Have Guns, Will Upgrade: The M109A6 Paladin PIM Partnership
Related Stories: Americas - USA, BAE, Contracts - Intent, Electronics - General, Spotlight articles, Tanks & Mechanized
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The USA’s M109 self-propelled 155mm howitzers were first introduced in 1962, as a form of armored mobile artillery that could stand up to the massed fire tactics of Soviet heavy artillery and rockets. They and their companion M992 Armored Ammunition Resupply Vehicles have been rebuilt and upgraded several times, most recently via the M109A6 Paladin upgrade.
Even with the Paladin’s computerization and fast, safe set-up and take-down, however, a noticeable capability gap exists between the M109 and newer self-propelled guns like Britain’s AS90 Braveheart, Germany’s PzH-2000, or innovative long-range systems like South Africa’s G6. America’s comparable XM2001 Crusader/ XM2002 ARRV was canceled as an $11 billion Cold War relic in 2002, and the light 155mm NLOS-C may also be dead with the recent removal of the Future Combat Systems ground vehicle program.
In the mean time, the Army has re-learned a few home truths. Artillery arrives in seconds rather than minutes or hours, is never unavailable due to bad weather, and delivers a possible volume of explosive destruction that would otherwise require bombers and precision weapons worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Most combat casualties in the gunpowder age have come from artillery fire, and the US Army will need its mobile fleet for some time to come. So, too, will the many countries that have bought the M109 and still use it, unless BAE wishes to cede that market to South Korea’s modern K9/K10 system, or new concept candidates like the KMW/GDLS DONAR. What to do? Enter the Paladin Integrated Management (PIM) program….
- M109 Limitations & the M109A6 Paladin
- PIM: A New M109A6 Paladin
- Contracts and Key Events [updated]
- Additional Readings
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