The Brutus is a 155mm truck-mounted howitzer for increased mobility and enhanced firing capabilities. Experimental 155mm howitzer installed on a 5-ton M1083 FMTV ( Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles) 6X6 truck chassis. On 26 October 2018, the 75th Field Artillery Brigade announced that its troops had fired the first round from the howitzer nicknamed Brutus, during a recent Maneuver and Fires Integrated Experiment (MFIX) exercise at Fort Sill. The new somehow self-propelled howitzer would meet the service’s requirements for a lighter weight mobile option to replace existing howitzers in its Stryker armored vehicle-equipped, light infantry, and airborne units. The U.S. Army developed an experimental 155mm truck-mounted howitzer based on experience gained in Syria and Iraq.
When firing, the barrel and breach assemblies move backward to absorb some of the resulting force. The rest of the recoil force goes into the firing platform, such as a truck or tracked vehicle, or into the ground more directly in the case of towed weapons. This produces significant strain on the entire system and generally precludes many lighter weight vehicles from carrying large howitzers due to the potential impacts on accuracy and dangers of severe wear and tear in a relatively short amount of time. The Brutus is capable of using a wide range of ammunition for deployment against protected and unprotected targets, to create counter-mobility obstacles to block the manoeuvres of enemy armoured forces and to obscure or illuminate an area
No official detail is available about the howitzer itself, but it is almost certainly Mandus Group’s 155mm Soft Recoil Howitzer, which has been in development since 2011. Mandus’ guns use what is known as a “forward-recoiling” or “fire-out-of-battery” operating mechanism. It means that when the crew fires the gun, the barrel and breach move forward first. In principle, this momentum helps further cancel out the recoil, making the gun more accurate and otherwise suitable for mounting on lighter vehicles. Digital ballistic targeting computers and precision-guided munitions would only improve the weapon’s accuracy even when fired from a lightweight platform. Early, Army’s officials showed interest in 105mm Mobile Weapon System (105MWS), also dubbed HAWKEYE by AM General, consists of one 105mm cannon mounted at the rear on HUMVEE light tactical vehicle chassis. Maybe U.S Army is also interested in upgrades for or modification to its existing weapons, especially lightweight 155mm cannons, or various types of self-propelled guns.
