Sponsored by Ground News: Compare news coverage. Spot media bias. Avoid algorithms. Try Ground News today and get 30% off your subscription by visiting https://ground.news/perun
Army artillery and missile systems have been some of the most critical weapons of the war in Ukraine.
Traditionally the US military has relied heavily on air assets to deliver heavy fires at very long ranges, with army artillery and missile units doing their best work in comparatively closer.
But on a massively networked battlefield, and with allies and competitors rushing to field longer-ranged army missile systems, the US army is now pushing ahead with a massive modernisation program to extend its reach.
This episode asks how the US army fell behind in range, whether that matters, and what they plan to do about it.
Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/PerunAU
Caveats/Corrections:
As well as all normal caveats I want to stress that range and performance figures in public domain are a real...inconsistent mixed bag and caution should be applied when using them.
notes/sources:
Department of Defense Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Army Missile Procurement
https://www.asafm.army.mil/Portals/72/Documents/BudgetMaterial/2024/Base%20Budget/Procurement/Missile%20Procurement%20Army.pdf
FY 2024 Air Force Missile Procurement Justification Book
US 2024 Program Acquisition Cost by Weapon System
https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/FY2024/FY2024_Weapons.pdf
Assessing the feasibility of the SLRC
https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/assessing-the-feasibility-of-the-strategic-long-range-cannon
CRS report on LRPF
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/weapons/R46721.pdf
CRS report on MRC
https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/2022-06-16_IF12135_ab36e4a54e0a49a499d57911cfee4009f97f60d9.pdf
Leonardo - Vulcano 155mm
https://electronics.leonardo.com/documents/16277707/0/Vulcano+155+%28MM08723%29_HQ.pdf?t=1671440640166
RUSI - Preliminary lessons in conventional warfighting in Russia's invasion of Ukraine
https://www.rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/special-resources/preliminary-lessons-conventional-warfighting-russias-invasion-ukraine-february-july-2022
Australian Defence Business Review on PrSM testing
https://adbr.com.au/precision-strike-missile-test-exceeds-500km/
Lockheed Martin - PrSM
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/precision-strike-missile.html
Ballistic and Cruise missile threat report 2020
https://irp.fas.org/threat/missile/bm-2020.pdf
PLA deploying PHL-16
https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/china-deploys-phl-16-mlrs-along-taiwan-strait
Global times on deployment of PCL-181
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1191288.shtml
PCL-181 in 71st GA
https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/norincos-pcl-181-sph-in-service-with-plagfs-71st-group-army
RAND: Outnumbered, Outranged, and Outgunned: How Russia Defeats NATO (included as a reference for the Milley quote, as is often the case this is not an endorsement of content)
https://www.rand.org/blog/2016/04/outnumbered-outranged-and-outgunned-how-russia-defeats.html
HCoC
https://www.nonproliferation.eu/hcoc/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/NORTH-KOREAN-SHORT-RANGE-SYSTEMS.pdf
CSIS profile on KN-25
https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/kn-25/
Reporting on KN-25
https://opennuclear.org/publication/update-dprks-600-mm-multiple-launch-rocket-system
Reporting on Army Futures Command view of the range gap
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-long-range-weapons-russia-china/
Reporting on Typhon delivery:
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/first-land-based-tomahawk-and-sm-6-launcher-delivered-to-army
USNI news on Marine NSM carrier
https://news.usni.org/2021/04/28/first-image-of-marines-new-anti-ship-missile-unmanned-truck-emerges
HEL TVD datasheet and reporting
https://www.smdc.army.mil/Portals/38/Documents/Publications/Fact_Sheets/Archived_Fact_Sheets/HEL_TVD.pdf
https://defence-blog.com/pentagon-wants-a-more-compact-and-militarized-laser-weapon-system/
CSIS missile threat project
https://missilethreat.csis.org/country/china/
LRPF
https://www.army.mil/article/265349/1st_multi_domain_task_force_deploys_the_armys_first_long_range_hypersonic_weapon_systemv
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ukraine-war-validates-pursuing-very-long-range-artillery-army-says
https://www.army.mil/article/210198/long_range_precision_fires_modernization_a_joint_effort_army_tech_leader_says
Timestamps:
00:00:00 — Long Range Artillery & MLRS - Is The US Army Outgunned?
00:02:37 — What Am I Talking About?
00:03:34 — Sponsor: Ground News
00:04:33 — Long Range Fires
00:10:59 — The Long Range Fire Role
00:12:41 — Lessons From Ukraine
00:16:54 — The Big-gun Competition
00:20:52 — Ground Launched Missiles
00:26:18 — Why Did The US Fall Behind?
00:34:09 — Long Range Precision Fires
00:36:50 — Extending Gun Reach
00:43:29 — Next Generation Missiles
00:58:56 — Changing Force Design
01:01:13 — Counters & Implications
01:04:48 — Conclusions
01:06:02 — Channel Update