The KATANA smart artillery ammunition has successfully demonstrated its flight control capability. The success of this test campaign in Sweden from December 7 to 11 2020 marks a decisive milestone for the KATANA development programme.
These test firings, carried out from a 155mm CAESAR gun on a carriage, confirmed the manoeuvrability of the ammunition. All the Canard Actuation Systems (CAS) 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, scheduled for 2021, will give rise to the first coordinate-guided and coordinate-controlled firings.
Dominique Guillet, Director of Ammunition of the Nexter Group, said, “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”.
Jack Richardson
