Tracked artillery, while not as popular as it once was, is still effective with the right ammunition.
While there is a clear trend to the procurement of wheeled self-propelled (SP) artillery systems by an increasing number of end users, there is still a market for tracked SP artillery systems, although there are a limited number of options for brand new systems.
While this article concentrates mainly on the platform, this is just one part of a complete system that includes the ammunition suite (projectile, charge and fuze), fire control system (FCS) on the platform as well as at battery and regimental level right through to the forward observer and, most important of all, target acquisition system and ammunition resupply.
End users are demanding more range and greater accuracy but the former means that most targets are beyond the range of the forward observer so greater emphasis is being place on real time target acquisition which can be carried out by a variety of means including radar, sound location, electronic warfare and unmanned aerial vehicles.
In addition to the development and fielding of new systems, much more emphasis is being placed on ammunition development. More range can be achieved by having 155mm artillery projectiles with a hollow base (HB), rocket assist (RA), Extended Range Full Bore (ERFB), combinations of RA and BB and more recently ramjet powered 155mm projectiles.
There are also 155mm artillery projectiles designed to attack the vulnerable upper surfaces of armoured vehicles such as the BAE Systems/Nexter Bonus from France/Sweden and German Rheinmetall / Diehl BGT Defence SMArt.
While wheeled SP artillery systems have a number of advantages including lower operating and support costs and greater strategic mobility as they are on wheeled rather than tracked, they do have a number of disadvantages.
These include a reduced ammunition load. A good example is the German Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) PzH 2000 155mm/52 cal tracked SP artillery system which carries 60 projectiles and changes while the baseline French Nexter 155mm/52 cal CAESAR (6×6) system only carries 18 projectiles and charges.
In most cases, apart from the BAE Systems Bofors Archer wheeled SP artillery system, the crew have to dismount to bring the system into action which takes time and potentially leaves them open to small arms fire and shell splinters.
For many years, the US developed M109 155mm/39 cal was the standard SP artillery system of most NATO countries as well as many other countries around the world.
Some countries, for example Switzerland, upgraded these with a raft of improvements including a longer 155mm/47 calibre barrel to give an increase in range.
A number of defence contractors, including the now BAE Systems of the USA, Oto Melara (now Leonardo) of Italy and Rheinmetall of Germany offered a package of upgrades that included installation of a 155mm/52 calibre barrel that meets the Joint Ballistic Memorandum of Understanding (JBMoU).
As far as it is known, none of these upgraded M109 entered service, even though they would offer a step change in range capability.
The now defunct RDM Technology of the Netherlands did develop an upgrade package for the M109 which included a 155mm/47 calibre barrel from RUAG as fitted to the Swiss Army upgraded M109 and the United Arab Emirates took delivery of 85 under the designation of the M109L47 with final deliveries in 1999.
Like other countries, Germany, in addition to the M109 155mm/39 cal SP artillery system, also deployed the US 175mm M107 and 203mm (eight inch) M110A2, but all of these have now been phased out of service. The latter was retained for a long time as it had a tactical nuclear capability.
Following a competition, the now Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) PzH 2000 155mm/52 cal tracked SP artillery system was selected to meet the requirements of the German Army and a total of 185 were delivered from the Kassel production line between 1998 and 2002.
This number has been reduced as some have been passed onto other countries including Croatia (12), Lithuania (21) and more recently the Ukraine (from Germany and the Netherlands).
Brand new PzH 2000 have also been supplied to Greece (24), Hungary (24 with final deliveries early in 2024), Italy (2 from Germany and rest manufactured under licence in Italy by the now Leonardo), Netherlands (57) and Qatar (24).
KMW is still awaiting a potential contract from the German government for 100 new build PzH 2000 for the Ukraine, but as of 1 August 2023 this had not been received by the company,
PzH 2000 is now back in production for the German Army as in March 2023 a contract was placed with KMW for a batch of 10 units for delivery from 2025 plus an option on an additional 18 in three lots of six units.
In addition there are a number of updates planned for the future to reduce obsolete sub-systems as well as reducing the crew by automating the ammunition handing system (AHS).
While KMW is the prime contractor for the PzH 2000, the 155mm/52 calibre ordnance and associated elements, as well as the ammunition (projectiles and charges), is provided by Rheinmetall Weapons & Munitions.
As a private venture, almost 20 years ago, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann developed the Artillery Gun Module (AGM) and this was first shown integrated onto the rear of a surplus tracked US M270 Multi Launch Rocket System (MLRS) track carrier.
AGM is fitted with a Rheinmetall 155mm/52 calibre barrel that has the same ballistics as the PzH 2000 but is fed by a fully automated AHS with a total of 30 155mm projectiles and charges.
The weapon is laid onto target by the crew of two seated in the protected forward control cab. More recently this has been integrated onto the rear of an ARTEC Boxer (8×8) Multi-Role Armoured Vehicle (MRAV) platform and additional details are given in my Armada Wheeled Artillery article.
Following a competition, the then Vickers Shipbuilding & Engineering Limited (VSEL), now BAE Systems, developed the AS90 155mm/39 calibre SP artillery system and this was subsequently selected to replace the M109 deployed by the Royal Artillery (RA).
A total of 179 AS90 were built at Barrow-in-Furness, UK, with the first ones coming off the production line in 1992 with the last in 1995. The 155mm/39 calibre ordnance was supplied by Royal Ordnance Factory at Nottingham which has since closed.
