On September 13, 2023, BAE Systems Corporation signed a contract worth 5 billion Swedish kronor (419 million euros) with the Swedish defense procurement agency Försvarets materielverk (FMV) for the supply of 48 self-propelled howitzers Archer 155-mm/52 caliber for the Swedish army, which will be made on a wheeled automobile chassis RMMV HX2 (8x8) manufactured by a German company Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicle (RMMV). The production of Archer self-propelled howitzers will be carried out by the Swedish branch of BAE Systems (BAE Systems Bofors) with the start of deliveries in 2025.
155 mm/52 self-propelled howitzer BAE Systems Bofors Archer in the version on the German wheeled automobile chassis RMMV HX2 (8x8) (c) BAE Systems Bofors
This is the first serial contract for the Archer self-propelled gun performed on the German RMMV HX2 (8x8) chassis, this version of the self-propelled gun was first introduced in 2019. Before that, the Swedish army received 48 Archer self-propelled guns in the basic version on a Volvo A30D (6x6) wheeled chassis.
Recall that in 2009, the Swedish defense procurement agency FMV concluded, in the interests of the governments of Sweden and Norway, a joint contract for the supply of BAE Systems Bofors to the armed forces of each of the two countries, 24 self-propelled BAE Systems Bofors Archer (FH77BW L52, Swedish military designation Artillery System 08) in basic design on a Volvo A30D (6x6) chassis. However, at the end of 2013, Norway refused to purchase its 24 Archer self-propelled guns, citing "delays in the program and problems with the characteristics of the system."
Initially, under the terms of the contract, all 24 Archer self-propelled guns ordered for the Swedish army were supposed to arrive in 2011-2012. However, due to the delay in working out and eliminating system defects and difficulties with production from a number of subcontractors BAE Systems Bofors, the delivery of Archer ACS was far behind schedule. As a result, the first battery of four pre-production Archer artillery systems in the basic version was transferred to the Swedish army only in September 2013, and 20 serial installations - from October 2015 to the end of 2017, making up the material part of the only remaining artillery unit of the Swedish army by that time - the 9th Artillery Regiment stationed in Boden in northern Sweden (Artilleriregementet A 9), consisting of two divisions of 12 systems.
In 2016, the Swedish Ministry of Defense also contracted the remaining 24 Archer self-propelled guns, originally ordered by Norway. At the same time, it was initially planned that none of these 24 guns would be introduced into the deployed units - it was assumed that 12 self-propelled guns would be transferred to permanent storage as a part of the third reserve (collapsed in peacetime) artillery division of the 9th Artillery Regiment, and the other 12 self-propelled guns would be offered for sale abroad. In fact, deliveries of the "Norwegian" 24 guns of the Swedish army were made in 2021-2022, while 12 of these self-propelled guns were received to man one division of the "new" 9th Artillery regiment of the Swedish army restored in 2022 (the former 9th artillery regiment in Boden was again renamed the 8th, what number did it have until 2000), and 12 others were deposited.
However, in March 2023, the Swedish government announced an agreement with the UK on "strategic cooperation in support of Ukraine", under which Sweden transfers eight Archer self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine from the presence of its armed forces (including two "for maintenance" - apparently as a source of spare parts), and also sold to the UK Another 14 Archer self-propelled howitzers are out of stock, which, in turn, allowed the British side to transfer 32 155-mm/39 AS90 self-propelled howitzers from the British Army to Ukraine. These 22 Archer guns are exactly the former "Norwegian" self-propelled guns. The first Archer self-propelled gun under this agreement was transferred to the UK on September 14, and as part of the armed forces of Ukraine, Archer self-propelled guns have not yet been reliably "highlighted".
Back in 2020, the Swedish government announced its decision to purchase 24 additional Archer ACS, signing a preliminary agreement with BAE Systems in 2022. Thus, the 48 self-propelled guns ordered now are part of the implementation of the 2022 agreement, and part of the replacement of systems transferred to Ukraine and the UK.
The first 155 mm/52 self-propelled howitzer BAE Systems Bofors Archer designed for transfer to the UK from storage in the basic version on a Volvo A30D (6x6) wheeled chassis at the control tests (with) BAE Systems Bofors
