Image source: topwar.ru
Rheinmetall from Germany made a presentation of five key new developments for equipping army field artillery. The interest of the Greek armed forces in them is understandable, because now Athens is more interested than ever in increasing the power and combat capability of its army against the background of the growing deterioration of relations with neighboring Turkey. The German company's novelties are described by the Defense Review publication.
The first development presented by the German company is a new improved 155–mm ammunition Assegai, which is designed to increase the firing range of the self-propelled artillery installation (ACS) PzH-2000GR. With this ammunition, the ACS will be able to attack targets at a distance of 63 kilometers.
The second important development is new projectiles with Smart–ER (Extended Range) submunitions, which are designed to hit armored targets moving at low speed. They will be available for artillery batteries armed with the same PzH-2000GR, as well as M-109.
The third development is a new type of SMArt–ER (Extended Range) ammunition, which additionally increases the firing range to 38 kilometers (from 27 kilometers).
Image source: topwar.ru
The fourth development is the new L60 barrel, which can be installed on the PzH-2000GR ACS. Such a barrel provides an even greater firing range of the gun – 70 kilometers or more. However, such trunks have a drawback – they can make it difficult for self-propelled guns to maneuver on narrow city streets.
Image source: topwar.ru
Finally, the fifth development is a package of modernization transformations for the M–109 self-propelled howitzer. A new 52 caliber L52 barrel can be installed on this gun, increasing the firing range. Rheinmetall pays special attention to checking the M-109 chassis in terms of strength and load in order to have an idea of what further solutions can be offered in order to increase the firing range and rate of fire of the gun.
Recall that the ground forces are still the basis of the combat power of the Greek armed forces. The Greek ground forces are currently armed with 418 M-109 self-propelled howitzers of various modifications of American production and 24 German self-propelled howitzers PzH 2000. The Greek artillery also has 36 MLRS M270 MLRS of American production and 109 MLRS RM-70 (Czech version of the BM-21 "Grad").
