Кстати к вопросу о точности стрельбы "Пионов" и прочей современных длинноствольных дрын на больших дистанциях - вот такая статейка из последнего "International Defence Review" о проблемах с точностью стрельбы САУ PzH2000 (бесспорно, самой совершенной современной серийной САУ) в голландской армии.
Вкратце: инспектор артиллерии голландской армии полковник Питер Фролинг по опыту боевого применения в Афганистане оценивает точность стрельбы PzH2000 на дальность до 22 км как очень хорошую, но на дальность более 32 км - как неудовлетворительную, причем разброс снарядов по дальности в последнем случае достигает 1 км.
Для стрельбы на дальность более 30 км голландцы используют купленные в 2006 г снаряды Rheinmetall Rh40 (DM131) с донным газогенератором, в сочетании с максимальным зарядом DM72/DM92 Zone 6.
Интересно, что Бундесвер эти снаряды не стал закупать.
Netherlands plans renewed firing trials to improve PzH2000 accuracy
Rupert Pengelley
The Royal Netherlands Army (RNLA) is to embark on a renewed round of firing trials with the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann PzH2000 155 mm 52-calibre self-propelled howitzer, with a view to improving its accuracy at long range.
According to RNLA Inspector of Artillery Colonel Peter Froling, who spoke at the Defence IQ Future Artillery 2009 conference in London in late March, in Afghanistan the PzH2000 has shown itself to be "very accurate" out to 22 km, but insufficiently so when engaging targets beyond 32 km. In the latter case assisted projectiles have to be used and their miss distances have in some instances exceeded 1 km.
Further tests are due to be carried out in July at the Karapinar firing range in Turkey, which has sufficient space to allow detailed measurement of trajectories and fall of shot at maximum range.
The extended-range (30-40 km) firing capability provided to the RNLA is based on the private venture Rheinmetall Rh40 (DM131) base-bleed round, which is fired in combination with the DM72/DM92 top-charge module (Zone 6). The German Army has approved and fielded the DM72/92, but has not so far adopted the DM131, confining itself to the unassisted DM121 (Rh30), which gives the PzH2000 a range of 30 km in a standard atmosphere
The Rh40 was initially developed for operations in a European environment and put into production to fulfil the requirements of the Greek Army. A quantity was supplied to the RNLA in late 2006 in response to an urgent operational requirement that arose when the PzH2000 was committed to operations in Afghanistan. At that time, Col Froling, speaking as commander of the RNLA Fire Support Training Centre, reported that the Rh40 would enable the PzH2000 to achieve "ranges in excess of 40 km accurately".
Industry sources questioned by Jane's suggested that contributing factors to the current inaccuracies could include the fire control, ballistics data, ammunition, the weapon system itself or the meteorological data used.
Col Froling noted the extremes of temperature experienced necessitated additional manual inputs to the fire-control system. He also voiced the RNLA's interest in adoption of course-correcting fuzes or GPS-guided ammunition, which could provide a possible redress for the types of problem encountered in theatre.
His remarks came just as the Excalibur XM982 Block 1a-1 GPS-guided projectile is in the throes of being cleared for use with the PzH2000 in anticipation of a potential Australian Army requirement.
