Participants in the US military shelling shootings appear

WASHINGTON – Participants appear at the US Army’s 155mm mobile howitzer launch, which will take place in early 2021 at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona.

Elbit Systems of America announced on December 17 that it had been chosen to bring its truck-mounted autonomous saber sabers (ATMOS).

Both BAE Systems and Yugoimport in Serbia have announced that they have been selected to launch bids.

French defense company Nexter and AM General have also publicly expressed interest in participating in the shooting. Other possible offers could come from South Korean defense company Hanwha and Japanese Mitsubishi. Other competitors could be the South African 6×6 Rhino or the Slovak 8×8 DANA.

The military is looking for a production-ready system that will improve the range, fire rate and mobility of the artillery systems used in the Stryker Brigade combat teams. The service released an announcement in July calling for a more mobile, lethal and more surviving replacement of its current towed shells and outlined its plan for a three-month shooting.

Participants must provide 18 event evaluation systems upon request. The military would like the selected company to start delivering the systems in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023.

Elbit said in a statement that it is confident that its system will work well during the launch, as it is “ready now”. ATMOS Iron Saber is “a proven field system from a family of howitzers that have supported international customers for more than 30 years.”

ATMOS Iron Saber is a 155mm / 52 caliber semi-automatic system capable of firing six to seven rounds per minute with a crew of four, said Dave Richards, senior director of precision weapons systems for ground combat and targeting solutions. precision at Elbit Systems of America. during media availability.

The Elbit system is a C-17 transportable and can cross the battlefield at about 50 miles per hour and has a “shoot and shoot” capability of about 30 seconds, which means it takes half a minute to stop, set up and shoot. and the same amount of time to stop shooting, pack your bags and get out of the way. This ability is critical against state-of-the-art adversaries such as Russia, who have shown their ability – especially in the fight against Ukraine – to quickly detect firing places and respond.

While ATMOS will come to the assessment with its own fire control system used by Israeli forces, the system can be customized and could integrate different fire control systems as customers see fit, according to Richards. The military will look at the capability of the fire control system as part of the demonstration.

If Elbit had chosen to manufacture and launch its system for the US military, the company is looking at a plan to facilitate production capacity in the US, according to Richards. At present, ATMOS systems are mainly produced in Israel, and the final production would take place in the USA at least initially.

“COVID has demonstrated the importance of internal supply chain security. We take this very seriously, “said Richards. “We are in a process of several years of facilitating the production of vehicle systems in the United States, and obviously this will depend on the time of delivery, but we have a comprehensive plan to actually produce most systems and subsystems in the United States. . “

BAE Systems announced earlier this year that it had offered its Archer howitzer to the Army for the shooting.

The company confirmed to Defense News that it was selected to participate in the shooting.

“We are confident that Archer, who is highly mature and in service with the Swedish military, will demonstrate his superiority in providing fast, highly effective and sustained support to troops in battle,” the company said in a statement. “Archer’s automatic design, armored cockpit, fast firing and firing times, as well as extended range increase its survival on the battlefield. Soldiers can operate the vehicle entirely from inside the cab, under armor, while hitting enemy targets at long distances. “

Archer is usually operated by a crew of three to four soldiers, but can be operated by one, according to BAE. The archer can fire within 30 seconds after receiving a firing command and can fire within 30 seconds. The magazine performs 21 rounds and can download them all in less than three minutes, BAE said. Archer can fire BONUS anti-armor ammunition up to 35 kilometers, conventional ammunition up to 40 kilometers and is currently launching precision-guided ammunition, such as Excalibur, which exceeds 50 km, according to the company.

Global Military Products also announced on December 17 that the US military has chosen its NORA B-52 155mm wheeled howitzer, its Serbian partner, Yugoimport and for launch.

NORA has a fully automatic magazine and a ability to “move, shoot-move while under armor,” according to the statement. NORA has undergone upgrades and upgrades in recent years, “which will certainly attract the attention of the US military,” the statement added.

AM General has promoted both its Brutus 155mm and Hawkeye 105mm mobile shells and is expected to participate in the shooting. The company did not confirm its participation until the press.

And Nexter, who also did not confirm his involvement with the press, backed his self-propelled 155mm CAESAR howitzer – which has been in service since 2008 and tested in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Mali and Iraq – as a strong candidate for filming. off.

The company has sold over 300 CAESAR systems to the French, Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern armies.

CAESAR can shoot 6 photos in less than 1min 40 seconds, according to Nexter, and the 8×8 version of the system can perform 30 rounds. It is the 6×6 variant can carry 18. The gun has an adapted automatic loading system.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Elbit’s chief executive for precision weapon systems, ground combat solutions, and precision targeting.

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