Base bleed technology..You probably never heard of it. Especially because it involves artillery rounds..That's right, shells fired from your basic tanks and howitzers..It all started, years ago, when Canadian engineer Gerald Bull, who was an innovator in long-range artillery, bought the technology being developed in Sweden, which allowed for improvements in range..In other words, you want that shell to go faster and farther, and Bull figured out a way to do that..The base-bleed design features a relatively small amount of propellant on the back end of the projectile..That propellant is ignited by the gun gases and the burning propellant reduces drag on the projectile to provide a modest range extension..The relatively small amount of propellant used in base-bleed designs requires only minor tradeoffs with the explosive payload..The shells manufactured extended the range of the already formidable M107 to as much as 50 kilometres (31 miles), allowing the guns to counter-battery even the longest range rockets..And by the way, that shell was so fast, you wouldn't even hear it until it hit you, giving it the nickname, "silent death.".For a while, Bull was in America's good books — he was even rewarded by a Congressional bill, sponsored by Senator Barry Goldwater, making him retroactively eligible for a decade of American citizenship and high-level American nuclear security clearance..He was granted citizenship by an Act of Congress..That wouldn't last..Bull would be arrested for illegal arms dealing in contravention of UN Security Council Resolution 418 for arms export to South Africa — the black sheep and pariah of the world for its racist apartheid policies..Expecting a token punishment, Bull found himself spending six months in the Federal Correctional Complex, Allenwood, Pennsylvania in 1980..After his release, he was again charged (this time in Canadian courts) for transferring technology on 155mm extended range shell development to China without the necessary export permits and fined $55,000 for international arms dealing..Bull left Canada and moved to Brussels, where a subsidiary of SRC called European Poudreries Réunies de Belgique was based. he continued working with the ERFB ammunition design, developing a range of munitions that could be fired from existing weapons..He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece, to which end he designed the Project Babylon "supergun" for Sadam Hussein's government in Iraq..Bull secured Iraqi funding and support for the construction of a smooth bore gun barrel assembly. He received a US$25 million down-payment for the project on condition he continue the development work on the Al-Majnoonan and Al-Fao guns..Initially, a smaller 45-meter, 350 mm caliber gun (known as Baby-Babylon) was completed for testing purposes and then Bull started work on the "real" PC-2 machine, a gun that was 150 meters long, weighed 1,510 tonnes, with a bore of one meter (39 inches) that would allow the firing multi-state rocket assisted shells with a range of over 5,000 miles (8,000 km) or launch 1,200 lb (540 kg) satellites into orbit..The project objective was to eventually provide Iraq with three Baby Babylon guns and two PC-2 Big Babylon guns..And that's where it would end..According to investigative journalist Gordon Thomas, the assassination of Bull had been sanctioned by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir..A three-man hit team was sent to Brussels where Mossad agents shot Bull at his door-step. Within hours of the killing, according to Thomas, Mossad was engaged in distributing false stories to the European media, alleging that Bull had been shot by agents from Iraq..But the technology didn't die..In fact, according to National Defense, a whole new family of 155mm ammunition is being developed to help the US Army achieve its goal of improving the reach of its long-range precision fires..Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and the resulting spotlight on the likely need for ammunition logistics replenishment — the Army had tapped long-range precision fires as one of its top modernization priorities..The Army’s next generation 155mm artillery ammunition is one part of the campaign to increase the range of its howitzers and its new 58-caliber Extended Range Cannon Artillery platform..The new cannon is one of 24 new technologies Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville publicly vowed to field by the end of 2023, National Defense reported..The new family of 155mm ammunition is being developed to increase the maximum range of the current howitzer fleet using 39 caliber length tubes..The 39-caliber fleet will replace the current 14-mile range M795 high-explosive projectile with the 18.5-mile XM1128 base-bleed projectile and replace the current 18.5-mile M549A1 rocket-assisted projectile with the 25-mile XM1113 rocket-assisted projectile..The 58-caliber Extended Range Cannon Artillery will be utilizing the XM1210 rocket-assisted, high-explosive projectile — formerly designated XM1113ER — to hit targets out to nearly 45 miles, National Defense reported..In the rocket-assisted projectile, the back half of the round is going to be filled with a solid rocket motor with a nozzle at the end to direct its thrust..Early discussions with the Army pointed to the possibility of a requirement for one-million rounds of XM1128s over 10 years — at a rate of 100,000 rounds a year — along with 100,000 rounds of XM1113s..There is the potential for foreign military sales that could double those quantities, sources said..Why am I telling you all this?.Col. Anthony Gibbs, project manager for combat armament systems in the Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition, told National Defense it was “a really important day for the Army,” noting the service’s renewed emphasis on long-range precision fires..The new Extended Range Cannon Artillery will effectively double the range of the service’s current capabilities, he said..“Now, that’s a big deal,” he asserted. “And what we have in development right now, two of the projectiles … the XM1113 and the XM1128 … these things work with the propulsion system that Nammo provides, working in concert with the cannon to help us to extend that range,” he said."The army will be increasing the range of its current fleet of howitzers by about a third, he said. "So, a 33 percent improvement just with these new projectiles that are going into the field.”.And some of that just might end up in Ukraine.
