The U.S. Army has taken delivery of its first Korean-made Mobile Tactical Cannon, a wheeled 155mm self-propelled howitzer built by Hanwha Defense USA, service officials said Oct. 8. The system is being tested as a replacement for the legacy M777 155mm towed howitzer, which has been in service since 2005.
Brig. Gen. Robert J. “RJ” Mikesh Jr., the Army’s portfolio management executive for offensive fires, told reporters ahead of the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting that the cannon was on display at an “Army Modernization Day” held on Capitol Hill earlier this month.
“We’re excited to have that and get ready to test it,” Mikesh said. “And get that soldier feedback, that we think is so important.”
The Army announced in August it had entered a four-year prototyping contract with Hanwha under an Other Transaction Authority agreement. The contract is worth up to nearly $263 million if all options are exercised. It covers procurement of up to 18 systems for “rapid prototyping, testing, and Soldier experimentation,” with accelerated delivery of the first six prototypes and options for up to a dozen more.
The Mobile Tactical Cannon is based on Hanwha’s K9 mobile howitzer, an eight-wheeled version of the tracked K9 that has served with the South Korean military since 1999. K9 variants now operate in about 10 other countries, and Hanwha says more than 2,500 have been fielded worldwide. The company is building an integration and test site in Opelika, Alabama, to develop and roll out the cannons in the United States.
“What enabled that was this close partnership under the PAE construct and trying new and novel ways of contracting,” Mikesh said. “In this case, we were not going after a clean-sheet design; we were looking for mature and available technologies. We opened our aperture for companies around the world, knowing that they’d have to onshore production within two years. That howitzer is now on contract.”
The M777 has an effective range of under 24 kilometers (about 15 miles) with standard rounds and up to 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) with the extended-range Excalibur round. The K9, a 52-caliber system, has a range of more than 60 kilometers (about 37 miles).
The Army plans to field the new howitzer initially to Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, followed by Mobile and Infantry Brigade Combat Teams. The prototypes will also support the Army’s 155mm Artillery Propulsion Modernization project, which aims to improve range and performance through novel propulsion technologies, with a goal of destroying or neutralizing artillery targets out to 70 kilometers, according to budget documents for fiscal 2027.
In late August, the Army published a separate solicitation for a tracked variant of the Mobile Tactical Cannon. Hanwha officials have said they are seeking to fill that requirement as well.
Army leaders have said they want to field a ready version of the Mobile Tactical Cannon by 2031.
Sources: DVIDS News · Defense News