enough. ***Related: [The Army is working on a ramjet artillery round for its next-generation super cannon]()*** ## Author Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications. ### Author social links [Twitter]() [Facebook]() [LinkedIn]() [Instagram]()