The Government of Canada has confirmed extremely large-scale and objectively unprecedented measures to update and strengthen the artillery component of its army within the framework of the Indirect Fires Modernization (IFM) program.
According to it, according to the publication Defense Archives it is planned to purchase 80-98 new self-propelled guns in 155-mm caliber, up to 99 120-mm self-propelled mortars on the LAV 6 ACSV chassis and up to 85 self-propelled mortars on another lighter platform. As an option, the replacement of 120-mm mortars with the purchase of additional 133 81-mm self-propelled mortars is being considered. Additional vehicles for the delivery of ammunition, reconnaissance and control vehicles, etc., should be purchased for all these systems.
On the part of News Hub, we note that currently the 22.5-thousand Canadian Ground Forces operate only 33 155-mm M777 trailed howitzers, 28 105-mm LG1 MkII howitzers, 24 81-mm self-propelled mortars on the LAV Bison chassis, as well as about 100 conventional 81-mm mortars.
It is also known about about 100 old 105-mm M101 howitzers, which were received somewhere in the 50s and 60s with modernization in the late 90s.
And now we are not talking about renewal, but about a radical strengthening of the artillery component of the Canadian army. At the same time, this should also mean an increase in the number of artillery units. And also the obvious rethinking by the Canadian military of how they are going to fight.
Government documents also contain requirements for these artillery systems, which already more than clearly outline what the Canadian military wants to have in the ranks. In particular, the 155-mm self-propelled gun should be wheeled, because the established requirement for a highway speed of 80 km/h and a range of 450 km in practice (and not on paper) is achievable only by wheeled self-propelled guns.
The barrel should be 52 calibers with the possibility of MRSI (Multiple Rounds Simultaneous Impact) firing, when several ammunition fired along different trajectories simultaneously hit the target. The requirement for rapid-fire is defined as: a battery of six self-propelled guns should fire 96 shells in less than 3 minutes. That is, this is more than 5 shots per minute per barrel. The time to leave the position is minimal – in two minutes you need to move 500 meters away from the firing point.
But another requirement for a new self-propelled gun directly indicates what exactly the Canadians want. The requirements state that the self-propelled gun must be able to fire while driving. And the only known wheeled artillery system in 155 mm caliber with a barrel length of 52 calibers with this option is the RCH 155 from KNDS Deutschland. That is, if the requirements of the tender remain unchanged, then its winner has already been objectively determined.
As for the purchase of mortars, the Canadians did not put forward such clear requirements for them. And it can be as an advanced solution like Patria’s NEMO, or simpler, with the installation of conventional mortars in the middle of an armored vehicle or even on a car, like Finnish TREMOS.