El US Army busca empresas que puedan producir el nuevo proyectil de cargas m\u00faltiples (Cluster Munition \/ Munici\u00f3n de racimo) calibre 155mm XM1208. Los interesados deben disponer de la capacidad industrial necesaria para producir 30.000 unidades anuales. La guerra en Ucrania ha puesto en evidencia que los consumos de munici\u00f3n de artiller\u00eda, agotan r\u00e1pidamente los stocks y superan ampliamente las capacidades industriales disponibles, para el caso de un conflicto de alta intensidad. Por esa raz\u00f3n, tanto EEUU como varios pa\u00edses europeos est\u00e1n fortaleciendo su base industrial de defensa, siendo la munici\u00f3n 155mm uno de los efectos m\u00e1s demandados. El proyectil XM 1208 ha sido dise\u00f1ado para ser disparado desde las plataformas blindadas M109A6\/7 \u201cPaladin\u201d y el ob\u00fas M777A2, ambos sistemas en servicio en muchos pa\u00edses y han sido provistos a Ucrania.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Army is looking for companies that can manufacture the new\u00a0XM1208<\/a>\u00a0155mm cluster shell \u2014 and a number of them.<\/p>\n The goal, according to a\u00a0market survey<\/a>\u00a0published Nov. 20, is to find contractors who can manufacture up to 30,000 XM1208 rounds per year.<\/p>\n The U.S. is currently producing\u00a040,000<\/a>\u00a0artillery shells per month, as America and Europe\u00a0struggle<\/a>\u00a0to ramp up production of howitzer munitions in response to the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n The Nov. 20 market survey, meanwhile, noted that the XM1208 can be produced by multiple manufacturers.<\/p>\n \u201cSources shall include their minimum sustaining and maximum capacity rates,\u201d the Army said.<\/p>\n The XM1208, which carries nine M99 Advanced Submunitions, is designed to be fired from both the M109A6\/7 Paladin and M777A2 howitzers. It can be fired out to a maximum range of approximately 14 miles, according to a 2025 Joint Program Executive Office Armaments and Ammunition\u00a0brochure<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe ASMs are expelled at a predetermined time in flight using M762\/A1 [electronic time] fuze,\u201d the brochure stated. \u201cThey are armed while falling, oriented via a ribbon stabilizer, and deliver around 1,200 preformed tungsten fragments approximately 1.5 meters above the target area.\u201d<\/p>\n If the proximity fuze on a submunition fails, there are four back-ups: point detonation upon impact, pyrotechnic and two electronic fuses.<\/p>\n Detonation \u2014 or the lack of it \u2014 is the impetus behind next-generation cluster shells like the XM1208.<\/p>\n The Army is trying to reconcile two design goals: artillery shells that can launch multiple submunitions, but do so without violating international treaties that ban cluster weapons.<\/p>\n Cluster weapons, which date back to Nazi\u00a0Luftwaffe bombs<\/a>\u00a0in World War II, target the laws of probability. Using a single bomb to dispense a large number of small bomblets increases the chances of a hit, especially for area fire where targets can\u2019t be precisely located.<\/p>\n Facing potential attack by massed Soviet forces, the Army\u2019s solution starting in the 1970s was the\u00a0Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition<\/a>, or DPICM. These contained numerous grenade-sized anti-tank and anti-personnel submunitions, ranging from 72 bomblets in the M864 155mm howitzer shell, to 644 submunitions in the M26 rocket fired by the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System.<\/p>\n The problem with those munitions was that the bomblets had a\u00a0dud rate<\/a>\u00a0that ranged between 2% and\u00a014%<\/a>. (For Russian cluster weapons, that figure is\u00a040%<\/a>.) That meant battlefields could become littered with small unexploded bombs that can kill civilians long after the fighting has ended.<\/p>\n In 2008, the Department of Defense mandated that cluster munitions must have a dud rate no greater than 1%, though that policy was reversed in 2017.<\/p>\n The Army now plans to replace DPICM with the\u00a0Cannon-Delivered Area Effects Munition<\/a>, or C-DAEM. The program includes the XM1180 shell to dispense anti-armor bomblets, and the XM1208 to release submunitions against personnel and light vehicles.<\/p>\n Objectives \u201cinclude delivering enhanced lethality against a broad range of uncertain targets, extending the range and effectiveness against counter-artillery fire, and providing a reliable solution that can operate in GPS-contested environments while mitigating the risk of harm from [unexploded ordnance],\u201d the Army announced after a successful\u00a0test<\/a>\u00a0of the XM1180 in March 2024.<\/p>\n Despite the bad press for DPICM, the Army is likely to keep it around even as next-generation cluster weapons are fielded.<\/p>\n \u201cThe military has consistently stated that\u202fDPICM\u202fis effective and should be retained in inventory\u202ffor emergency use,\u201d Mark Cancian, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Defense News. \u201cThat is unlikely to change because it is\u202fa judgment based on testing data and operational experience.<\/p>\n \u201cThe key problem with ICM is getting the dud rate under 1% at an acceptable fiscal and weight cost,\u201d Cancian added. \u201cPrevious\u202fattempts had\u202freduced the dud rate but not below 1%, so the Army\u2019s effort continues.\u201d<\/p>\n