AS90 was demonstrated in a number of countries but never achieved any export sales and marketing ceased some years ago. The AS90 turret was adopted by Poland for its Krab SP artillery system as mentioned later in this article.
It was expected that the AS90 would have been upgraded with a 155mm/52 calibre ordnance as well as a Modular Charge System (MCS) to replace the old bag charge system, this was tested but never deployed.
The UK has now transferred a batch of AS90 155mm/39 calibre systems to the Ukraine which has given increased emphasis to its replacement which is called the Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) which is being run the Defence Equipment & Support organisation.
This could be tracked or wheeled and to plug the capability gap due to transfer of AS90 to the Ukraine, the UK is taking delivery of a batch of BAE Systems Bofors Archer 155mm (6×6) systems based on a Volvo all terrain platform.
The Polish Army has now deployed the Krab 155mm/52 cal SP artillery system which is essentially the South Korean Hanwha Defense K9 chassis fitted with a modified version of the AS90 turret made in Poland and armed with a 155mm/52 cal ordnance which is also manufactured in Poland by HSW.
Turkey was one of the few European countries that did not deploy the US M109 series of 155mm SP artillery systems and instead upgraded older US supplied 105mm M52 and 155mm M44 SP artillery systems.
These became M52T and M44T with both fitted with a 155mm/39 calibre ordnance and many other improvements including a new more fuel efficient diesel power pack rather than a thirsty petrol engine.
For some years Turkey has been manufacturing the T-155 Firtina 155mm/52 calibre SP artillery system which is essentially the South Korean Hanwha K9 optimised to meet the requirements of Turkey and an upgraded version is already deployed by Turkey.
As the 155mm/52 cal ordnance meets the JBMoU maximum range firing the old M107 HE round is 11 miles (18 kilometres) while firing the M549A1 HE rocket assisted projectile range is increased to over 18 miles (30km). Longest range is achieved firing the Extended Range Full Bore Base Bleed projectile which is nearly 25 miles (40km).
The T-155 Firtina is supported by the Poyraz Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (ARV) which uses some components of surplus Turkish Army M48 tanks but fitted with a new welded superstructure. This carries a total of 104x155mm projectiles which are transferred using a telescopic conveyor.
One would have thought that, like the KMW Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank (MBT), their PzH 2000 155mm/52 cal SP artillery system would be accepted by most members of NATO.
More recently however the Hanwha 155mm/52 cal K9 Thunder, which was developed to meet the specific operational requirements of the South Korean Army to supplement their large fleet of M109A3 155mm/39 cal systems, has been ordered by an increasing number of countries including Australia, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, India, Norway and Poland (chassis and complete systems).
This has been continuously developed through the K9A1 and latest K9A2 which are normally optimised to meet the end users specific requirements. Poland has transferred some Krab to the Ukraine.
In addition to the K9, South Korea has deployed the K10 Ammunition Resupply Vehicle (ARV) which carries 104x155mm projectiles and charges which are fed straight into the turret bustle of the K9. The K10 has also been adopted by a number of countries including Australia (AS10), Norway and Poland.
In addition there is a Fire Direction Control Vehicle (FDCV) called the K11 on the same chassis which has been ordered by Egypt and Poland.
BAE Systems in the US did develop to the prototype stage the M109 International which featured a number of improvements including 155mm/52 calibre barrel, but no export contracts were made and marketing ceased.
In recent years the USA has had many false starts to modernise its SP tube artillery and these include the XM2001 Crusader 155mm which, if fielded, would have been the most advanced SP artillery system in the world with a long range and high rate of fire.
This was followed by the XM1203 155mm Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) which was the indirect fire member of the now cancelled Future Combat System.
Today the only conventional SP tube artillery system in service with the US Army is the BAE Systems M109 series of 155mm/39 cal, the origins of which can be traced back over 60 years.
Since then the M109 has been continuously upgraded with the latest production version being the M109A7 Paladin for which the prime contractor is BAE Systems but still retains the 155mm/39 cal barrel which gives it a limited range by today’s standards. This is essentially an upgraded M109A6 turret fitted to a brand new chassis and is the main indirect fire capability of the US Army Armoured Brigade Combat Teams.
The initial contract for the M109A7 was in 2017 with the latest contract being placed in July 2022 for 40 sets, which consist of 40 M109A7 and 40 M992A2 ammunition carriers which brought the total up to 310 with a value of $1.9 billion.
The M992 was originally called the Field Artillery Ammunition Support Vehicle (FAASV) but is now referred to as the Carrier, Ammunition, Tracked (CAT).
Production and support of the M109A7/M992A2 takes placed at the Anniston Army Depot as well as BAE Systems facilities in York, Minneapolis, Sterling Heights, Endicott, Elgin and Aiken.
The main drawback of the M109A7 is that it is fitted with a 155mm/39 cal ordnance rather than the 155mm/52 cal ordnance which has been deployed in the PzH 2000 and many other SP artillery systems for many, many years.
The US Army has been working on the 155mm Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) for many years and this includes the actual 155mm/58 cal barrel developed at the Benet Laboratory with manufacture at Watervliet Arsenal and a bustle mounted automatic loader to increase rate of fire and reduce crew requirement.
A new suite of ammunition includes the 155mm XM1113 RAP and a new change system which will provided a step change in range and increased accuracy when fitted with a nose mounted Northrop Grumman M1156 precision guidance kit (PGK).
by Christopher F. Foss
