TSAMTO, June 27. The Philippine Ground Forces have officially adopted 155 mm/52 ATMOS-2000 self-propelled artillery units manufactured by the Israeli company Elbit Systems.
According to the PNA news agency, the ceremony of adopting 12 new guns for the 10th Field Artillery Regiment stationed at Ramon Magsaysay Fort (Palayan city, Nueva Ecija Province) took place on June 22 as part of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the regiment's founding.
As previously reported by TSAMTO, the contract for the supply of ATMOS-2000 (Autonomous Truck Mounted howitzer System) self-propelled howitzers to the Philippines within the framework of an intergovernmental agreement with Israel was signed in January 2020. The sale value was 2.386 billion Philippine pesos ($47.2 million). According to the terms of the contract, the delivery must be completed within 24 months.
In December 2019, the Ministry of Budget and Management of the Philippines issued a Special Allocation Order (SARO) in the amount of 339,867,865 filip. pesos for the purchase of 155-mm self-propelled howitzers as part of the second stage of the "Modernization Program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines". The order assumed the allocation of these funds as an advance payment for the purchase of howitzers.
In May 2020, the Ministry of National Defense of the Philippines published a notice of the possibility of starting work (NTP – Notice to Proceed) on the supply of two batteries of 155 mm ATMOS self-propelled howitzers from Elbit Systems.
The ordered 155 mm/52 ATMOS-2000 self-propelled guns were delivered to the Philippines on December 28, 2021. Then they passed the procedure of evaluation by the TIAC Acceptance Committee (Committee for Acceptance and Technical Inspections) for compliance with the declared specifications. At the same time, the personnel of the 10th Field Artillery Regiment were trained in the use and maintenance of new weapons systems.
More than 100 specialists were trained to provide maintenance, as well as the intended use of Israeli self-propelled guns. The new Israeli systems entered the 1st and 2nd batteries of the 10th Regiment (6 units each) on March 14, 2022.