In a bid to assist Ukraine to fight Russian aggression, Germany has authorised the sale of 255 ‘high-precision’ 155 mm Vulcano precision-guided munitions to the war-torn nation. Leonardo and Diehl are currently integrating Vulcano 155mm into the PzH2000 self-propelled howitzer for the German Army and Caesar self-propelled howitzer for the French Army. The tests passed successfully. Leonardo’s Vulcano 155 Precision-guided Munitions have met the requirements for long-range and precise long-range hitting. In addition to this, the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz on Sunday announced the shipment of the COBRA counterbattery radar. The radar is able to cope with saturation type bombardments from multiple enemy artillery at extremely long ranges.
Ballistic Flight Path (1) involving Initialization and GPS Acquisition, a Glide Path (2) with Mid-Course GPS Navigation and Terminal Guidance (3) with GPS or SAL mode , depending on the configuration.
Leonardo and Diehl Defence developed the Vulcano family of precision-guided munition for the 127mm naval guns and 155mm land artillery systems under a contract with Germany and Italy. The ammunition family combines highest target accuracy with the unique option of mission abort after firing for this kind of ammunition. Vulcano is being offered as 155 mm caliber for army artillery and 127 mm for navies. The 155 mm-caliber version can be fired from the self-propelled howitzer 2000 (PzH2000), the FH-70 and M-777-A2 field howitzers as well as from the CAESAR and M109 self-propelled howitzers. The 127 mm version can be employed in 127 mm/64 light-weight und 127 mm/54 compact naval guns installed, for example, on the ship types Frigate F125, Multi-Purpose Frigate FREMM and destroyer MEKO 360.
Vulcano 155mm is a family of subcalibre ammunition for 155mm Land artillery systems composed by an unguided projectile called BER (Ballistic Extended Range) and a guided one called GLR (Guided Long Range). They represent the most advanced technology currently available for precise land artillery firings. The Vulcano projectile is specifically conceived and realized to improve the performance of other ammunition of the same calibre, both in range and accuracy, while maintaining compatibility with the in service propelling charges and 155mm barrels. The
outline of the ammunition is almost identical to that of conventional rounds, which enables it to be handled without any additional logistical burden.
The shell is filled with IM explosive and it is made up of specific patented pre formed tungsten rings, enabling an extremely high effectiveness against soft and lightly protected targets; the detonation trigger is generated by a Radio Frequency programmable fuse capable of various functionalities, such as: altimetric, instantaneous and delayed impact. When the RF fuse is replaced with the dedicated Semi Active Laser (SAL) sensor, the ammunition can also effectively engage laser designated targets, stationary and moving, with further improved precision with respect to pure GPS guidance. Moreover, the possibility of programming the final attack angle of the projectile to up to 90° against the target enables the maximization of both warhead effectiveness and guidance accuracy.
