Guided projectiles can provide sailors with precision fires

Raytheon Company and the U.S. Navy completed a new round of successful Excalibur N5 munition test firings at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.

Raytheon’s sea-based Excalibur N5 projectile will more than double the maximum range of conventional 5-inch munitions and provide the same accuracy as the land-based version. (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

The precision-guided projectiles demonstrated various short-, mid- and long-range capabilities.

Besides satellite navigation, Raytheon’s precision weapon systems incorporate laser guidance, high-definition radars, advanced seekers and other technologies.

Designed to be fired from the Navy’s five-inch guns, Excalibur N5 is the sea-based variant of the extended-range, precision munition used by ground forces around the globe. The Excalibur weapon provides accurate, first-round effects at all ranges in all weather conditions.

“Excalibur N5 answers the Navy’s need for a sea-launched, precision-guided projectile,” said Sam Deneke, Raytheon Land Warfare Systems vice president. “N5 doubles the range of the Navy’s big guns and delivers the same accuracy as the land-based version.”

Excalibur is a true precision weapon, impacting at a radial miss distance of less than two meters from the target. Widely used by U.S. and international artillery forces, Excalibur has been fired more than 1,400 times in combat.

The precision-guided projectile was co-developed by Raytheon Company and BAE Systems Bofors.

Besides N5, Raytheon has developed other variants such as the laser-guided Excalibur S, Excalibur HTK and Excalibur Shaped Charged Trajectory.