Soldiers of an Infantry Brigade Combat Team received the first APMI cartridges in March 2011, with plans to field them in all seven deployed IBCTs within six months. The first shell was fired on 26 March by Company C, 1-506th Infantry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, which landed four meters from the target. Heavy mortars are traditionally employed at battalion-level for immediate fire suppression and support, but they were the primary indirect fire weapon available to remote forward operating bases, so guided mortars gave a battalion commander accurate artillery fire without needing to request an M982 Excalibur from a brigade-level howitzer. The ATK XM395 PGMM cartridge uses a standard M934 high-explosive 120 mm projectile body with a GPS receiver in the nose and computer controlled aerodynamic directional fins for stability and to keep it on the programmed trajectory. It has a multi-mode airburst, point detonation, and delay fuse. Unguided 120 mm mortars have accuracy of at maximum range, which can be reduced to with precision position and pointing systems. The PGMM can hit within 10 meters of a target, and often hits within four, making it seven times more accurate. Although not designed to replace unguided mortars, the PGMM allows mortar teams to eliminate point targets that would require 8-10 rounds using one or two. This lengthens the amount of time a typical team with 25 rounds can operate and increases the number of targets it can engage without needing resupply. It also expands potential target zones that previously required soldiers to clear because inaccurate artillery would cause collateral damage, since insurgents deliberately attacked from populated areas hoping troops wouldn't risk civilian casualties. The XM395 kit costs $10,000 each, much less than the guided Excalibur 155 mm shell. There is also no current requirement for guidance for 60 mm or 81 mm mortars.Soldiers fire first precision-guided mortar in Afghanistan - Army.mil, 7 April 2011The Army's Smart New Mortars Could Actually Hit a Target - Gizmodo.com, 30 July 2012Joes Soon to Get Precision 120 Mortar Round - Kitup.Military.com, 30 March 2011
