Singapore has been confirmed to be an export customer for the Elbit Sigma 155 self-propelled howitzer, after displaying one at a parade along with an unknown precision strike weapon mounted on a utility vehicle.
Photos posted by the Singapore Army’s social media pages of a parade marking the 50th anniversary of its 6th Division showed a range of artillery and support vehicles used by the unit in the background, including what it called a Truck Mounted Gun and Precision Land Shooter.
The publicly posted photos were not clear enough to identify both vehicles with any degree of certainty, but subsequent photos of the former posted online by attendees at the event showed clearly that it was a Sigma 155.
Singapore’s Ministry of Defence told ADM that the fully-automated vehicle will be progressively introduced into service and replace its existing 155mm howitzer systems.
These consist of the locally developed Primus 39-calibre tracked self-propelled howitzer and FH-2000 52-calibre towed system, with two battalions of each believed to be in service. It is not known if Singapore plans a 1-for-1 replacement of these systems with the Sigma 155.
The Southeast Asian island nation has said for a number of years that it had an outstanding requirement for an automated truck mounted 52-calibre howitzer that would reduce its crew to just three personnel, with former defence minister Ng Eng Hen saying in 2022 that deliveries would commence in 2024.
It however has not disclosed what system it had selected for the requirement nor had any manufacturer disclosed a sale to Singapore, although Elbit announced in 2021 it secured a US $106 million (approx. A $152 million) contract for the Sigma 155 to a customer in the Asia-Pacific that would be fulfilled by 2026.
The Sigma 155 is mounted on an Oshkosh VLSR 10x10 truck, with Elbit literature claiming that it is capable of engagement ranges of up to 41 km with standard ammunition and up to 70 km with rocket-assisted projectiles.
It also claims to be fully automated, with laying, ammunition handling, fuse setting, loading and firing achieved with a crew of just two to three from inside its armoured cabin, separate from the enclosed howitzer turret that can rotate 360 degrees and also holds 40 projectiles, 216 modular charges and 45 primers.
The Precision Land Shooter that was also at the Singaporean parade consists of nine launch canisters, likely to be an unknown loitering munition or guided missile, angled upwards and mounted on an Isuzu D-Max 4x4 utility.
The ministry did not answer ADM’s query about the type of munitions, saying instead that it “is a precision strike capability that supports the Army’s ability to respond with greater precision and speed in increasingly complex and urbanised operating environments.”