The future of artillery is a system that can do both offense and defense, the head of U.S. Army Europe and Africa said Wednesday—and the service believes it’s finally at a place to make that happen.
Ukraine’s valiant effort to beat back Russia’s invasion, along with the conflict in the Middle East, is “forcing” technology to mature more quickly, Gen. Chris Donahue told reporters during a press conference at AUSA’s LANDEURO exposition, and the Army is looking to capitalize.
“So I do think that we’re probably at the point where technology, industry and then, as importantly, how we are going to employ these? It’s all coming together,” Donahue said.
The Army is now looking to industry to build the solution, he added, with some extra features.
“So specifically, what we want to develop is a common launcher, a common launcher that is both offensive- and defensive-capable,” Donahue said earlier during the conference. “We want a common fire-control system so that any nation can use that fire control system.”
It will also need to have an unmanned capability, he added.
“So if we look out for an air defense system or a long-range fires system, we want it to be one system, optionally manned,” Donahue said. “We want to be able to take munitions from any country and shoot through that.”
The Army is set to make a big investment this year into its existing and in-development fires systems through the reconciliation bill. Congress would need to allocate additional funding to get a common launcher system off the ground.
“I think, across the board, they understand exactly what the requirements are and what we need to do, and they’re very supportive,” Donahue said.
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