Earlier this year, Morocco confirms the acquisition of French-made Nexter CAESAR 155mm 6×6 self-propelled howitzers. Morocco will purchase 30 CAESAR 6×6 self-propelled howitzers that will be based on a Sherpa 6×6 truck chassis manufactured by the French company ARQUUS. The contract involves the purchase of CAESAR self-propelled howitzer, worth €170 million and its ammunition for an additional €30 million. The Royal Moroccan Army Artillery is organized in units operating self-propelled howitzers, towed howitzers, MLRS and air defense systems, mortar carriers. They will be assigned to some of the 13 artillery battalions. The Nexter 155mm Caesar SPHs are a precious addition to this arsenal.
The CAESAR (CAmion Équipé d’un Système d’ARtillerie; truck equipped with an artillery system) is a French self-propelled 155 mm/52-calibre gun-howitzer, installed on a 6×6 truck chassis. Examples built for the French Army use a Renault Sherpa 10 chassis, examples built for export utilize the 6×6 Unimog U2450L chassis. The CAESAR platform was developed by the former GIAT Industries (now known as Nexter) and is operated by the French, Indonesian, Saudi Arabian, and Thai militaries. The CAESAR system has proven itself in combat operations in Afghanistan, Mali, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, the Sahel region, the Middle East, and East Asia.
The CAESAR is a 6×6 self-propelled howitzer designed and manufactured by the French company Nexter. The cannon inherits of the long tradition of cannons by Nexter (ex- GIAT Industries), with the French-made TRF1 155mm towed howitzer and the AUF1 self-propelled howitzer on tracked armored chassis. The 155mm/52 caliber of the CAESAR can fire a wide range of ammunition: among others, LU family (HE, Illuminating, Smoke and Practice) filled with insensitive or conventional explosives, the BONUS (Anti-Tank, smart), ERFB NR (Explosive Extended-Range Full-Bore), as well as the new KATANA 155mm, guided artillery ammunition.
The 6×6 155mm self-propelled howitzer using the Sherpa 6×6 truck chassis is motorized with a Renault dCI 6 diesel engine coupled to a manual gearbox with 8 forward and 1 reverse gears. It can reach a maximum road speed of 90 km/h, or 50 km/h in off-road conditions, with a maximum cruising range of 600 km. It can climb a slope of more than 40% and a side slope of 30%. It can cross 1.20m-deep fords without preparation. Standard equipment of the 6×6 self-propelled howitzer CAESAR includes different types of artillery pointing and positioning systems like the Safran Sigma 30 and the iXBlue system and an onboard Reference Package/Position Data System (RP/PDS) that includes GPS.
