Land Force: Where are the SPHs? | ADM Mar 2011
Gregor Ferguson | Sydney
Speculation that the selection of a protected 155 mm 52 calibre self-propelled howitzer (SPH) for Army might face further delays or even be dropped appears to have been misplaced, with Defence confirming a submission will go to government this year.
This follows the continued inclusion of Project Land 17 Phase 1C in the December 2010 Update to the Defence Capability Plan (DCP), with a Year of Decision (YOD) between 2010 and 2013, and Initial Operating Capability (IOC) scheduled somewhere between 2015 and 2017.
While this timetable remains the same as that published in the December 2009 Update, it’s worth remembering that the schedule as set out five months earlier in the July 2009 DCP envisaged a YOD of 2010-11, with IOC between 2012-14 – some three years sooner than is currently anticipated.
And ironically, it was in October 2009 that then Defence Minister John Faulkner described the whole of Land 17 – towed lightweight 155mm guns, the SPH, and a Digital Terminal Control System to improve coordination of air, naval, and land fires – as high priority acquisitions.
With several of the 35 M777A2 ultra lightweight howitzers ordered in 2009 via the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) channel now having been delivered, the continued delay in progressing the SPH requirement – the Request for Tender for this phase closed in April 2008 – has raised eyebrows.
However, Defence confirmed in December that it had completed the tender evaluation process, including an Offer Definition and Refinement Period (ODRP), which began early in 2009 and a submission was being prepared for government consideration in 2011. A Defence spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to comment in any further detail until after such consideration had taken place.
The requirement is for two batteries to provide weight of fire, range and tactical manoeuvre to support the mechanised units of the Darwin-based 1st Brigade. While first pass approval was received in February 2006 to seek proposals for 18, 24 or 30 SPH to replace the army’s 36 M198 155mm towed guns, financial constraints are expected to restrict any purchase to 18 platforms or less.
The extended selection process has led to suggestions that Army’s artillery requirements could be satisfied by the M777A2, possibly with an additional 22-gun order to bring numbers up to the maximum 57 systems specified in first pass documentation.
Certainly, given the current focus on asymmetric warfare, a trend is evident among western nations to focus more on lightweight, easily-transportable artillery pieces than heavily armoured tracked designs.
One such example is the UK, which is to retire about 46 of its 132 active AS90 Braveheart 155mm SPH as part of its Strategic Defence and Security Review and, ADM understands, is seeking quotes from BAE Systems for more than 100 M777s in batches of varying quantities.
However, most larger armies continue to also deploy SPHs which offer full off-road mobility, can keep up with armoured units on any terrain and offer similar levels of protection.
The remaining two of the initial six contenders for the Australian SPH requirement are thought to be the Panzerhaubitze (PzH) 2000 offered by Kraus-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) teamed with BAE Systems Australia, and the updated AS-9 variant of the K9 Thunder proposed by Raytheon Australia partnering with Samsung Techwin.
“Thought to be” because Defence declines to comment on reports from sources close to the program that KMW received a letter from the Defence Material Organisation (DMO) last April formally declining its tender.
According to sources, KMW had agreed to participate in the ODRP but then declined a DMO request to sign a 50-page Deed. This raised contentious Intellectual Property issues and sought the company’s agreement to a three-year extension of the tender offer beyond 15 April 2010 - a request made some 30 months after receipt of the original tender response.
KMW reportedly regarded as insufficient the time allowed for it to consider its position but said it would nevertheless unilaterally respond to any DMO questions. The sources said the company was then advised that until it signed the Deed, the questions could not be asked.
Although both KMW and Raytheon Australia have declined to comment on the reports, Raytheon is understood to have signed the DMO document, presumably thus agreeing to the extension of its tender proposal.
So is it a one-gun race? Possibly, although the time taken to move to a submission to government suggests some competitive comparisons may be involved.
The PzH 2000 is in service with Germany, Greece, Italy and also the Netherlands, three of whose PzH2000s provided fire support to Australian forces in Afghanistan’s Oruzgen province on several occasions. The Dutch army has decided to reduce its order for 57 platforms by 18 and these guns, most of them yet to be built, form part of the KMW’s Land 17 proposal.
Some 532 K-9s are on order for the South Korean armed forces and Samsung Techwin is supplying components to Turkey for more than 300 of the howitzers.
The K-9 too was in action recently, responding to North Korean shelling of South Korea’s Yeonpyeong Island. According to the Korea Times, three of a six-gun K9 detachment fired 80 rounds at North Korean coastal bases, two guns were damaged by North Korean fire, and one was temporarily put out of action by a blocked barrel.