Travis, you do not have the expertise here.
The M777 was not designed for light duty in only the GWOT.
It was designed as a replacement for the M198.
It went through extensive testing at Yuma Proving Ground.
During the testing, we broke it numerous times, resulting in design changes.
I worked with that program for years.
Part of the idea of smart artillery rounds is you do not have to fire nearly as many.
While the Excaliber round is a very good smart munition, it is very expensive.
Because of that, we developed replacement smart fuses for regular 155mm artillery rounds. They are much, much cheaper than the Excaliber. As I recall, the do not have quite the range of the Excaliber, but I don't know the exact details on the range, for good reason.
The M777 doesn’t appear to be a good candidate for a sling load to take to a mountain.
Part of the idea of smart artillery rounds is you do not have to fire nearly as many.==
Exactly but these need the targeting correction on the final part of trajectory. Otherwise it is no difference of dumb shell but less capacity because of less charge in it. And how Ukies can do that targeting?
America doesn’t give them those drones with laser pointering. And if she did give them then those drones are sitting ducks for any Russian AA machine.