ADF Weapons: Land 17 RFT delayed

1 August 2007

By Julian Kerr

The next stage in the Hardened Networked Army process is to acquire new artillery systems; the process is drifting a bit to the right, but Army isn’t spoiled for choice – there are some first-class contenders in the running.

The complexities involved in finalising the specifications for Australia’s next generation of artillery systems are close to being resolved, with the Request for Tender (RFT) for Land 17 now scheduled to be released no later than the last quarter of this year, and possibly earlier.

The decision to dispatch an ADF evaluation team to Europe for further evaluation of the PzH 2000 155mm self-propelled (SP) gun had been seen by some as a indication that this might be the favoured solution to replace the army’s 36 M198 155mm towed howitzers.

However, an industry workshop held in late June was informed by Brigadier Stephen Dunn, Director-General of Land Development, that the offer by the Royal Dutch Army of 18 yet-to-be-built PzH 2000 that were surplus to requirements had been declined by government.

“A compelling case could not be established, largely due to the absence of accurate in-service support costs”, he said.
Consequently, a RFT was deemed the most appropriate means to solicit such costs and would be issued no later, and hopefully earlier, than the last quarter of 2007.
At the last Land 17 industry workshop, held in August 2006, the target date for RFT release was mid-to-late January 2007.

Although the Operational Concept Document would be classified, an unclassified Operational and Support Concepts Document was being developed and would be distributed to industry prior to release of the RFT.

Notwithstanding the 18 months anticipated between source selection and contract negotiations, Brigadier Dunn was confident that the scheduled in-service date of 2011-2013 would be met. Estimated expenditure of $450-600 million remained unchanged.

At a glance
Land 17 consists of four primary elements. Package A seeks a Battle Management System-Fires (BMS-F) command and control system and a forward observer system. Package B seeks a protected SP 155mm weapon platform with an onboard Weapon Management System (WMS). Package C seeks a lightweight towed 155mm weapon platform with onboard WMS that will interface with the BMS-F, while Package D seeks proposals for enhancements to the in-service M198 howitzers as a cost comparator to Package C.

A major area of uncertainty was cleared at the industry workshop with the announcement that the Raytheon Company’s Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS) had been mandated as the BMS-F system. AFATDS will be acquired by the Commonwealth.

The Raytheon system is used in all US Army echelons from weapons platoon to corps and in the Marine Corps from firing battery to Marine Expeditionary Forces, and will ensure coalition interoperability.

Contenders were earlier aware of the Commonwealth’s interest in AFTDS but, with the obvious exception of Raytheon Australia and the K9, were reserving their position.

One of AFATDS’ attractions is its ability to support a wide range of information exchange protocols including Variable Message Format, Connectionless Data Transfer Application Layer Standard, and Interoperability Standard for Digital Message Transfer.

AFATDS does not currently perform ballistic calculations for any 155mm 52 calibre gun systems.
However, the Capability Development Executive says that modifying AFATDS to perform “prediction” for such a system would be a relatively straightforward change.

This would typically involve making some minor additions to the AFATDS graphical under interface to include the new weapon model, creating a new version of the NATO Armament Ballistic Kernel (NABK) that supports the new weapon model, and integrating the new NABK version with AFATDS.

The new systems to be acquired under Land 17 will, according to the Defence Capability Plan, “be characterised by responsiveness, high tactical mobility, greater autonomy and survivability”.

Regional requirements
More detail of a general nature is given in the project’s draft Scope of Work, which states the requirement is to provide Army with an offensive support system that can outrange or at the very least match the capability of similar systems within the region.

It’s a moot point whether this requirement encompasses all regional countries, or just those with whom a degree of tension might be anticipated sometime in the future.
For example, both Malaysia and Thailand now deploy the Brazilian-manufactured ASTROS II (Artillery Saturation Rocket System). The ASTROS II launcher is capable of firing rockets of different calibre at ranges from nine to 300 kilometres.

An additional requirement is for the delivery platform to be capable of manoeuvre commensurate with that of the supported forces, and able to communicate in the digital battlespace – hence the requirement for a digital BMS-F.

The project calls for not less than two batteries (18 platforms) of 155mm 52 calibre self-propelled (SP) platforms that can operate behind armoured protection, and up to four batteries (35 platforms) of lightweight towed 155mm platforms deployable by ADF CH-47D as part of a tactical load (ie platform, crew, stores and ammunition).

The requirement for 155mm rather than 105mm calibre for the lightweight towed platform is not surprising, given recent operational experience in Afghanistan which has reinforced the benefits of the longer range and greater lethality of the larger projectile.

Contenders
The number of contenders for the 155mm 52 calibre SP requirement fell to four when the ADI-Giat partnership Caesar lightweight wheeled SP system and the truck-mounted Soltam-Boeing SPWH 2052 fell by the wayside after unprotected guns were ruled out at First Pass approval in February 2006.

The two remaining wheeled contenders are the Archer FH77BW proposed by Tenix Aerospace and Defence teaming with BAE Systems Bofors, and the G6-52 offered by General Dynamics Land Systems Australia (GDLS) in partnership with the South African company Denel.

The two tracked contenders remain the PzH 2000 howitzer proposed by Kraus-Maffei Wegmann in partnership (confusingly, given the provenance of the FH77BW) with BAE Systems Australia, and Samsung Techwin’s K9 Thunder, primed by Raytheon Australia.

