The UK Will Purchase Hundreds of Heavy Gun Vehicles for Deployment by The 2020s. 

With the shipping of the AS 90 to the Ukraine, the UK has procured the release of some Archer systems that Sweden had in reserve, these are with the original Volvo truck, BAE has already has produced a version with the Man SV truck, the standard UK military truck

We need the worst one of these, then change the specification ten times so it is the most expensive and then demand it has a British engine :D

With the Boxer RCH the maintenance of the British wheeled armoured vehicles will be reduced to one or two systems. The Rheinmetall is future proof but it isn't proven yet. The Archer is already in use to replace the AS-90. In my opinion they are the most likely entries in the tender.

It would of been more informative if it showed the same info for each weapon. The basic info like range was shown but how accurate are they all. What are the shoot and scoot times? Cost would also be interesting to know. How long do the barrels last on the HX3 with the 80km range?

K9A2 will be a best choice

RCH 155 Boxer will be the best choice since they have bought the Boxer IFV.

An update: Sweden has signed up for 48 new units at ca €10 million per unit. The important point is this is not program cost. It is drive away cost with very limited spare parts as Sweden already operates Archer, it does not require additional package (training and ammunition etc). If it is to be a program cost, it will be closer to or over €14-15m per unit. It is shocking beyond comprehension as the last sales was $4.5m per unit. The price effectively more than doubled since the last sales.

Ukraine war experience is anything to go by… 1. Wheeled systems have low survivability. The tyres get damaged easily making the vehicle inoperable and expensive to maintain. With or without all the innovations for wheeled vehicles, its mobility and crew protection has more room to improve. Ukraine ordered 76 more Krab (Polish K9 chassis + AS90 turret) 2. Archer, Caesar both carry less munitions than K9 and requires manual loading. For example, for Archer 1 hour sustained firing would be 6 rounds per min for 3.5min (20 rounds magazine) plus 1.5min firing preparation plus 10 mins resupply, would result in 20 rounds per 15 mins, total 80 rounds per each hour. Caesar take even longer. K9A2 has 10 rounds per min firing rate, 4 mins for 40 round magazine, 30 sec prep time, plus 5 min resupply, 40 rounds takes 10 mins. Hence 240 rounds per each hour. 1 K9 can do the job of 3 Archers. K9 also has K10 automatic resupply vehicle which can resupply without any crews leaving their vehicles vs manual loading for all others. Archer and K9 costs are estimated to be similar. 3. UK requirement for 20 rounds per minute has a familiar ring to Ajax saga. We have no fxcking clue what is achievable and available in the market. With the tiny budget we have, get real and do your job rather than daydreaming at you desk 4. K9 and its variants (including Turkey and Polish Krab) has over 60% global market share. More importantly, all buyers (excluding new buyers who are still waiting for deliveries) have exercised their Options for further acquisition. India, Finland, Estonia have placed or in the process of placing further orders beyond their options. Repeat purchase is a strong signal of good operability. There has not been repeat purchase for any other systems named here. In fact, Denmark, former user of Caesar is planning to switch to K9 (after they clear up the corruption saga). 5. Once again, with such number in operation, K9 is likely to be in operation for next 40 years. Poland, India, Australia, Norway will contribute to further enhancements (MLU, mid life upgrade) and various spare parts will be available in foreseeable future. The other systems have not shown and unlikely to reach similar level of economy of scale. Archer has particularly low production number (2000). 6. Delivery is an important matter. Poland received their first K9 7 months after signing. Rheinmetall delivered their first unit of Leo2A7HU to Hungary after 4-5 years. It is different product category but still the same producer with same challenges. If this is anything to go by, we will not be able to complete the project even by early 2030s. 7. K9 Club. Hanhwa (producer of K9) actively coordinates annual global seminar on operability, maintenance and strategy on K9 with all its buyers. This provides unparalleled advantage in sharing knowledge and experience on the system. Furthermore, any idea on upgrades are collated and update on the next upgrades. There is a hidden benefit to this as well. All users get to know each others and in case of emergency, they have direct channel to speak to each other. As we have seen from Ukraine, being able to access others inventory and equipments are intangible asset on its own. For example, Archer, if Britain is to support Nato vs Russia conflict, where would we get extra spare parts or even extra systems? The same for Caesar etc. whereas K9, we can get it from Korea (1,100-1,500 units in operation), India (200 units), Egypt (ca 200 units), Australia (ca 50 units), Poland (900 units)etc etc would be an invaluable resources we can access. Their experience, spare parts, training etc are what would be available for the UK to join and use later on. Who else is offering such network? 8. On a side note, it is likely that UK suppliers will join Hanhwa supplychain. In particular, UK armour plate production is at risk (currently nationalised) and this can be an invaluable opportunity to join a ready made market. For example, Poland (300-400 units), Romania (currently in discussion for 300 units) and Egypt (200 units) does not have its own armour plate technology or steel mill capabilities to produce their own chassis. They will have to procure it from outside. Posco (Korean steel mill) is up to their eyeballs on their supply capacity. This can secure 10s of thousands jobs in the UK and reinvest to strengthen our own technology for the next gen armour plates. This is not an isolated case for armours, there are many other areas where we can take part and lead the segment again, securing tens of thousand jobs. Please for once, let’s look outside the UK borders and lead the world. If you cannot beat them JOIN THEM!!!!

