Is Excalibur Precision Artillery Round Included in Latest U.S. Aid to Ukraine?

The United States on Friday announced the inclusion of 1,000 rounds of a 155mm precision ammunition as part of a new $400 million aid package – believed to the Raytheon-made Excalibur shell that can land within 5 meters of its assigned target.

A Pentagon official at a background briefing did not confirm that the new round is the Excalibur ammunition stating that he did not wish to get into details for operational reasons. However, the Excalibur is the most popular precision-artillery round in the U.S. Army having been used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This is a new type [of] 155 mm artillery ammunition," said a senior defense official during a background briefing today at the Pentagon. "It has greater precision. It offers Ukraine precise ... capability for specific targets. It will save ammunition. It will be more effective due to the precision. It's a further evolution in our support for Ukraine in this battle in the Donbas."

The same official noted that the precision rounds, for use in howitzer artillery systems already in place in Ukraine, are something the U.S. military already uses and has in its own stock. The systems are new in that this is the first time the U.S. has sent them to Ukraine. 

If true, the Excalibur will be up against the Russian Krasnopol guided artillery round which Moscow claims has been used with devastating effect to conduct precision strikes against Western supplied artillery and other equipment. Russian MoD’s TVzvezda.TV has shown videos of Krasnopol rounds striking Ukrainian positions containing American-supplied 155mm artillery.

Earlier this week, Russia claimed that it knocked down two U.S. supplied HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems using drone-guided artillery rounds. However, the Pentagon official denied the claims stating all HIMARS systems supplied to Ukraine are intact.