The Functional Performance Specifications (FPS) Version 3.1 released at the June workshop require the SP ordnance to be capable of firing the Raytheon/BAE Systems XM982 Excalibur precision unitary munition, have an onboard stabilised remote weapon station that can be operated behind armour whilst the gun is in action and when conducting tactical movement, and storage for three XM982 Excalibur projectiles.

Automatic fire suppression in the crew, driver, ammunition/charge and engine compartments is regarded as very important, as is bomblet protection to the crew and driver compartments. A spall mitigation system that is rigidly fixed to the vehicle structure is classed as important.

The FPS specifies as essential a Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact (MRSI) mission of not less than five rounds at a maximum range of not less than 17 km, with no more than 10 seconds lapsing between impact of the first and last round.
A burst fire capability of no less than three rounds within 10 seconds is classed as very important.

The K9 was displayed at last year’s Land Warfare conference and a Dutch PzH 2000 was brought to the LanDef exhibition at this year’s Avalon air show.

Both types later visited the School of Artillery at Puckapunyal, although DMO said they were not evaluated. The PzH 2000 went on to Woomera to test the RH40 BB extended range high explosive projectile in combination with the Rheinmetall DM 92 modular charge system.
The RH40 extends the range of the PzH 2000 to beyond 40 kilometres compared to 30 kilometres using standard NATO ammunition.

Raytheon Australia’s decision to partner with Samsung Techwin as the Prime Systems Integrator for Land 17 has boosted the chances of the Korean gun, although it is no longer the only option offering AFATDS.

Raytheon Australia stresses that it is offering an integrated solution to Land 17. This involves AFATDS integrated with the K9, the option of the K10 protected ammunition resupply vehicle (ARV), and the option of an upgrade to Army’s inservice M198 towed guns.

A rose by any other name
The designation of AS-9 has been suggested by Samsung for the Australian version of the K9, although this may not be accepted by Army since the gun could then be confused with the UK’s AS-90 SP howitzer when operating with coalition forces.
Some internal changes will be made to accommodate Australian communications equipment. Depending on the final Land 17 FPS, additional underbody armour might be required.

The K10 ARV, just entering service with the South Korean Army, is based on the K9 chassis and body and allows the full reammunitioning process to be carried out under armour by means of a front arm extension and a continuous belt.

To date the Archer is the only 155mm SP contender to have fired the 60-km range (from a 52 calibre gun) Excalibur round, which is still under development.
However, the three other contenders are confident their ordnance can achieve certification within the Land 17 program time period.

The PzH 2000 is in service with or has been ordered by Germany (185), Greece (24) and Italy (70) in addition to the Dutch order of 57.

The G6-52L is a development of the G-6 gun in service with South Africa (43), the United Arab Emirates (78) and Oman (24), but operates with a crew of only three to five.
Using Denel’s Velocity-Enhanced Long-Range Projective (V-LAP) munitions, it can reach out to nearly 70 km.

A solid position
The position of BAE Systems’ innovative M777A2 155mm lightweight towed howitzer as the only known contender to replace the ADF’s 112 L119 105mm Hamel guns has been reinforced by the announcement of a weight limitation of 5040 kg to ensure transportability by a ballistically-protected ADF CH-47D.

The M777 makes extensive use of titanium and titanium castings, although the 39 calibre ordnance is traditional steel. This gives it a production weight of 3,745 kg, some 3,445 kg lighter than the M198 it seeks to replace.

Singapore Technologies Kinetics Pegasus had been considered a possible contender. However, at 5,400 kg the gun is 360 kg over the Land 17 weight limit, although both the manufacturer and the Singapore Army say it can be lifted by the CH-47D.

Six hundred M777 are on order for the US Army, 95 for the US Marine Corps and 12 for the Canadian Army, six of which are now deployed in Afghanistan.

The Canadian guns are fitted with the Laser Initial Artillery Pointing System (LINAPS), while US guns are equipped with the more sophisticated Towed Artillery Digitisation system (TAD) and are designated the M777A1.
TAD provides onboard ballistic computation, navigation, pointing and self-location, resulting in greater accuracy and faster reaction times.

The M777A2 variant nominated by Australia features software and hardware upgrades enabling it to use Excalibur projectiles in conjunction with the Modular Artillery Charge System (MACS).
This increases maximum range to 40km from the 24.7km achievable with standard rounds and 30km using rocket-assisted rounds.

In US service the system has a 10-man gun crew. Australia is understood to be looking at 7-8 man crew.

Getting around
The gun can be underslung from a CH-47 or towed by a 2.5 tonne truck, a Bushmaster or, if necessary, a Supacat 6x6 all-terrain vehicle.
The Canadian Army is using LAV111s as gun tractors, and trials are currently underway in the US manoeuvring the gun by quad bike.

Any purchase of the M777A2 is likely to be via FMS, since 80 per cent of construction is undertaken in the US and Australia might seek early delivery by taking over some US places on the production line.

Raytheon Australia’s proposal for the existing M198 howitzers is based on a South Korean conversion of its M198s to KH179 standard, reducing weight from 7,150 kg to 6,890 kg and integrating the digital FCS on the upgraded gun with AFATDS

Meanwhile ADM has learned that Australia has formally requested the sale from the US of an undisclosed number of Excalibur rounds, and the breeches of at least 18 of the in-service M198s are being modified to fire the extended-range projectile.

This is understood to be a precaution against the possible deployment of M198s to support Australian troops in Afghanistan should the current artillery support provided by Dutch-manned PzH2000s be withdrawn.