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Ukraine Tests Its Own “Excalibur”: A Laser-Guided Artillery Shell Built for One-Shot Kills
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Ukraine is conducting tests of a new high-precision guided artillery munition known as Barvinok-K, a domestically developed shell designed to destroy point targets with a single shot—a capability long associated with advanced Western systems such as the US M712 Copperhead or M982 Excalibur, according to Colonel Andrii Zhuravlov, the deputy chief of staff of the Missile Forces and Artillery Command of Ukraine’s Ground Forces. Zhuravlov discussed the program in an interview with RBC-Ukraine on December 22.
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The trials are intended to confirm the munition’s stated tactical and technical characteristics.
Barvinok-K is a guided artillery shell designed for precision engagement of high-value, point targets, to achieve a hit on the first round rather than rely on massed fire.
The munition represents a further evolution of Ukraine’s earlier guided-shell project, Kvitnyk. As previously reported in 2020 by Ukrainian defense outlet Militarnyi, the Kvitnyk program underwent a major redesign after Ukraine moved to replace foreign components. Following import substitution, the system was renamed Barvinok and prepared for state trials.
One of the key breakthroughs of the Barvinok-K program is the complete removal of foreign-made components, making the munition fully domestically produced—an important step for Ukraine’s defense industry amid wartime supply constraints.
The shell uses a semi-active laser guidance system, allowing its flight path to be corrected during the terminal phase of engagement. In practical terms, this means the projectile homes in on a laser-designated target, enabling significantly higher accuracy than conventional unguided artillery rounds.
The project is intended for use with standard tube artillery of the appropriate caliber, integrating precision strike capability into existing gun systems rather than requiring entirely new platforms.
Weapons of this class dramatically reduce ammunition expenditure and shorten the time needed to destroy a target—advantages that are especially critical in high-intensity combat where counter-battery threats and logistics constraints are constant concerns.
If fielded at scale, Barvinok-K would place Ukraine among a small group of countries capable of producing modern laser-guided artillery munitions, marking a significant technological step toward parity with long-established Western precision systems.
Earlier, Ukrainian forces struck a reinforced Russian bunker in the occupied Kherson region using a US-supplied M712 Copperhead guided artillery shell.
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