TSAMTO, July 28. According to the Latvian news portal DELFI, the Latvian Ministry of Defense announced that an additional batch of 155-mm M-109A5OE self-propelled howitzers purchased from the Austrian Armed Forces was delivered to the country in July.
As reported by TSAMTO, the Ministry of Defense of Latvia and the Ministry of Defense and Sports of Austria in April 2017 signed a bilateral agreement on the sale of the first batch of 47 M-109A5OE self-propelled howitzers, driver training vehicles and fire control vehicles, as well as on the provision of related services.
The total cost of the purchase was not called, but it was reported that the price of a unit of equipment, depending on the modification, is from 60 to 140 thousand euros. The howitzers were modernized by the Austrian Armed Forces in the period 2003-2007, and then put into storage.
The first self-propelled howitzers were delivered to the port of Liepaja on October 1, 2017. In October 2018, the Latvian Ministry of Defense announced that all M-109A5OE self-propelled howitzers purchased from Austria had been received.
In April 2021, as a result of bilateral negotiations with the Ministry of Defense of Austria, the Ministry of Defense of Latvia signed an agreement on the purchase of an additional 18 self-propelled howitzers. The cost of this contract was about 2 million euros.
As stated, the purpose of purchasing additional howitzers is to strengthen the fire support capabilities from closed positions.
The SG M-109A5OE is an Austrian-Swiss modernization of the A2 and A3 howitzers with the replacement of the M185 barrel. They provide the ability to hit targets at ranges up to 22 km with standard ammunition and up to 30 km with extended-range active-reactive ammunition.
