General Atomics and BAE announce milestones for long-range artillery

Several companies are positioned to provide very long-range artillery ammunition to the US. The latest  Long-Rang Maneuvering Projectile and Scorpio-XR testing indicates that they are growing in maturity. 

General Atomics has completed successful tests of the Long-Rang Maneuvering Projectile after a test firing at the US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground. The Electromagnetic Systems division of General Atomics (GA-EMS) completed several test firings in August using M231 powder charges, which are the standard US Army propellant charges for short-range fires. GA-EMS is not alone in recent announcements as competition for the US Army’s Extended Range Artillery Projectile procurement heats up.

The test showed, “sabot separation, de-spin stabilization, wing deployment and controlled descent,” the October 13 press release explains. These tests also matched the predictive models that GA-EMS had used in the design of the Long-Rang Maneuvering Projectile (LRMP) and provided data that will support the next round of tests at “significantly increased ranges.” 

“As the U.S. faces rising threats from near-peer adversaries and increasingly contested environments, affordable, mass-produced artillery is critical,” Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS said. The round is designed to be fired from 155 mm howitzers and provides a range of 120 km, around three times the range of current long-range munitions like the M982 Excalibur. 

Separately, BAE Systems announced that its Scorpio-XR had completed test firings on October 13, 2025. Those tests showed it was compliant with Joint Ballistics Memorandum of Understanding howitzers. Not only that, however, BAE states that the tests were very successful with “multiple shots significantly exceeding test objective requirements by guiding to and impacting the target.”

Scorpio-XR builds on the abandoned Extended Range Cannon Artillery programme, in which the round hit a target at very significant ranges. Past announcements have suggested it could hit targets at 110 km. BAE now states it is expected to “more than double” the range of existing howitzers – which indicates a range of around 80 km. 

Extended Range Artillery Projectile: A busy space

This GA-EMS testing follows a contract from the US Navy in December 2024, which was awarded to further development of the LRMP for the service’s Common Round Offensive Strike capabilities. “We are in preparations for upcoming LRMP Common Round glide testing at Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah as part of the first contract task order. Additional milestone testing and follow-on tasks will be completed throughout the contract’s five-year period of performance to design, manufacture, assemble and test LRMP rounds for 155 mm artillery systems as well as other platforms,”  the head of GA-EMS weapons programs, Mike Rucker, stated at the time.

Tiberius Aerospace is also developing Sceptre, a liquid-fuelled ramjet-powered round designed to be fired from 155 mm howitzers. Sceptre is expected to reach ranges of 150 km at an all-up round cost of $52,000 (approx £39,000/€46,500). The round is going through monthly test firings, the CEO Chad Steelberg told me during DSEI, each of which leads to improvements in the design.  

Leonardo has developed the Vulcano, another sub-calibre artillery round, which provides a range of 70 km out of an L52 barrel. Using laser guidance for the terminal phase, Vulcano has a circular error probability (CEP) of 3 metres, which means it can strike within three metres of its target 50% of the time. Sceptre’s CEP is 3.5 m to 5 m and the Long-Rang Maneuvering Projectile’s CEP is unknown, but it is understood to use cameras and machine learning algorithms for its target engagement. All three state that they remain effective in GPS-denied environments, something that cannot be said of Excalibur. Finally, Nammo and Boeing are understood to be cooperating on a solid-fuelled ramjet round with a range that could reach 150 km.  

Programme overview: Extended Range Artillery Projectile 

The Extended Range Artillery Projectile project was launched in May 2024 after the ERCA programme was cancelled. A SAM.gov announcement explained that the US Army was conducting a market survey to see whether there were companies able to meet the requirements and produce up to 300 rounds per year starting 2029. The requirements were: 

Compatibility: Must be compatible with current 39-calibre weapon systems, and Joint Ballistics Memorandum of Understanding (JBMoU) compliant fielded 52-calibre and developmental 155mm artillery weapon systems.

Minimum Range (39-calibre guns): Able to engage targets out to a minimum of 65 km.

Target Range (52-calibre guns): Must operate at the high-muzzle velocities required to achieve 70+ km.

Navigation Requirement 1: Must be able to operate in GPS heavily degraded environments.

Navigation Requirement 2: Must include a mode of operation that does not use GPS.

Target Types: Designed to engage and defeat imprecisely located or moving armoured/mechanised targets, including:

• Infantry fighting vehicles
• Self-propelled howitzers
• Multiple rocket launchers 
• Air defence targets
• Main battle tanks
• Maritime targets of interest

Calibre comment: A tough set of requirements

It is common to hear defence companies reflect on the difficulties they can have meeting user requirements. Often the belief is that the user might not know what technology is available and how it can be used. This leads to hard and fast requirements that can be met, but will be expensive or contradictory. 

The requirements for the Extended Range Artillery Projectile could fit into that bracket. Hitting a moving vehicle at long-ranges is immensely demanding – especially a small vehicle like an IFV. Reaching that range from a howitzer generally means that projectile mass has to be reduced as much as possible and the space available for the munition/warhead minimised to allow for guidance systems and computers, as well as propellant in the case of some of the rounds mentioned above. Then the round must deal with targets that are very different. Penetrating a tank can be done with a high-explosive anti-tank round, or kinetic energy. The Tiberius Sceptre appears to have some thought towards kinetic effects, but even so, requires a very precise hit to the top of the vehicle. But damaging an air defence system or rocket launcher is generally best achieved by a very effective high explosive fragmentation round. So, the requirements will effectively force multiple compromises on the competing companies that may not produce the desired result. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on October 15, 2025. The lead image shows the Scorpio-XR just after firing. Credit: BAE Systems.