Deep-Strike Artillery Returns—If It Survives Tests

A new U.S. Army artillery shell that can hit targets about 74 miles away could finally close America’s long‑range firepower gap with Russia and China—but only if the program avoids the waste and failure of past Pentagon “miracle weapons.”

Story Snapshot

The Army picked new 155mm shells that have already hit targets more than 74 miles away in tests.
These rounds are built to work even when enemies jam or spoof GPS, a growing threat seen in Ukraine.
Trump’s Pentagon is shifting from failed big-gun programs to smarter, farther-flying shells that fit today’s howitzers.
Critics warn past “super rounds” often fell short in real combat, so proof in tough field tests still matters.

New 74‑Mile Shell Aims To Restore U.S. Artillery Overmatch

The U.S. Army has awarded General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems a contract to prove a new maneuvering 155 millimeter artillery shell, under the Extended Range Artillery Projectile program, that can fly far beyond today’s standard rounds.^[2] During a test at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, a company version of this projectile, fired from a common M777 howitzer, hit targets more than seventy‑four miles away, a huge jump from the roughly twenty to thirty kilometer reach of older shells.^[2]^[5] This extra range lets American crews strike deep behind enemy lines while staying outside many Russian and Chinese guns.

The new round uses deployable wings and advanced guidance so it can glide and steer in flight instead of just following a simple arc.^[2] General Atomics says it reaches this distance without rocket assist and stays compatible with legacy cannons and existing loaders, which means units do not need a whole new gun fleet to use it.^[2] The Army’s goal is to reach initial combat use around 2030, with low‑rate production ramping from hundreds to over a thousand shells per year before the mid‑2030s.^[21]

Built For GPS Jamming Wars, Not Just Desert Proving Grounds

Army leaders have seen what Russian electronic warfare did to Global Positioning System guided weapons in Ukraine, where jamming and spoofing sometimes threw smart rounds off target.^[24]^[26] That is why the Army’s official requirement for the Extended Range Artillery Projectile demands that the shell “must be target seeking, be able to operate in GPS heavily degraded environments, and include a mode of operation that does not use GPS.”^[21] General Atomics says its projectile meets this demand with redundant guidance, giving it backup ways to find targets when satellites are under attack.^[21]

At the same time, the Army has chosen a second path by backing a precision 155 millimeter shell derived from the European Vulcano 155 design, built by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems with German and Italian partners.^[5]^[6] That round is designed to hit more than seventy kilometers away and uses GPS plus a laser seeker, so if an enemy jams the satellite signal a laser designator can still walk the shell onto a moving or stationary target on land or at sea.^[5] Together, these efforts reflect a clear Trump‑era push to fix the long‑range fires gap without relying on fragile, jam‑prone guidance alone.^[21]

From Canceled Super‑Gun To Smarter Shells That Fit Today’s Force

Under earlier, more globalist‑leaning Pentagon leadership, the Army poured years and billions into the Extended Range Cannon Artillery “super howitzer,” only to cancel the M1299 system after major engineering and reliability problems.^[24]^[6] Tests proved that simply stretching the barrel and adding an autoloader was not the best answer, even if it could fling an Excalibur round out to roughly seventy kilometers.^[13]^[24] Senior officers later admitted they could get much of the needed range boost by focusing on better shells instead of ever‑bigger guns.^[24]^[22]

Today’s approach is more practical and more respectful of taxpayers: keep the proven M777 and M109 howitzers, then give them smarter, farther‑reaching ammunition.^[6]^[22] The new General Atomics round, the Vulcano‑based shell, and other advanced munitions like rocket‑assisted XM1113 all build on that idea of extending range while keeping crews, depots, and training pipelines familiar.^[10]^[11] At the same time, the Army is investing heavily to grow 155 millimeter shell body production in places like Ohio and Texas so America is never again caught short on basic ammo during a major crisis.^[3]^[1]

Hype, Reality, And What Patriots Should Watch Next

Defense contractors have a long record of rolling out “game‑changing” weapons that shine in one test and then struggle in real combat, and artillery is no exception.^[26] The record 74 mile hit so far comes from a company test, not a full, multi‑shot Army operational report, so there is still work to do to prove the round can perform day after day in bad weather, under heavy jamming, with dust, heat, and crew stress.^[2]^[3] Past extended‑range projects show that many early claims get scaled back once real‑world limits appear.^[11]^[24]

For conservative readers, two things matter most. First, do these systems keep American troops safer and give them a clear edge over authoritarian regimes, without draining the treasury or propping up endless foreign adventures? Second, does the Pentagon stay honest about what these shells can really do, instead of selling Congress and the public on glossy range numbers alone?^[21] Trump’s team now has the chance to demand tough testing, tight oversight, and strong “America First” production rules so this powerful new round becomes a real battlefield tool, not just another Beltway boondoggle.