Stryker Briade News: Howitzer Test Firing

April 26, 2004
Howitzer Test Firing
We mentioned a while back that General Dynamics has developed a 105mm howitzer prototype for the Stryker vehicle platform.
The system was successfully tested at Elgin AFB this month.
The folks at GDLS sent me a few photos from the test, which can be viewed in our photo gallery (one, two and three).
The following articles describe the event.

Top U.S. Army artillery officials are evaluating a new, 105mm howitzer, developed by General Dynamics and South Africa-based Denel, that packs the same punch as 155mm artillery without the logistics hassles.

The 105mm self-propelled howitzer is mounted on a Light Armored Vehicle (LAV)-3 chassis, making it air-transportable on a C-130 in combat-ready configuration ? a key intra-theater lift requirement for the Army's Future Force.

The LAV-3, an eight-wheeled vehicle used extensively by the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. allies, is very similar to the Army's Stryker vehicle developed by General Dynamics and currently deployed to Iraq. Program officials said the cannon could easily be transferred onto the Stryker, fulfilling currently unfunded artillery requirements for the brigade combat teams.

The cannon was designed for indirect fire at ranges between 4 kilometers and 30 kilometers at a rate of eight shots per minute.

It can fire six types of ballistically compatible rounds, including a bispectral smoke round, visual and infrared illumination rounds, a practice round, a regular high-explosive round and a highly lethal pre-form fragment (PFF) round.

The PFF technology, traditionally used in anti-missile weapons, has "migrated" to 105mm ammunition to increase the lethality of the artillery, Gyfford Fitchat, Denel executive manager of business development in the United States, said during a cannon demonstration here April 16.

The PFF rounds contain 7,800 tungsten balls, which when fired "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."

The Army plans to test-fire the PFF rounds sometime this summer. In the meantime, officials from the U.S., U.K., Canadian and South African armies are considering buying the system to meet long-term transformational goals.

Representatives from the four militaries were present at the demonstration last week, during which program officials fired 43 practice and training rounds into the Gulf of Mexico at a maximum range of 32 km.

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.

Artilleryman eye candy:

And, the previous update.

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.

Not sure.
The article was somewhat vague on that, but since the Paladin self-lay capability, I'm assuming (very dangerous to do) that it does have self-lay capability.
The limited traverse becomes a problem when you need to 'bump trails' to get on the azimuth of fire.
Basically with the light towed system I was on, we'd grab the handspike and lug the trails in the direction desired so that we could get on the correct azimuth.
With a limited traverse, if the azimuth of fire is outside your traverse, you need to move the vehicle somewhat to get on the azimuth.
With the Paladin, that's no longer a problem since the Paladin can turn the turret in all directions.
The Stryker SP would have to physically move the entire vehicle to accomplish the same thing.
And THAT becomes a pain.
(I remember listening to the guys in an M-109A3 complain about having to turn the vehicle slightly to be able to fire on the data given. And then they had to re-lay the thing afterwards with the safety circle and aiming circle because their driver dug a huge pit with the treads. I felt sorry for those guys.)

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