70km range with standard rounds thats insane

It would be prudent for the UK government to own two SPG's.... Wheeled - Ceasar Tracked K9 Thunder - Already in use by many countries around the world.

Why would a main demand be sustained rate of fire for ten minutes ? After one or two minutes if you're lucky the enemy will know your position and strike back. I would by far prefer a gun that is fast to deploy, fires of a rapid burst and is very fast moving out again.

About time someone has woken up!

HX3 looks excellent

Pity they won't station them at Dover.

High rates of sustained fire will need water cooling. It will also extend barrel life.

My money would be on the archer or k9. A wheeled system is faster, uses less fuel and is easier to maintain, but tracked will do better on rough ground and will potentially give more crew protection from counter battery shrapnel.

Archer was Developed by Bofors which in turn was merged into BAE Systems. Maximum range with excalibur is actually over 65km dont know why Wiki english list it as 50 which should be what is possible with the Bonus round which in turn was developed by bofors and Nexxer just for ARcher. Archer is usually crewed by a Gunner a Driver and a commander but can be handled by a lone crew with full functionality.

Hundreds? absolutely no chance it's the UK!!!!

I like that HX3 👍🏻

Hopefully the UK will go with the Archer,it's absolutely lethal and the perfect matxh of in and out quick

Give us the kit from wherever but build here the factories to manufacture the ammunition and presumably the barrels.

BAE is not pronounced like "bay". It's an accronym with all three letters pronounced seperately in sequence: Bee Ay Eeeeeeeee (British English - not yankee doodle English).

I prefer sigma hx3 rheinmettel Elbit systems and archer plarform for minimum personell and future growth. K9A2 and Archer will be choice though. Caesar with Tatra has been battle proven in Afghanistan, Yemen, Africa and Ukraine with precision good feedback and massive good feedback caesar has been even used by USA in Afghanistan and bab el mandheb kuwait qatar bases to counter houthis with excellent results.

Hanva K9 is good option, Indian army having those and they are best in operations

Great stocking stuffer.

If the Army said it needed something to bark after a variety of lengthy and expensive studies the MOD would probably buy the worlds most expensive cat pour petrol on it and......WOOF! , job done bonuses all round .

Based on Ukraine war, My preference would be: -1) longest range with cheap ammunition. Who cares what the system costs if you can’t afford to fire thousands of rounds (range for drone protection) 2) reliability over months of battle duty 3) only 2 people to minimize losses (or need less personal)

odds on, it will go to rheinmetal, as they are doing the challenger 3, although the archer is the better platform

The UK needs to develop and make their own.

Given our lamentable military procurement and development history, buy whatever is available off the shelf!

archers are the future if you hit on the first round you dont have to fire 5 rounds

By the 2020s? I thought we're already there, it's 2023, time to wake up!

If past British military expenditure is anything to go by, they will buy the wrong quantities of the wrong weapons and spend a small fortune doing so.

Boxer or hx3 has the best chance, as the MOD already uses both chassis

I don't believe that 'one size fits all'. I'd go for a mix of Archer and K9. That gives you the speed of 'shoot 'n' scoot' of the Archer and the rough ground capabilities of the K9. I'd see Archers being deployed first to make quick runs and clear the way for the K9's to widen the field.

This announcement was made seven months ago!

HX3 or Archer are probably the best systems. However aBoxer based solution woud make sense with Boxers are already being used in the UK. I would expect BAE makes the race as it is a British company and we all know how this things work...

Archer as we are getting some now.

but only 148 upgraded tanks :(

Archers?

K9's and Archers seem to have won this contract over. K9's are coming and Archer systems are already in service (a small number thus far but I have spoken with artillerymen who have used the Archer have told me the AS90 is still valid though becoming outgunned and the Archer is the one they would choose if the finances are in place to afford a complete re-armament with. They doubt this is the case or will be the case and although the individuals I spoke with have not yet had the chance to see a K9 let alone use one they expect it to be top notch as in their words, "The Koreans have shown they do not produce shite products". Wonder if and when delivery is started with those new systems if the venerable AS90's will get a makeover and passed to Ukraine. I repeat they all said the AS90 is still a valid and effective weapon.

Exactly who is there to serve these guns?

so cool

Even using a tank chassis can be destroyed by drone attacks, let alone using a truck chassis. The fired artillery will perform a samba dance because it is unstable if it chooses a truck chassis. Reckless choice 😂

Hundreds of heavy guns, doubtful. Probably more like 12.

We still make things then

By Airfix. Paint and glue not included.

