A gamechanger
Top Army officials visit YPG for live test firing of the capabilities of the Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) system
Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, Gen. Joseph Martin, was at Yuma Proving Ground on Friday to observe a live test firing of the capabilities of the Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) system.
Accompanying him for the demonstration was Maj. Gen. Joel Tyler, who is the commanding officer of the Army’s Test and Evaluation Command, and the Director of the Long Range Precision Fires Cross Functional Team, Brigadier Gen. John Rafferty,
YPG has been conducting developmental testing of multiple facets of the ERCA project since 2015, as part of the U.S. Army’s effort to modernize its outdated field artillery force.
Among its top modernization priorities for longrange precision fires, the Army wants to create new artillery that will shoot farther, faster and be more precise than cannons currently used by potential future adversaries.
The ERCA weapons system is designed to exceed ranges of 70 kilometers, eventually achieving 100 kilometers, and increase the rate of fire from three rounds per minute to 10 rounds per minute. Visually, the cannon’s barrel is longer, and the ammunition includes a supercharge propellant and course-correcting fuze.
Gen. Martin described the ERCA system as a game-changer, saying the live fire test illustrated that the ERCA has now gone from concept to fullyfunctional prototype in a very short time.
Not only will it give the Army a significant advantage in range, he said it also gives commanders another weapons system, other than attack helicopters and unmanned drones, to go after targets that are farther down - or deeper on the battlefield.
“It is part of a suite of capabilities that we have to develop over time to be able to have the capability we need to dominate our adversaries in the type of fight we envision in the future,” Martin said.
Watching on large screen, wall-mounted monitors from inside a control room, the generals saw several rounds being fired from the ERCA, including one from 65 kilometers away that nailed a Suburban - which was being used as the target - with pinpoint accuracy.
Gen. Rafferty, during a question-and-answer period with reporters afterward, stated that testing being done on the ERCA at YPG has gone from proof of concept to a complete prototype in a very short time.
He added that the distance used in Friday’s demonstration indicates that the ERCA system is already comparable to artillery used by China and Russia, which are capable of firing within the 60 to 70 kilometer range.
“We are never going to have the same number of cannon systems, but what we will have is overmatch in terms of range, accuracy, and mass lethality to offset that disadvantage,” Rafferty said.
According to Gen. Martin, the Army is planning to hold a demonstration at YPG next year called Project Convergence, in which every system being developed by the Future’s Command will be brought together in one place.
Among the topics to be discussed is how to shorten the time from development to fielding, so equipment can get into the hands of the soldier sooner.
As to when the ERCA system will be fully operational, Gen. Rafferty said he expects that sometime in the coming months a unit will be selected to evaluate it in 2023, when the first 18 prototypes are completed.
In between test shots of the ERCA, the generals were treated to static displays of some of the wide variety of the equipment and vehicles that have been tested at YPG over the years.
James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 5396854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.