The Netherlands Ministry of Defense added Raytheon’s [RTN] Excalibur 1b 155mm artillery rounds to a previously announced foreign military sales (FMS) agreement, the company said Tuesday.
Under this order, the Netherlands becomes the second Excalibur 1b customer in Europe after Sweden, which is the U.S. government’s development partner for the artillery round.
Photo: U.S. Army
The Excalibur is a precision-guided extended-range artillery round that uses GPS guidance. “Excalibur’s level of precision delivers a major reduction in the time, cost and logistical burden associated with using other artillery munitions,” Raytheon said in a statement.
The U.S. Army has determined this munition is fully compatible with the PzH 2000, a self-propelled Germany-produced howitzer used by several countries, Raytheon said.
“When fired from the Dutch PzH 2000 artillery system, Excalibur can fly up to 50 kilometers, score a direct hit and deliver lethal effects in all types of weather and battlefield conditions. The Netherlands joins a growing list of nations acquiring this highly sophisticated artillery munition, which uses GPS guidance to provide accurate, first-round effects capability at extended ranges,” Mark Hokeness, Raytheon’s Excalibur program director, said in a statement.
The company highlighted almost 770 Excalibur rounds have been fired in combat, consistently striking less than two meters from a target.
Deliveries to the Netherlands are expected to begin later this year.