Rheinmetall and Northrop Grumman agree to strategic partnership for precision-guided enhanced range artillery ammunition.

Rheinmetall and Northrop Grumman have formalized an agreement to cooperate in the field of precision-guided enhanced range artillery ammunition. Rheinmetall’s South African subsidiary Rheinmetall Denel Munition and Northrop Grumman signed a 10-year strategic partnership agreement to this effect in February 2021. During this period, the two companies plan to cooperate in order to offer forward-looking ammunition technology to the international market, including the United States, to support future artillery operations.
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155mm V-LAP projectile (Picture source: Rheinmetall)

The partnership will focus, above all, on achieving an enhanced range 155mm artillery round fitted with an integrated M1156 precision guidance kit (PGK), as well as on developing a new 155mm projectile with an improved integrated propulsion system.

In service with a number of armed forces, the M1156 PGK is an inexpensive, immediately available means of enhancing the accuracy of existing types of artillery ammunition. In combination with Rheinmetall’s V-LAP projectile, which currently achieves the longest maximum range of any conventional artillery projectile, the M1156 PGK results in a swiftly available solution, proven in numerous combat operations, for long-range precision-guided munitions. The longest range ever attained by a conventional artillery projectile currently stands at 76 kilometers, achieved in 2019 at the Alkantpan test range with a non-NATO Joint Ballistics Memorandum of Understanding (JBMOU)-conforming 52-caliber gun and RDM 155mm projectile.

155mm V-LAP projectile (Picture source: Rheinmetall)

The armed forces of more than twelve nations now use enhanced range Rheinmetall artillery ammunition from South Africa. The integration of tried-and-tested technologies results in a quick increase in capabilities and combat power. Furthermore, other NATO nations and non-JBMOU users can adopt this solution based on Rheinmetall’s existing artillery portfolio.

Rheinmetall and Northrop Grumman have conducted testing of the V-LAP projectile variants and PGK in South Africa early in 2021, and are intending to demonstrate it later at the US Army proving ground in Yuma, Arizona.

Firing a 155mm V-LAP projectile in South Africa (Picture source: Rheinmetall)