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Background
— Future Indirect Fire Artillery – 105mm Systems |
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The Future Indirect Fire Capability was to be filled by "a new platform to deliver indirect fire" but also by
"making best use of existing howitzer equipments". A tall order especially since the CF ultimately expects an
effective maximum range of 30km or more. Currently, the lead candidate for the Mobile Artillery Vehicle System, MOBAT (right) has a 19km
range (with C132 HEER rounds) using a C3 howitzer. Other 105mm SP howitzer systems available use non-standard forms
of ammunition. [1]
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Measuring MAVS Mobility — or Will it Fit into a Herc ?
Maximum hold height for a CC-130 Hercules is 2.74m which is a tight squeeze for a truck-based MAVS ( most
have cabs higher than that – central tire inflation systems should make MAVS air-portable). Any LAV III-based
SPs will be heavier but most are designed with Hercules air-portability in mind. Here, we will briefly
examine two LAV III-based 105mm self- propelled systems – the South African Denel-LIW LEO-105
and the American V2C2 (Variable Volume Chamber Cannon) developed by United Defense (now a part of BAE Systems).
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A Lightweight Experimental 105mm
Leo-105 [2] is armed with Denel's G7 gun – an original design which uses base-bleed ammunition
to achieve a range of 30km. Mounted on the LAV III, the combined system weighs 17.5 tons making a LEO-105
transportable by Hercules. The turret has a limited traverse [2] but this is acceptable for "digitized"
shoot-and-scoot tactics.
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Variations on a Theme – United Defense's V2C2
The V2C2 is another original gun design that fires a unique round. Using its variable volume breech, the V2C2 fires
standard 105mm shells with 155mm modular propellant charges. Combat weight for a LAV-based V2C2 is 20-tons
(the combo designed for Hercules transport). An auto-loader supplies ammunition (46-rds) to the breech.
Overseen by a gun crew of two, the V2C2 would fire 10 rpm. The maximum range is about 30km – a range that
has already been achieved in prototype test firing.
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In a sense, both LAV-based 105mms are descended from 155mm systems. The V2C2 was to lead to towed and
vehicle-based guns which complemented BAE Systems' 155mm M777 [3] which forms the basis for the SP components
of the US Future Combat Systems, NLOS-C or Non Line-of-Sight – Cannon (this FCS program will arise in
any discussion of CF transformation). The G7 has an older heritage, being related to Denel's formidable G5/G6
– a 155mm series unrelated to NATO 155 howitzers. So why stay with a 105mm? In a word:
air-portability.
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Coming Next: a brief discussion of the possible wheeled self-propelled 155mm system candidates
suited to Future Indirect Fire Systems.
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[1] This would even include Britain's older FV 433 Abbot tracked SP gun. Most NATO memebers concluded
during the Cold War that the 105mm gun lacked the 'punch' to justify the cost and complexity of a
self-propelled system. Air-transport issues have since changed that.
[2] The LEO-105 has a traverse of 30° to either side (and an elevation of -4 to +75°). The turret
itself is unmanned, the gun being fed by an auto-loader. The maximum rate of fire is 6 rpm, 56-rds being carried.
Like any 105mm howitzer, the LEO-105 can defend itself with APFSDS.
[3] The M777 is, of course, the CF's newest towed howitzer – six were ordered in 2005
and options for a further six filled at the end of 2006.
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