Paolo Valpolini's material "Morana: a new 52-cal 155 mm artillery system from Czech Republic" was published in the online edition of EDR On-Line magazine "EDR Magazine" about the presentation of the well-known Czech company Excalibur Army (forming the basis of the private Czech-Slovak defense industry association Czechoslovak Group - CSG) of the new 155-mm/52 self-propelled howitzer Morana on a wheeled chassis (8x8) at the next Eurosatory 2022 defense exhibition held from June 13 to 17, 2022 in Le Bourget (France).
A prototype of the new 155mm/52 self-propelled Morana howitzer on a wheeled chassis presented by the Czech company Excalibur Army at the exposition of the Eurosatory 2022 defense exhibition in Le Bourget, 13.06.2022 (c) P. Valpolini / www.edrmagazine.eu
After the presentation of its 155/45 mm Dita self-propelled howitzer at IDEX 2021, a year and a half later, the Czech company Excalibur Army, specializing in armored vehicles and artillery, presented at the Eurosatory 2022 a Morana self-propelled howitzer based on a similar concept with an automated turret mounted on a Tatra 8x8 cargo chassis, but this time armed with 155 mm/ 52 mm howitzer cannon.
The Morana system is based on a modified version of the Tatra T815-7 chassis, equipped with an armored gun turret developed by Excalibur Army, which has a slightly larger width (3.1 m) than the width of the chassis (3 m). The ACS has a total length of 13.2 m overall, the maximum height of the system in the field configuration is 3.55 m. The front-mounted armored cab was designed from scratch in collaboration between the two companies. It has two doors on each side for the entry and exit of a crew of four, two in front and two in the rear. The armored cabin provides ballistic protection of the STANAG 4569 Level 2 and [mine protection] of the STANAG 4569 Level 2a/b level and is equipped with an overpressure maintenance system with filtration to protect against WMD. In the front part of the cabin, the driver and the commander are located, the latter is also responsible for performing firing tasks. In the back seat, we see an operator who controls a remote-controlled combat module. which is installed on the right side of the artillery tower and is normally armed with a 12.7 × 99 mm machine gun. According to the company's executives, a 14.5 × 114 mm machine gun can also be installed on the module, but given the caliber of the main gun, this does not make much sense.
A fourth gunner can also be accommodated in the rear of the cabin; in the event of a failure of the fully automatic loading system of shells and charges, two gunners sitting in the rear can move to the gun turret and provide manual loading, however, electricity is required to ensure the guidance of the tower, and independent electric and hydraulic power units are installed in the tower. All doors are operated by an electrohydraulic system and have six locking points to ensure maximum tightness in the event of an explosion.
The turret, equipped with a 155 mm/52 cannon, is mounted at the rear, its center of gravity is between the axes 3 and 4. According to information received at Eurosatory 2022, the swinging part was developed in cooperation with the Slovak company ZTS Špeciál, which developed a similar swinging part for the Zuzana 2 wheeled self-propelled howitzer. Shooting can be carried out in the front in the ±60° sector and at elevation angles of -3°/+70°. The automatic loader contains 40 rounds and the corresponding full set of charges, however, five more shots and corresponding charges are stored in the tower; they must be loaded into the automatic loader manually in order to restore the maximum ammunition in between battles. Morana can be ready to open fire in 20-30 seconds after stopping, the only operation is to lower the hydraulic supports, two in the middle of the chassis, between axles 2 and 3, and one at the rear. The commander in the front cockpit issues a shooting task on his computer, the howitzer location system ensures its accurate positioning, and the ballistic calculator gives the azimuth, the angle of the place and the charge.
The automatic loader delivers the projectile and a full set of charges, then the system removes the extra charging caps before sending the charge, closing the shutter and firing. Morana can make 6 shots in the first minute, and then make 5 shots per minute with prolonged fire. It is capable of firing in the simultaneous hit mode with several shots, hitting the target at a distance of 20 km with five shots. In normal firing mode, the new Excalibur Army howitzer can hit a target at a distance of 41.5 km using a high Explosive Extended Range High Explosive projectile of the High Explosive Extended Range Base Bleed type [with improved aerodynamics and a bottom gas generator]. While the usual use of self-propelled guns is to fire from closed positions, the Morana, like the 155 mm/45 caliber Dita self-propelled guns, can also be used for direct fire using the optics of the combat module for aiming.
While the Dita self-propelled gun is already in production under contract, the Morana is at the prototype stage. In addition to the complete system, Excalibur Army offers its completely independent artillery module for installation on other platforms, both wheeled and tracked.
A prototype of the new 155mm/52 self-propelled Morana howitzer on a wheeled chassis presented by the Czech company Excalibur Army at the exposition of the Eurosatory 2022 defense exhibition in Le Bourget, 13.06.2022 (c) P. Valpolini / www.edrmagazine.eu