Stryker Brigade News

Howitzer Test-firing Draws Four Militaries' Attention
By MEGAN SCULLY

The howitzer then was flown April 19 to Fort Sill, Okla., on a C-130
aircraft for a five-shot demonstration for Army field artillery leaders.

Defense Daily
April 19, 2004
"GD/Denel Offers New Technology LAV III 105 Howitzer"
By Ann Roosevelt

EGLIN AFB, Fla.--In seven months and with $5 million in corporate
funds, General Dynamics, [GD] partnered with South Africa's Denel,
built a self-propelled howitzer technology demonstrator that could
potentially fill future artillery needs, company officials said.
"We have responded to an RFI (Request for Information) from UD
(United Defense) on the NLOS-C cannon," said James Vickrey, director of
GD Land Systems artillery programs, briefing reporters here.
The cannon fired two rounds of GD/Denel ammunition into the Gulf
of Mexico.
General Dynamics responded April 15 to the RFI, which was due on
Friday. United Defense is teamed with GD to design the manned ground
vehicles for the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. Among
other vehicles, United Defense is responsible for the NLOS-C. Boeing
[BA] and Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) manage the
overall FCS program. United Defense has unveiled its own potential
future solution: a 105mm Variable Volume Chamber Cannon (V2 C2)
(Defense Daily, Feb. 27).
As ground forces worldwide examine potential solutions to fill the
gap between heavy and light forces, mobile 105 howitzers that are more
accurate at longer ranges that can keep up with fast-moving combat
forces are a possibility. The GD technology demonstrator consists of a
Denel 105 mm cannon mounted on a modified GD LAV III chassis. "We can
cover from 3 kilometers to 30 kilometers with this gun," using the
GD/Denel ammunition suite, Vickrey said.
The system, though light and nimble enough to reach speeds of 55
mph, offers an extremely stable firing platform, in part due to a
highly efficient muzzle brake that Vickrey said was 58 percent
effective in reducing recoil and cuts blast overpressure by 50 percent.
"This is a piece of technology we want not only the U.S. but our
allies to take a look at to see if it fulfills a need," Mark Roualet,
senior vice president of GD ground combat systems, told reporters. The
U.S. Army is interested, said Col. Greg Kraak, chief of Futures
Integration at the Field Artillery Center at Fort Sill, Okla., who was
observing fires. "There is no valid requirement for such a light system
right now," he said, but there could be in the future.
Today, the system is expected to conduct a firing mission at Fort
Sill, after demonstrating the ability to move by C-130 aircraft, flying
from test range A-15 here to Fort Sill. The system will fire both U.S.
and GD/Denel ammunition, which company literature says, "outranges all
current US 155 mm projectiles except the M549." The use of GD/Denel
ammunition offers a reduced logistics tail, using " less than 48
percent of 155 mm requirement."
The LAV III chassis provides commonality and supportability for
nations who already have LAV III systems in their inventories, such as
Canada and Australia, while the United States Stryker Brigade Combat
Teams (SBCT) use an upgraded version.
Denel developed the howitzer and turret for South African forces
for peace enforcement actions in Africa in the mid-1990s, according to
Gyfford Fitchat, Denel executive manager-business development USA. "It
lends itself [the gun] to being towed or mounted on a vehicle," he
added. South African forces also have a requirement for a Future Combat
Systems-type system. Any acquisition would come in the 2007-2008 time
frame, Fitchat said, for something similar to the howitzer on the test
range, though it might not necessarily be mounted on a LAV III chassis.
Also observing the shoot, Lt. Col. Geoff Moss, British defense
equipment land projects on the British Defence Staff in Washington,
D.C., who said the British Army has a Light Mobile Artillery Weapons
System (LIMAWS) requirement. Learning about this system helps military
leaders consider the possibilities in filling the gap between current
heavy and light forces. "We're watching this," Moss said. Any
acquisition would come around 2009.
Canadian Army Maj. Roger Lemieuix, an engineer who works in
acquisition, said Canada is watching how the system develops and how it
interoperates with other forces. It is evaluating what would be the
best way to go to replace any or all of their three different types of
artillery currently in use. There's time to think about "what is the
best way forward," he said.
Once the technology demonstrator completes firing at Fort Sill, it
will head back to GD facilities in Sterling Heights, Mich.