The US ordered extended range charges for 58-caliber guns

Rheinmetall will supply new L58 Extended Range Charge technology to the U.S. Army.

American Rheinmetall Munitions Inc. is under contract to prototype an artillery extended range charge for firing munitions out of a L58 length 155mm artillery cannon.

This ERC increases ranges achieved from U.S. Army 155mm munitions by approximately 10% over any other artillery propellant currently fielded today.

It builds upon a successful cooperative R&D effort with the U.S. Army for the L39 and L52 versions of the 155mm ERC.

The charge manufactured by American Rheinmetall Munitions is particularly exceptional because it can achieve a 10% range performance increase over the entirety of the operational temperature.

“Together with our Rheinmetall affiliates at Nitrochemie, we will introduce a propellant technology that is unlike any other in existence in the U.S. today, providing U.S. Army Soldiers a decisive edge,” said American Rheinmetall Munitions CEO, John Somich.

American Rheinmetall Munitions is a major supplier of innovative, next-generation weapons and ammunition in the U.S.

In the USA, guns of 58 caliber are mounted on the next generation of M1299 tracked self-propelled howitzers.

The M1299 is based on the M109A7 self-propelled howitzer and was primarily designed to increase the effective range of the M109. The 38 caliber M109A7 turret is replaced by the 58 caliber version of the M907.

The new 155mm 58 caliber howitzer was presented in 2019 at the BAE Systems stand at the “AUSA 2019” exhibition.

In July 2019, the US Army signed a $45 million contract with BAE Systems to create a prototype of an Extended Range Cannon Artillery.

During firing tests in Arizona in March 2019, the M1299 howitzer hit targets with high accuracy at a range of 62 kilometers.