Army leader: New cannon with better rounds can revive range from dead ERCA program

By Dominic Minadeo / April 9, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Remnants of the Army's scrapped Extended Range Cannon Artillery prototyping program are proffering munitions that can bump artillery into ERCA-desired range, a service leader said Tuesday. The ERCA goal was to boost the Army’s self-propelled howitzer range from 30 kilometers to 70 kilometers with a 30-foot, .58-caliber cannon jutting out of an M109A7 Paladin. But after wearing out the gun tube during live-fire tests, it chose to cancel the program last year. The service pivoted to the Self-Propelled Howitzer Modernization...

Not a subscriber? Request 30 days free access to exclusive, behind-the-scenes reporting on defense policy and procurement.

Log in to access this content.