Prioridades para la artillería del Ejército Británico

On 27 January 2020, the United Kingdom released the key user requirements for its Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) programme to procure a new 155 mm self-propelled artillery system. These requirements indicated a shift in some of the programme’s targets compared to earlier indications. Artillery is a particular area of concern for NATO members as it is widely acknowledged that Russia holds a distinct advantage.

New battlefield lessons

The conflict in Ukraine has demonstrated that massed artillery can still have a devastating effect even on armoured formations, with one of the most famous examples being the 2014 Zelenopillya attack, which destroyed a Ukrainian mechanised column including tanks. In this context, the UK’s current fleet of AS90 self-propelled artillery is beginning to show its age.

However, the requirements recently released by the UK’s Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) agency appear to be significantly less ambitious than an initial request for information (RFI) from industry that was issued in April 2019. Responses from industry to the RFI have likely resulted in the moderation of some of the programme’s more technically demanding objectives, with two in particular – range and rate of fire – standing out.

Getting the range right

The initial RFI called for a range objective of 80 kilometres, which is well in excess of the maximum range of all current generation self-propelled artillery, and a major increase in capability over the AS90. The AS90’s 39-calibre barrel and current ammunition suite is capable of a maximum range of around 30 km using rocket-assisted projectiles (RAP).

The United States Army’s prospective XM1113 RAP round aims to achieve a range of 40 km from its current inventory of artillery systems, with that range set to increase to around 70 km when fired from the 58-calibre barrel on its future Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) platform. In a recent test, German manufacturer Rheinmetall was able to achieve a range of 76 km firing from a 52-calibre barrel and a larger non-NATO-standard compliant 25-litre chamber. The projectile used in this test was a velocity-enhanced long-range projectile (V-LAP), which uses a combination of rocket assistance and base bleed technology, where a small gas generator at the rear of the projectile fills the low-pressure area behind it with gas, reducing drag in flight.

Another possible avenue for achieving the objective range of the RFI is through ramjet-powered projectiles. At the 2018 Eurosatory defence exhibition, Norwegian contractor Nammo revealed a model of a ramjet-powered 155 mm GPS-guided projectile with which the company hopes to achieve ranges of more than 100 km. However, this extended range likely comes with significant trade-offs in explosive payload and cost per round, and the round is still in the early stages of development.

The revised requirements for the MFP in January 2020 have reduced the objective range from 80 km to 40 km, which is more in line with the capabilities of the current generation of self-propelled artillery systems.

Rate of fire

The stand-out requirement for the MFP, however, has been rate of fire. The initial RFI objective called for a sustained rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute for up to ten minutes. This is an ambitious goal, with most modern self-propelled artillery systems unable to achieve this rate of fire even in short bursts.

One system that got close was the late-1960s Swedish vintage Bandkanon 1, which was able to fire its entire load of 15 rounds in 45 seconds. However, this rate of fire was only possible due to a unique ammunition-handling system that required cased unitary rounds, which would not meet the MFP’s requirement for a modular-charge system. It also resulted in a complex, very heavy and expensive system, with only 26 ever built.

It is possible that the original range and rate-of-fire requirements were a reaction to some of the reported capabilities of the latest Russian self-propelled artillery system 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV. Some sources claim that this heavily automated 152 mm system has a range of more than 70 km using guided RAP ammunition, and a maximum rate of fire of 16–20 rounds per minute.

Other requirements for the MFP, such as the into-action and out-of-action times, have been revised down. Even so, the focus on both the rate-of-fire and out-of-action times demonstrate how seriously the threat of counter-battery fire is being taken. The level of ambition for strategic mobility also appears to have been reduced. An objective goal of transportability in a C-130 aircraft has been revised in favour of the larger A400M.

The latest requirements also make it clear that the MFP will be expected to self-deploy with the UK’s Strike Brigades, which would appear to narrow the field of potential applicants to wheeled platforms. In the wheeled category, there are two candidates that would have the advantage of commonality with the Strike Brigade’s existing vehicles – BAE’s Archer, which was displayed at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) 2019 exhibition mounted on the same Rheinmetall 8×8 truck that is already employed by the British Army, and the RCH155 artillery module for Boxer from Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW). Both Archer and RCH155 meet the 30-second redeployment-time requirement, and both feature fully automated loading systems, enabling a high rate of fire. However, the latter would possibly require two A400Ms to deploy by air and would likely be more expensive. Potential tracked-vehicles solutions could include KMW’s PzH 2000, which is most likely to be able to meet the high rate-of-fire requirement, and the K9 Thunder from Hanwha Defense.

The British Army’s ageing artillery inventory and limited funds do not allow for a long and expensive development time for a next-generation system. With the latest release of revised requirements, the MFP now seems to more closely resemble a programme aimed at bringing its artillery up to current standards, rather than seeking to leap a generation ahead.