OCTOBER 20, 2026 – There’s no question as to the intent of the XM1180 Cannon-Delivered Area Effects Munition (C-DAEM) Armor’s Hit-to-kill (HTK) concept: the name says it all.
Yuma Test Center personnel along with teams from Project Manager Combat Ammunition Systems (PM-CAS), DEVCOM-Armaments Center (AC), Raytheon, and other organizations tested the technology for the C-DAEM Armor Program on three 155-mm XM1180 HTK prototype munitions, which they gun-launched from a 39-caliber cannon.
PM-CAS Col. Alicia Johnson and her leadership team traveled to Yuma Proving Ground to see the testing of the munitions’ capabilities. In this case, that location was in the middle of the Arizona desert.
The test is the second part of the Guided Test Vehicle (GTV) series and is intended to show the target-seeking capabilities explained Lovjoat Singh a Test and Evaluation Engineer with DEVCOM-AC based in Picatinny Arsenal, who was responsible for overall test planning and execution.
“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.”
Using a tank as a target, the test team fired three rounds at various configurations, each firing to evaluate its performance.
Casey Scharenbroich, an evaluator with Operational Evaluation Command, was on site to assess the technology maturation of the projectile.
“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.”
While the C-DAEM Armor is an older program, a newer program, XM1230 is on the horizon that intends to use the same seeker technology. Scharenbroich will assess how that might apply to the newer program.
Scharenbroich explained the need for this type of technology saying, “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.”
Adding it minimizes collateral damage, YTC Test Officer Ashley Lochetto discusses what’s next for the seeker technology, “our intent is to conduct GPS denied testing of the (seeker) along with integrating it into the XM1230 Extended Range Artillery Projectile.”
The C-DAEM Armor GTV series will continue through FY27 and the XM1230 testing will also be conducted in the next few months at Yuma Test Center.
Story by Ana Henderson
U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground