The KATANA smart artillery ammunition successfully demonstrated its flight control capability during a test campaign in Sweden from December 7 to 11, 2020. These test firings, carried out from a 155mm CAESAR gun on carriage, confirmed the maneuverability of the ammunition. All the Canard Actuation Systems were deployed in accordance with the simulations. Thus, the shell could be fired along a trajectory that increased the firing range compared to a purely ballistic trajectory. Nexter Munitions confirms the mastery of this shell trajectory control system, in the extreme physical conditions of 155mm artillery fire. The next test campaign, will give rise to the first coordinate-guided and coordinate-controlled firings.
Dominique Guillet, Director of Ammunition of the Nexter Group: “We are very proud to have met our ambitious calendar and financial objectives for the development of KATANA. We are looking to the future with confidence and continue to make exceptional efforts to ensure that this 155mm ammunition – which will be sovereign, intelligent and very accurate – can be marketed as early as 2023”.
The KATANA ammunition is a 155mm shell that can be fired from all 52-caliber artillery systems, maintaining the traditional qualities of artillery: permanence of fire, all-weather capability and cost effectiveness.C ombining long range, decametric accuracy based on hybrid GNSS and inertial guidance and high terminal efficiency thanks to its specific warhead, KATANA allows to treat priority targets on coordinates in complex environments. KATANA is the only European and sovereign full-caliber guided ammunition. With the KATANA ammunition, Nexter has a complete range of 155mm ammunition compatible with current and future artillery systems. This success marks a decisive milestone for the KATANA development program.
Nexter Group (formerly known as GIAT Industries or Groupement des Industries de l’Armée de Terre, Army Industries Group) is a French government-owned weapons manufacturer, based in Roanne, Loire. In 2015, Nexter and Krauss-Maffei merged under a single structure. The new KNDS – KMW+Nexter Defense Systems — will be the European leader of terrestrial defense with more than 6,000 employees.
