US Army Picks Third ERAP Vendor: The Leonardo-Diehl Vulcano 155mm Joins the Race

The U.S. Army has named a third vendor in ERAP, its program to extend the range and precision of its artillery. According to Defence Industry Europe’s 25 June 2026 report, Leonardo’s Vulcano-derived 155mm guided round was selected with partners General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) and Diehl Defence.

As Breaking Defense reported, the pick is part of ERAP’s competitive structure: the Vulcano team joins General Atomics and BAE Systems, both previously awarded under the program. The Army is thus developing three different long-range guided-artillery solutions in parallel.

Background: What ERAP Is After

ERAP (Extended Range Artillery Projectile) is a U.S. Army effort to acquire a long-range, high-precision round that can be fired from standard 155mm barrels. The goal is to hit even moving targets beyond 65 kilometres and to do so where GPS is degraded or denied. Initial operational capability is targeted for fiscal 2030.

The program is part of America’s drive to close a long-range precision fires gap against the growing artillery ranges of Russia and China. According to Army Recognition, the Army is competing multiple vendors to field low-risk, mature solutions fast; Vulcano’s status as already qualified and fielded in Europe is a notable advantage.

Vulcano 155mm GLR and the Partner Roles

Vulcano 155mm GLR (Guided Long Range) is a guided round whose aerodynamic design reaches up to 70 kilometres. Beyond INS/GPS navigation it uses a semi-active laser (SAL) terminal seeker, allowing precision strikes even in GPS-contested environments. An infrared-seeker variant exists for sea targets. The round is compatible with standard 155mm/39-calibre howitzers such as the M109A7.

The partnership assigns clear roles: Leonardo as design authority for guidance, fuze and warhead technologies; Diehl Defence for terminal-seeking sensors, weapon-system integration, safe-and-arm devices and serial manufacturing; and GD-OTS as the U.S. prime contractor and integrator. The structure aims to bring a mature European round into the U.S. production and supply chain.

Regional Context: The Precision Artillery Race

The war in Ukraine showed that artillery remains decisive in land warfare and that range and precision translate directly into battlefield advantage. As a result, the U.S., Europe and many others are turning to long-range guided rounds fired from standard guns. In a battlefield saturated with electronic warfare, guidance solutions that do not depend on GPS have become critical.

Semi-active laser rounds like Vulcano fill exactly that gap: they can hit a laser-designated stationary or moving target even under GPS jamming. The U.S. Army bringing a mature European solution into the program via U.S. integration underscores the urgency of this capability.

Why It Matters for Türkiye

Türkiye is following its own path in long-range, precise artillery. The T-155 Fırtına and Fırtına-II self-propelled howitzers and the Panter towed gun form the 155mm backbone of the Turkish Army. TÜBİTAK-SAGE and industry are working on guided, extended-range munitions fired from these guns — the aim is to deliver Vulcano-class precision fires by indigenous means.

Türkiye’s real strength lies in semi-active laser guidance: the MAM-L, MAM-C and MAM-T smart munitions, along with the CIRIT and L-UMTAS missiles, have for years struck laser-designated targets with high precision. That experience provides a solid technological foundation for developing a guided artillery round.

The ERAP case makes one point clear: even the U.S. Army turns to Europe (Leonardo-Diehl) for mature guided-155mm technology, integrated by GD. Türkiye’s indigenous guided-artillery drive is designed precisely to remove that kind of dependency from the start and to build an exportable capability.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Vulcano’s selection for ERAP shows how critical long-range, GPS-independent guided artillery has become in modern land warfare. For Türkiye, the message is clear: developing a guided artillery round by indigenous means both prevents dependence in a crisis and builds a strategic capability with export potential.

Sources

• Defence Industry Europe — “Leonardo’s Vulcano-derived 155mm precision munition selected for U.S. Army ERAP long-range artillery program with GD-OTS and Diehl” (25 Haziran 2026)
• ASDNews — “Diehl Defence, Leonardo and GD Celebrate Extended Range Artillery Projectile Award Based on Vulcano 155mm GLR”
• Breaking Defense — “General Atomics wins contract for Army’s ERAP program, joining two other vendors”
• Army Recognition — “U.S. Army Tests 155mm ERAP for GPS-Resilient 70 km Howitzer Strikes”