SHAH ALAM: Coming soon or next change? It appears that the local defence industry and wannabes are gearing up for an Army tender for the 155mm SPH. The tender was supposed to be open for bidding last June and earlier this month but were never published.
I was told that the RFB will be published soon though no one could be certain of the exact date. Coming soon or next change…as they say. Anyhow even though there is no general specifications being bandied about, it is likely involved up to 36 truck-mounted 155mm SPH, which have been the numbers talked about for the last 10 years or so. We would have gotten 29 M109 tracked SPH already but it was cancelled by the government in 2019.
Nexter Systems Caesar 155mm SPH
The Nexter Caesar 155mm SPH will likely start as the favourite as its been the most tested in country compared to the other contenders – like the Bae Systems Archer SPH and YugoImport Nora B-52 M-21 SPH. Of course they are other truck-mounted SPH like the Turkish MKE Yavuz 155mm SPH.
Nexter Caesar during its demonstration in Malaysia back in 1995.
One local company even signed an MOU in Turkey last week likely as precursor to act as the local agent for the 155mm SPH tender. It even managed to get call “local defence company” by sending a press release to the MSM which lapped it all up. A quick Google search showed that it has no track record of being a defence company apart from aspiration of course. It must be noted here that the Turkish Army has yet to induct into service a truck mounted SPH.
Bae Systems Archer SPH.
The tender for the 155mm SPH came at an opportune time for the Army as the US Army is conducting a shoot-out of the same truck mounted systems, mentioned above apart from the Turkish one – plus the American-made AM General Brutus SPH and the Israeli-made Elbit AMOS SPH. Perhaps we can get some information on the shoot-out to help the Army in making the decision for the 155mm SPH tender – despite the differing specifications and other issues.
The business end of the Nexter Systems Caesar 155mm/52 SPH.
Otherwise, simply order the Caesar 155m SPH already.
Nexter 105mm LG1 howitzer of the 10th Para Brigade at the Eksesais Para Predator 1/2021. BTDM
— Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (35)
Even with all the brouhaha about buying something chinese, I still think that the PCL-181 aka SH-15 would be a good fit for tentera darat. Cheap, lightweight and with NATO ammo and charge compatibility.
Caesar is enough. But i guess it would be cost a lot right ?
High time; the Royal Artillery Corps is in urgent need of attention. Towed guns simply don’t cut it in this day and age and tracked platforms have a larger footprint and are more expensive to buy and run. Makes sense to go for a wheeled platform. The Chinese make decent arty but the political environment is such that a Chinese but is extremely unlikely.
Hopefully we also get UASs (even short range ones) as it’ll be pointless to be able to hit up to 40km or do if we can’t sport targets. Fire direction centres at regimental level are also highly essential.
Still long way to go as the tender is not issued yet..could probably take 2 3 years still to materialize but we can only hope..Caesar will undoubtly will be the main contenders as i understand that the army will order additional lg1 in the future..But theres also yavuz 155mm..So the army will now only focus on sph not additional 155mm towed? Panter 155mm from mkek also looking quite good with their auxialiary power unit (APU)..or just buy additional g5 if army need more towed howitzers..
Theres also denel's T5-52 Sph,which using G5 gun on truck chassis..
Denel is in big financial difficulties, that is the reason they are not involved in the US Army SPH shoot-out. If they offer us their guns, it will be wise to reject them at the start as we will not know whether they can support the guns beyond the next few years.
Anything as long not chinese or isreal..
G5 is no longer manufactured.
We cannot ignore china. We are not a country far away in europe or south america.
Buying chinese is okay or even politically needed, As long as nothing sensitive like fighter jets, UAVs and the like, that could compromise the defence of our EEZ.
Buying something chinese will signal that we are not against china. Chinese howitzers with NATO ammo does not endanger our defence readiness in any way, as the ammo is the current one we are using and can be had from other countries. The PCL-181 unit cost of just 2.1 million dollars is also much more cheaper than the Caesar.
By the way just a few days ago Vietnam explicitly say that they won't be joining USA against China, something the US vice president was not expected to hear. Malaysia will be in the same situation too, and getting some chinese howitzers will clearly bring this point out.
In the meantime, we will still need to push back chinese intrusion into our EEZ. Something we need to balance very carefully.
fadinan - “Anything as long not chinese or isreal..”
- The political environment makes a Chinese buy unlikely. Do note however that when it comes to arty and missiles the Chinese have long reach a certain level of “maturity” so to speak.
- If Israel is mentioned; must as well include Togo because no chance of us buying from either.
Most unlikely we will even consider Elbit ATMOS so the US Army evaluation is moot.
Anyways the cast have been set for truck SPH so whatever the choice is it better be a good one; something with 52cal, rapid setup & dismount for shoot & scoot, semi-auto or full auto loading, fast FCS with MRSI ability, able to fire ERFB & RAP & smart guided rounds in the future, and A400M portable.
Its not just the make, performance, range but also spare parts n maintenance. Barrel life is important too. The canon bore needs relining etc. So the winner must be one where the supply of spare parts n maintenance is reliable.
The offers differs from fully auto - the Caeser to manual loading. Of course price differs too.
Plenty of choices not just from France, Turkey n China but also Eastern Europe too
The Caesar is the most numerous truck mounted SPH in service today so its stand to reason, all the support issues are already sorted out. With more guns in service, spare parts will also be readily available. Apart from Caesar, the only other truck mounted SPH already in service - apart from the Atmos - is the Swedish Archer, though only with Sweden. Of course there are the China ones but again only with the PLA. On the automatic loading, yes, its good thing to have but I believed the semi automatic loading is the better option for us.
gonggok - “We cannot ignore china”
Plainly obvious we can’t ignore China. How can we? China is the biggest FDI here and were are ASEAN’s largest trading trading partner with China ...
Doesn’t mean we have to or should buy Chinese ... The political climate is simply not conducive and there are various reasons why despite the Chinese making sound arty; makes far more sense to buy Western.
gonggok - “d, As long as nothing sensitive like fighter jets, UAVs and the like, that could compromise the defence of our EEZ”
Buying that stuff does not “compromise” anything ....It really makes no difference...
gonggok - “The PCL-181 unit cost of just 2.1 million dollars is also much more cheaper than the Caesar”
You are quoting paper prices without taking into account various other factors.