The Artillery Gun Module (AGM, ''Artillerie-Geschütz-Modul'') is an air-portable self-propelled howitzer designed by

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG (KMW) is an arms industry company based in Munich, Germany. The company produces various types of equipment as well as rail locomotives, tanks, self-propelled artillery, and other armoured vehicles. KMW ...

. It is based on technology used in the

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

Panzerhaubitze 2000 The Panzerhaubitze 2000 ("tank howitzer 2000"), () abbreviated PzH 2000, is a German 155 mm self-propelled howitzer developed by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) and Rheinmetall in the 1980s and 1990s for the German Army. It is capable of a very h ...

(PzH 2000) system, to provide more air portable self-propelled artillery, transportable by Airbus A400 aircraft. The system is fully autonomous, the crew sitting in the cab, with similar performance to the PzH 2000, but with reduced cost, crew levels and weight. The AGM uses the PzH 2000 ballistic fire-control computer with integrated NATO Armaments Ballistic Kernel and the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Artillery Command and Control System. It is a modular system, the gun module can be fitted on a tracked or wheeled chassis. Costs can be reduced by fitting it to a user's suitable chassis of choice. Current development vehicles use a

MLRS A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple launchers which are fixed to a single platform, and shoots its rocket ordnance in a fashion similar to a voll ...

chassis. A vehicle independent auxiliary power unit (allowing the gun to be used with the carrier engine shut down) and an inertial reference unit with a

Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite ...

(GPS) connection are fitted. During trials in 2006, a demonstrator vehicle fired a volley of ten 155 mm rounds in 2 minutes and 19 seconds with a crew of two being seated in the fully armoured protected cab.

Other platforms

Donar

A further development of the AGM was revealed in 2008 as the Donar 155mm self-propelled artillery system. The system uses a modified ASCOD 2 IFV chassis with a newer, more efficient two-man turret with a fully automatic ammunition loading and handling system.

Boxer

In April 2014, KMW decided to integrate the AGM onto the Boxer armored vehicle, with the system making an appearance at

Eurosatory Eurosatory is the largest international defence and security exhibition for land and airland that is held every two years in the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre, Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with ...

in June 2014. The Boxer has to prove it can deal with recoil forces without stabilization, but stabilization concepts can be added if needed to retain shoot and scoot and 360 degree firing capability. The Boxer-AGM system could be used as an upgrade option for countries with existing Boxer fleets. Test firings are scheduled for late 2014. As of 2019, firing trials with the turret traversed front and to its sides were carried out at WTD 41 proving ground and were successful without the use of stabilizers. The trials also demonstrated the ability to fire an 8-round burst and redeploy under 90 seconds, and carry out multi-round simultaneous impact missions. The combination of the Boxer vehicle with AGM became known as Remote Controlled Howitzer 155 (RCH 155) due to the turret module being remote controlled. Additionally, a remote weapons station with a .50 caliber machine gun has been fitted on the roof.

Potential customers

The Artillery Gun Module was a potential choice for the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

as they seek to replace the

M109 The M109 is an American 155 mm turreted self-propelled howitzer, first introduced in the early 1960s to replace the M44. It has been upgraded a number of times, most recently to the M109A7. The M109 family is the most common Western indirect ...

in their service. However, in 2017, it appeared that the IDF had selected a development of the ATMOS 2000 instead, possibly because they preferred a wholly Israeli produced system for legal reasons.Elbit selected to develop IDF artillery capability
4 Apr, 2017 19:27, Yuval Azulay

References

External links