Base bleed technology..You probably never heard of it. Especially because it involves artillery rounds..That's right, shells fired from your basic tanks and howitzers..It all started, years ago, when Canadian engineer Gerald Bull, who was an innovator in long-range artillery, bought the technology being developed in Sweden, which allowed for improvements in range..In other words, you want that shell to go faster and farther, and Bull figured out a way to do that..The base-bleed design features a relatively small amount of propellant on the back end of the projectile..That propellant is ignited by the gun gases and the burning propellant reduces drag on the projectile to provide a modest range extension..The relatively small amount of propellant used in base-bleed designs requires only minor tradeoffs with the explosive payload..The shells manufactured extended the range of the already formidable M107 to as much as 50 kilometres (31 miles), allowing the guns to counter-battery even the longest range rockets..And by the way, that shell was so fast, you wouldn't even hear it until it hit you, giving it the nickname, "silent death.".For a while, Bull was in America's good books — he was even rewarded by a Congressional bill, sponsored by Senator Barry Goldwater, making him retroactively eligible for a decade of American citizenship and high-level American nuclear security clearance..He was granted citizenship by an Act of Congress..That wouldn't last..Bull would be arrested for illegal arms dealing in contravention of UN Security Council Resolution 418 for arms export to South Africa — the black sheep and pariah of the world for its racist apartheid policies..Expecting a token punishment, Bull found himself spending six months in the Federal Correctional Complex, Allenwood, Pennsylvania in 1980..After his release, he was again charged (this time in Canadian courts) for transferring technology on 155mm extended range shell development to China without the necessary export permits and fined $55,000 for international arms dealing..Bull left Canada and moved to Brussels, where a subsidiary of SRC called European Poudreries Réunies de Belgique was based. he continued working with the ERFB ammunition design, developing a range of munitions that could be fired from existing weapons..He moved from project to project in his quest to economically launch a satellite using a huge artillery piece, to which end he designed the Project Babylon "supergun" for Sadam Hussein's government in Iraq..Bull secured Iraqi funding and support for the construction of a smooth bore gun barrel assembly. He received a US$25 million down-payment for the project on condition he continue the development work on the Al-Majnoonan and Al-Fao guns..Initially, a smaller 45-meter, 350 mm caliber gun (known as Baby-Babylon) was completed for testing purposes and then Bull started work on the "real" PC-2 machine, a gun that was 150 meters long, weighed 1,510 tonnes, with a bore of one meter (39 inches) that would allow the firing multi-state rocket assisted shells with a range of over 5,000 miles (8,000 km) or launch 1,200 lb (540 kg) satellites into orbit..The project objective was to eventually provide Iraq with three Baby Babylon guns and two PC-2 Big Babylon guns..And that's where it would end..According to investigative journalist Gordon Thomas, the assassination of Bull had been sanctioned by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir..A three-man hit team was sent to Brussels where Mossad agents shot Bull at his door-step. Within hours of the killing, according to Thomas, Mossad was engaged in distributing false stories to the European media, alleging that Bull had been shot by agents from Iraq..But the technology didn't die..In fact, according to National Defense, a whole new family of 155mm ammunition is being developed to help the US Army achieve its goal of improving the reach of its long-range precision fires..Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and the resulting spotlight on the likely need for ammunition logistics replenishment — the Army had tapped long-range precision fires as one of its top modernization priorities..The Army’s next generation 155mm artillery ammunition is one part of the campaign to increase the range of its howitzers and its new 58-caliber Extended Range Cannon Artillery platform..The new cannon is one of 24 new technologies Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville publicly vowed to field by the end of 2023, National Defense reported..The new family of 155mm ammunition is being developed to increase the maximum range of the current howitzer fleet using 39 caliber length tubes..The 39-caliber fleet will replace the current 14-mile range M795 high-explosive projectile with the 18.5-mile XM1128 base-bleed projectile and replace the current 18.5-mile M549A1 rocket-assisted projectile with the 25-mile XM1113 rocket-assisted projectile..The 58-caliber Extended Range Cannon Artillery will be utilizing the XM1210 rocket-assisted, high-explosive projectile — formerly designated XM1113ER — to hit targets out to nearly 45 miles, National Defense reported..In the rocket-assisted projectile, the back half of the round is going to be filled with a solid rocket motor with a nozzle at the end to direct its thrust..Early discussions with the Army pointed to the possibility of a requirement for one-million rounds of XM1128s over 10 years — at a rate of 100,000 rounds a year — along with 100,000 rounds of XM1113s..There is the potential for foreign military sales that could double those quantities, sources said..Why am I telling you all this?.Col. Anthony Gibbs, project manager for combat armament systems in the Joint Program Executive Office for Armaments and Ammunition, told National Defense it was “a really important day for the Army,” noting the service’s renewed emphasis on long-range precision fires..The new Extended Range Cannon Artillery will effectively double the range of the service’s current capabilities, he said..“Now, that’s a big deal,” he asserted. “And what we have in development right now, two of the projectiles … the XM1113 and the XM1128 … these things work with the propulsion system that Nammo provides, working in concert with the cannon to help us to extend that range,” he said."The army will be increasing the range of its current fleet of howitzers by about a third, he said. "So, a 33 percent improvement just with these new projectiles that are going into the field.”.And some of that just might end up in Ukraine.
