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<\/a><\/p>\nGeneral James Rainey, of the Army Futures Command, declared that the U.S. Army is generating an updated strategy for conventional fires. Actions taken by both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries are presenting scenarios that will factor in to how the U.S. plans and prepares for future wars. Lessons learned from the Russo-Ukraine War are also providing a wealth of information to factor into strategy and training related to other aspects of war.<\/p>\n
From Defense News:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n The Army is building 20 prototypes of the ERCA system: two for destructive testing, and the remaining 18 for a battalion set to receive the weapons by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. That unit will then run the cannons through a yearlong operational test.<\/p>\n Observations in early testing of prototypes are showing excessive wear on the gun tube after firing a relatively low number of rounds. The Army plans to gather more information throughout operational testing to determine reliability.<\/p>\n The service is already looking at ways to improve the rate of fire before the gun tube requires replacement through adjustments in materials used and the design of the tube, adjustments to propellants, and the design of artillery rounds fired from the cannon.<\/p>\n ERCA’s role in the strategy remains to be seen, but the prototype program is experiencing some delay, according to Doug Bush, the Army’s acquisition chief.<\/p>\n Even so, “the requirement for extended-range fires is absolutely a valid requirement,” Rainey said.<\/p>\n “I think everything we’re seeing in Ukraine [is] about the relevance of precision fires, all the emerging technology, but the big killer on the battlefield is conventional artillery, high-explosive artillery,” he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Defense News provides the balance of the story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"