The 155/52 APU SBT, also known as the S88-1, is a 155mm, low cost, towed field howitzer designed by Santa Barbara Sistemas, a General Dynamics subsidiary, to meet the requirements of the Spanish Army. This howitzer has been designed to provide high rate of fire engaging targets at ranges exceeding 40 kilometers with extended range projectiles. The 155/52 APU SBT field howitzer features a 106 hp Auxiliary Power Unit for improved mobility on the battlefield. Using APU, it can travel at speeds up to 18 km/h.
In October 2005 General Dynamics Santa Barbara Sistemas signed an eight-year contract (€181 millio) for the supply of 70 155/52 APU SBT howitzers to the Spanish Army. The howitzers were valued at 181 million Euros. Four howitzers were due to be delivered in the version available in 2005 (V07) and the remaining 66 units in a new version named SIAC. SIAC would feature higher mobility and new capabilities such as integrated command and control (C2). The contract also included retrofit of existing howitzers to V07 configuration and support equipment such as carrier vehicles and communication sets. Subcontractors on the program include Amper (Madrid, Spain) for communications equipment, and Iveco (Turin, Italy) for vehicles.
The 155/52 APU SBT achieved Initial Operational Capability in 2002. Deliveries of this howitzer to the Spanish Army are expected to keep going into this decade. The Spanish Army has 155/52 howitzers APU SBT (V06) already in service for field artillery and APU SBT (V07) howitzers integrated in a Coastal Artillery Group In this video we take a look at the Spanish Army 4th Coastal Artillery Regiment operate 155/52 APU (V07) 155mm towed field howitzer.
