US sending Ukraine its most accurate artillery shells, the GPS-guided Excalibur
- Used in howitzers, the satellite-guided round can hit within two metres of target
- Ukraine would probably use shell to surgically destroy Russian command posts
The Pentagon has sent Ukraine its most accurate artillery shell, the GPS-guided Excalibur, according to budget documents that confirm the previously unannounced addition to the arsenal assembled to combat the Russian invasion.
A plan to replenish the US stock of Excaliburs acknowledges for the first time that the Pentagon has been supplying Ukrainian forces with the shell.
Officials have sidestepped questions about the Excalibur despite reports that planning was under way to provide it and then that it was already in use in Ukraine.
A satellite-guided weapon that can hit within two metres of its target, the Excalibur was first used in Iraq in 2007 in the high-profile killing of al-Qaeda leader Abu Jurah and associates.
The Defence Department will spend US$92 million in congressionally approved supplemental funds “for procurement of replacement M982 Excalibur munitions transferred to Ukraine in support of the international effort to counter Russian aggression,” according to a budget document last month that wasn’t previously disclosed.
Used in 155mm howitzers – the US Army’s workhorse field artillery – the projectile was co-developed by Raytheon Missiles and Defence and BAE Systems Bofor.