Grafenwoehr, GERMANY--The 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment conducted a New Equipment Training Live Fire Exercise, July 23-28, here.
The office of the Product Manager for Guided Precision Munitions & Mortar Systems sent a New Equipment Training Team to Grafenwoehr Training Area to teach these units about the XM1156 Precision Guidance Kit.
"At this point the units have been doing very well" said Maj. Kenneth Fowler, assistant product manager for the precision guidance kit. "We do this to demonstrate to everyone that regardless of the equipment the PGK will allow you to get effects on target."
During this training visitors from Canada, the United Kingdom and other nations observed soldier use the PGK.
The XM1156 PGK is a GPS guided fuse that can be attached to the head of the M549A1 and M795 projectiles, fired from the M109A6 Paladin and M777A2 Howitzer, and hits within 50 meters or 160 feet of the target from any range.
Once on target, PGK will function in one of the two selected modes - point detonating or proximity. This capability allows troops to turn their inventory of conventional artillery rounds into "smart" munitions at a fraction of the cost of typical precision munitions.
PGK technology provides greater precision and lethality for American troops, but it also reduces the potential for collateral damage to friendly troops and non-combatants by incorporating a "fail-safe" option, which prevents a PGK-equipped artillery round from detonating if it does not get close enough to the target location.
This ability to deliver precision fires and reduce collateral damage greatly increases the utility of cannon fires.
"For artillery, this fuse increases our lethality," said Maj. Joseph Miller, executive officer for Field Artillery Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment. "For Atlantic Resolve, it adds to the deterrence effect."
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