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Four Nations Eye Light 105mm Howitzer
By MEGAN SCULLY
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. The U.S. Army and three allies are evaluating a long-range 105mm howitzer that packs the same punch as 155mm artillery with fewer logistics hassles. The new gun, developed by General Dynamics and South Africa-based Denel, meets many of the military‘s transformation goals, including requirements to transport lightweight ground vehicle systems in theater via C-130 aircraft. A prototype mounted on a Lightweight Armored Vehicle (LAV) 3 chassis weighs 35,000 pounds, small and light enough to roll off a C-130 and be ready to fire in minutes.
The LAV 3, an eight-wheeled vehicle used extensively by the U.S. Marine Corps, is similar to the Army‘s Stryker vehicle, which was developed by General Dynamics and is now serving in Iraq. Program officials said the cannon could easily be transferred onto the Stryker platform, potentially fulfilling artillery requirements for the brigade combat teams. The 105mm cannon was designed to lob eight shells a minute as far as 30 kilometers. During a 43-shot demonstration here in mid-April, practice and training rounds were fired as far as 32 kilometers into the Gulf of Mexico - 2 kilometers farther than 155mm ammunition would go, officials said. The shell‘s range is boosted by its boattail, or narrow rear end, and base-bleed technology, which emits gas to break up drag-inducing turbulence, Gyfford Fitchat, Denel executive manager of business development in the United States, said during the cannon demonstration here. The system fires six types of rounds, including a practice round, a regular high-explosive round, a bi-spectral smoke round, visual and infrared illumination rounds, and a highly lethal preformed fragment (PFF) round.
The U.S. Army does not have an infrared illumination round, which explodes in the air to flood the area with invisible light useful only to troops with night vision goggles. "An enemy would hardly even know it‘s being illuminated by the infrared light," Fitchat said. "The IR piece is very important," said Lt. Col. Gregory Kraak, of the Futures Development Integration Center at Fort Sill, Okla. PFF technology, which was developed to help shoot down missiles, arms each shell with a double steel wall and 7,800 tungsten balls. One round "pretty much wipes out a soccer field," Jim Vickrey, director of artillery programs at General Dynamics Land Systems, said at the same demonstration. "This is not your father‘s 105."
Officials from the U.S., U.K., Canadian and South African armies are considering buying the 105mm howitzer, in some cases, to replace aging or heavier systems. The U.S. Army‘s operational requirements for the Stryker brigades include an artillery piece, a need that will be partially met by the new, towed XM777 Lightweight 155mm howitzer in the fifth and sixth Stryker brigades. "We are trying to bring technology to bear on [the Army‘s] needs and requirements," said Mark Roualet, GD senior vice president of ground combat systems. "What we hope to expect from this is interest that would result in fulfilling a need or fulfilling a requirement."
The 105mm cannon could help the United Kingdom field a C-130-deployable lightweight mobile artillery system for its Future Rapid Effect System (FRES). "We are interested in what the Americans are doing," said one U.K. official. "It might very well feed into FRES." In Canada, the system could help replace up to three of its ground weapons, including the M109 155mm howitzer, by the end of the decade, said one Canadian military official. A lightweight artillery system would make the Canadian Army, which has no heavy-lift planes, "self-sufficient." In South Africa, the system could be mounted on an LAV or similar vehicle to compete for a planned purchase in 2007 or 2008 of long-range artillery, Fitchat said.
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This was the first I heard we were considering buying this style of weapon system. It would fit in well with the medium weight capability that we are currently moving towards (Coyote, LAV III, MGS, MMEV, etc).
By MEGAN SCULLY
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. The U.S. Army and three allies are evaluating a long-range 105mm howitzer that packs the same punch as 155mm artillery with fewer logistics hassles. The new gun, developed by General Dynamics and South Africa-based Denel, meets many of the military‘s transformation goals, including requirements to transport lightweight ground vehicle systems in theater via C-130 aircraft. A prototype mounted on a Lightweight Armored Vehicle (LAV) 3 chassis weighs 35,000 pounds, small and light enough to roll off a C-130 and be ready to fire in minutes.
The LAV 3, an eight-wheeled vehicle used extensively by the U.S. Marine Corps, is similar to the Army‘s Stryker vehicle, which was developed by General Dynamics and is now serving in Iraq. Program officials said the cannon could easily be transferred onto the Stryker platform, potentially fulfilling artillery requirements for the brigade combat teams. The 105mm cannon was designed to lob eight shells a minute as far as 30 kilometers. During a 43-shot demonstration here in mid-April, practice and training rounds were fired as far as 32 kilometers into the Gulf of Mexico - 2 kilometers farther than 155mm ammunition would go, officials said. The shell‘s range is boosted by its boattail, or narrow rear end, and base-bleed technology, which emits gas to break up drag-inducing turbulence, Gyfford Fitchat, Denel executive manager of business development in the United States, said during the cannon demonstration here. The system fires six types of rounds, including a practice round, a regular high-explosive round, a bi-spectral smoke round, visual and infrared illumination rounds, and a highly lethal preformed fragment (PFF) round.
The U.S. Army does not have an infrared illumination round, which explodes in the air to flood the area with invisible light useful only to troops with night vision goggles. "An enemy would hardly even know it‘s being illuminated by the infrared light," Fitchat said. "The IR piece is very important," said Lt. Col. Gregory Kraak, of the Futures Development Integration Center at Fort Sill, Okla. PFF technology, which was developed to help shoot down missiles, arms each shell with a double steel wall and 7,800 tungsten balls. One round "pretty much wipes out a soccer field," Jim Vickrey, director of artillery programs at General Dynamics Land Systems, said at the same demonstration. "This is not your father‘s 105."
Officials from the U.S., U.K., Canadian and South African armies are considering buying the 105mm howitzer, in some cases, to replace aging or heavier systems. The U.S. Army‘s operational requirements for the Stryker brigades include an artillery piece, a need that will be partially met by the new, towed XM777 Lightweight 155mm howitzer in the fifth and sixth Stryker brigades. "We are trying to bring technology to bear on [the Army‘s] needs and requirements," said Mark Roualet, GD senior vice president of ground combat systems. "What we hope to expect from this is interest that would result in fulfilling a need or fulfilling a requirement."
The 105mm cannon could help the United Kingdom field a C-130-deployable lightweight mobile artillery system for its Future Rapid Effect System (FRES). "We are interested in what the Americans are doing," said one U.K. official. "It might very well feed into FRES." In Canada, the system could help replace up to three of its ground weapons, including the M109 155mm howitzer, by the end of the decade, said one Canadian military official. A lightweight artillery system would make the Canadian Army, which has no heavy-lift planes, "self-sufficient." In South Africa, the system could be mounted on an LAV or similar vehicle to compete for a planned purchase in 2007 or 2008 of long-range artillery, Fitchat said.
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This was the first I heard we were considering buying this style of weapon system. It would fit in well with the medium weight capability that we are currently moving towards (Coyote, LAV III, MGS, MMEV, etc).
