The official list of companies competing for the contract has not been confirmed, but it is understood to include Hanwha Aerospace, Rheinmetall, Elbit Systems and Leonardo DRS in cooperation with KNDS. Two key U.S. Army suppliers, General Dynamics Land Systems and BAE Systems, may also be on the list.
Most of the potential bidders are based outside the United States, even though the request for proposals issued in September last year clearly requires local production of the new system. This means companies must either find a U.S. business partner or present an investment plan to establish their own production facility in the United States.
The new 155 mm self-propelled howitzer is not intended to replace the M109 family but to succeed the towed lightweight M777, first in Stryker Brigade Combat Teams and later in lighter formations. This suggests a preference for wheeled platforms to ensure high operational mobility and moderate weight for strategic air transport, yet the Army expects protection at the level of the M109A7, effectively ruling out truck-mounted systems such as CAESAR.
In practice, this leaves either tracked designs such as the K9A1/A2, M109-52 or PzH 2000, or relatively heavy wheeled vehicles such as the AGM artillery module on 8×8 or 10×10 chassis, a wheeled variation of the K9A2, or SIGMA. The expected fire performance, including a maximum range of up to 70 km with precision-guided munitions, indicates a preference for 52-caliber barrels, which have become the standard in most countries.
It remains unclear whether U.S. artillery units will finally field a modern self-propelled howitzer after several failed attempts since the 1980s to modernize or replace the M109. These efforts included the XM1299 program with its 58-caliber barrel and enlarged chamber, as well as plans to upgrade the M777 with a longer barrel, both of which were abandoned, leaving U.S. forces equipped only with 39-caliber 155 mm systems that are widely seen as insufficient for the modern battlefield.
Source: Breaking Defense.
