Christopher F Foss has a look at the flexible remote controlled Artillery Gun Module from KMW. The Artillery Gun Module (AGM, Artillerie-Geschütz-Modul) is an air-portable self-propelled howitzer designed by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. It is based on technology used in the German Army Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000) system, to provide more air portable self-propelled artillery, transportable by Airbus A400 aircraft.
The system is fully autonomous, the crew sitting in the cab, with similar performance to the PzH 2000, but with reduced cost, crew levels and weight. The AGM uses the PzH 2000 ballistic fire-control computer with integrated NATO Armaments Ballistic Kernel and the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Artillery Command and Control System. It is a modular system, the gun module can be fitted on a tracked or wheeled chassis. Costs can be reduced by fitting it to a users suitable chassis of choice. Current development vehicles use a MLRS chassis. A vehicle independent auxiliary power unit (allowing the gun to be used with the carrier engine shut down) and an inertial reference unit with a Global Positioning System (GPS) connection are fitted. During trials in 2006, a demonstrator vehicle fired a volley of ten 155 mm rounds in 2 minutes and 19 seconds with a crew of two being seated in the fully armoured protected cab.
