The United States possesses one of the world’s most advanced military forces on earth. Among its assets are a number of artillery systems, including mortars carried by soldiers and massive shells fired by tracked and armored vehicles. The maximum effective range of these weapons spans from 2 miles to the distance between New York and Boston, or Dallas and Houston.
To determine the longest range artillery weapons used by the U.S. military, 24/7 Wall St. referenced GlobalSecurity.org’s online database of weapons systems. GlobalSecurity.org is a source of information in the fields of defense, space, intelligence, WMD, and homeland security. We focused on mobile and towed artillery used in the battlefield. This list, which includes all ground artillery weapons in use by the U.S. military, is ranked by their range, from shortest to longest range. All other information came from GlobalSecurity.org or, when unavailable, from third party military sites.
One standout among the U.S. military’s modern artillery assets is the M777, a highly mobile 155mm howitzer. The weapon was used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it boasts an operational reach of close to 25 miles. The M777 is used in situations requiring swift deployment and establishment of firing positions. (These are the prototype guns rejected by the US military.)
The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System is another piece of American artillery used extensively in modern conflicts. This system, capable of launching a spectrum of missile types, can strike at distances of up to 185 miles. It has been used in recent US operations in the Middle East, and is used to hit enemy positions from vast distances. (These are all the sniper rifles used by the U.S. Military.)
Some allies of Ukraine during the Russian invasion have sent the besieged nation MLRS systems. Notably, the U.S. supplied Ukraine with multiple M124 HIMARs rocket systems, another major system on this list.
Click here to see the US military’s longest-range artillery.
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