Makes sense

70Km?

Clickbait thumbnail with an electromagnet cannon

This guy is driving me nuts

That Archer looked flimsy af as it wobbled when firing 😂 Reckon on stress cracks after a few years…..

Thank you Tsar Putin. You're single-handedly rebuilding NATO while adding powerful new nations to the club. LOL.

Hundreds? Expect 10-12 then

Why no PZH2000? With the newest munition developed for it it exceeds the 70 km requirement, and matches, or almost matches all other requirements. And it has proven to exceed some critical specs in Ukraine (barrels last 4-5 times as long as the spec says with no significant loss of precision, it is able to fire many times more projectiles than the 100 from the specs). This directly translates to much lower operating costs than what the specs say, at absolutely stellar performance. The only critics it has received is sensitivity to dust, of which there is little in the grassy steppes of Russia and being somewhat easier to damage by bad roads than other similar systems - shouldn't be the case on soft ground in Russian steppes either.

K9A2 is the only decent one.

Yes we will buy hundreds, and then put them with our hundreds of tanks, right next to the Unicorns.

wow

Computer VO kills this film.

"Let's start an inferno." - says INFERNO CANNON.......

Archer by Bay-systems? WTF?

I’ll see all you experts at DSEI… 😉

millimeter not millimeters, ie, one five five millimeter.= 155MM, easy peasy

Can they hit the French coast and sink dinghies?

Bet it’s not drone proof. 💥💥💥🔥🔥🔥😂😂😂

Why do you keep talking about range they are all Caliber 52 except the Rheinmetall with HX3 which might be upgraded with caliber 60 all the other guns have the same range only difference is the ammo you put in it. What you should focus on is rate of fire (Both short burst and sustained), time in and out of fire position, crew requirement, number of rounds carried, speed on road , weight (Last 2 is strategic mobility) ability to fire on the move, combat proven/Prototype status, upgradeability, top speed on road/terrain, drone defense , and price The rest is just clickbait

Please try to make an effort next time to research and choose the right illustrations, every time NEXTER CAESAR is mentioned it shows illustrations from ELBIT ATMOS,

I don't like the idea of wheeled artillery. Far too vulnerable.

Except they don't produce enough ammo fact

if its not british then dont buy it. we need something thats designed and built in the uk!!

Archer for me, simple design and capable of doing what it says. Let's face it, if we fear the Russians, it'll end up as scrap metal on the battlefield like everything else

UK will need to deploy these on their own streets with allowing their enemy to fester within.

so what do wheels have over tracks ?

Archer is the system for UK👍🏻

Chasis? Do you not read your work?

B.A.E, not "bay"😂

That picture really looks FAKE

RheinmetallDenel South Africa has already 155/52 missiles in production firing 72 to 76 km. They are busy now with the developing a missile that can be fired by the G6-52 a distance of 150km. Rheinmetall Germany and other Nato countries gave orders for 155mm and other tipe of ammunition . The local factories of Rheinmetall Denel will be expanded to dubbel their production.

It is 2020

No we won’t 😂 and if we do they won’t work or fire the wrong shells or they will be given away

Another ‘GC’ ?

🇬🇧👍

Waste of money. Money better spent on Himars or like multi launch rockets

Rheinmetall looks good with great range, low crew requirements and good crew protection plus future proofing. Archer’s shoot and scoot provides excellent system protection but needs more crew who are exposed during use, fitting on a MAN chassis would aid commonality. K9 gives better mobility in European theatre and is cheaper. Boxer provides commonality and ability to switch firing module onto another base vehicle if it sustains damage. Hmmm, it’s nice to have a range of choices for a change….

sending em to ukraine?

thats great we will get them , most probably give them away too , as the army will have no one to use them . as all the cut backs they are doing . its just piss poor .

What a load of crap. Money wasted that should be spent on thing that benefits us rather than others. Either build in UK or forget it.

Yes buildthem and give them away.. A sure well balanced plan.. Rather out the money into the NHS

I just hope they make the decision based on what the Army wants and not some inane political logic.

And we all know just how truthful the russians are about their equipment

I like the K9. Samsung was making advanced electronics long before most Americans had an idea to buy a computer.

Great to see not one British manufacturer bidding on the job... Strange that BAE produce the US Paladin 155mm. Ben "the div" wallace has another procurement that stinks wonder if this will be a complete disaster like Ajax.

80 km what a JOKE

I would suggest purchasing the excellent South African G6. with some first world backing it'll continue to be the best

If any other contract being given to BAE that £800 million will double. They are a cowboy pirate company. There are more honourable Somali pirates.

What on Earth is UK suppose to do with thousands of howitzers. It's an island nation, requiring naval and air defence

Of course they will buy it because they don't know how to made it...

Simply, buy the Russian one.

😂😂😂 modern uavs

A Stanley knife would be a much better buy available from B anQ can be used to sink inflatables sent from France 🇫🇷 today.😅😅😅😅