The U.S. Army fired three prototype XM1180 155mm hit-to-kill artillery shells at a tank target at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona on Aug. 18, 2026, to test a new image-based seeker designed to guide the round to moving armored vehicles. The tests were the second phase of a series of guided test vehicle firings conducted by Yuma Test Center personnel, Project Manager Combat Ammunition Systems, the U.S. Army’s DEVCOM Armaments Center at Picatinny Arsenal, and Raytheon, which builds the GPS-guided M982 Excalibur shell that the XM1180 is based on.
The rounds were launched from a 39-caliber cannon in different configurations to evaluate the seeker’s performance on each shot. The XM1180 is part of the Cannon-Delivered Area Effects Munition (C-DAEM) Armor program, which dates to 2018. The Army fired its first guided test vehicle at Yuma in February 2024, when the shell identified a target and handed guidance over to its seeker, and the program reached Technology Readiness Level 6 ahead of schedule.
Lovjoat Singh, a test and evaluation engineer at DEVCOM Armaments Center who planned and ran the firings, explained the two steps of the test: “It will be an open loop test then following a closed loop test. Open-loop test means the seeker is going to be seeking a target but not actually acting upon it. Then closed loop is actually using the seeker to guide to a target.”
The seeker builds an image of the target area and steers the shell into an armored vehicle, including one that has moved since the shell was fired. Casey Scharenbroich, an evaluator with the U.S. Army Operational Evaluation Command, said, “It’s a cool new technology that basically creates (an) image of the target area and it’s able to find the target in that area. It should be able to use the image to guide to target.” He added, “It would be a huge advantage on the battlefield for commanders, allowing them to engage targets that have moved or are on the move with this munition.”
The Army also expects the seeker to reduce collateral damage, because the shell guides onto a specific vehicle instead of saturating an area, a key difference from cluster rounds such as the Cold War-era DPICM. Army officials have since said they want future rounds to share data with one another, so that several shells fired at a column of vehicles do not all strike the same tank.
The seeker is now headed for a second, newer program. Yuma test officer Ashley Lochetto said, “Our intent is to conduct GPS denied testing of the (seeker) along with integrating it into the XM1230 Extended Range Artillery Projectile.” The XM1230 is the Army’s push for a maneuvering 155 mm shell with deployable wings that can strike moving targets beyond 65 km (40 miles) without a rocket motor. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems joined General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and BAE Systems on the program in June. The Army is aiming for low-rate production in fiscal 2029 and initial operational capability in fiscal 2030.
The C-DAEM Armor guided test vehicle series will continue through fiscal 2027. The first XM1230 firings with the new seeker are scheduled at Yuma Test Center within the next few months.
Sources: DVIDS News · DVIDS News