Weeapons

 

BAE'S ARCHER: The U.S. Army's 155 Millimeter Super Gun of the Future?

Over the summer the U.S. Army released a Request For Proposal (RFP) that called for a more mobile, lethal and survivable 155-millimeter system to replace its current fleet of towed howitzers. Last year, the Army approved the requirement to conduct a “shoot-off Evaluation” of candidate systems at the Yuma Proving Grounds (YPG), which would occur in Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) in order to inform the U.S. Army future requirements.

Among those defense contractors that responded is BAE Systems, which proposed its ARCHER howitzer platform, a fully automated weapons system that the company said could provide highly responsive and versatile fire support to troops in combat.

BAE Systems has offered the ARCHER, which is already in service with the Swedish Army with the highest technical and manufacturing readiness levels, for participation in the Army’s planned shoot-off evaluation.

“ARCHER is a mature, proven system that can quickly get into the fight and strike enemy targets at long ranges, with a high rate of fire and very fast displacement times, and is made for combat against large power adversaries,” said Chris King, director of business development at BAE Systems, via a statement.