The Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) has ordered BAE Systems Bofors a total of 48 Archer artillery systems. The 155-millimeter howitzers will be mounted on 8×8 HX2 chassis from Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) in Vienna.
On the one hand, the procurement is intended to replace the eight (-> here you can find the latest news from the Ukraine war) Archer systems and the 14 howitzers of the same type sold to the UK at the same time. On the other hand, Stockholm also intends to upgrade the steep-fire capabilities of its army.
In the UK, the Archer systems replaced the AS-90 artillery systems donated by London to Kiev. The army intends to use them to bridge the gap until a state-of-the-art new system is introduced. “This agreement with a close European ally will meet the needs of the British Army until the longer-term Mobile Fires Platform comes into service – a program we are pressing ahead with,” British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said at the time, expressing his delight. Sweden originally had 48 Archer systems in its inventory, but half of them had recently been decommissioned. With the new howitzers now purchased for a total of 430 million euros, the army’s inventory will increase to 72 active systems; according to FMV, the two remaining stored howitzers will be used for the further development of the model. https://militaeraktuell.at/airpower-projektleiter-brigadier-prieler-im-gespraech-2/ “The procurement that has now taken place is very important, the systems are already urgently needed in our army,” Jonas Lotsne, Head of the Army Materiel Department at FMV, expressed his delight at the signing of the contract. “We have passed on systems to Ukraine to support the country in its defensive struggle,” Lotsne continued. “But now it’s time to restore and expand our artillery combat capabilities.” Delivery of the first system is planned for 2025. Conventional ammunition can be fired up to 40 kilometers away with the system, while the precision-guided Excalibur ammunition can also reach targets more than 50 kilometers away.
Here for further reports on Rheinmetall Defence (international), here to further reports on Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) and here to further reports from BAE Systems.
