The DITA 155mm self-propelled gun howitzer is an artillery system being developed by Czech defence company Excalibur Army to meet modern-day artillery challenges. In January 2021 the DITA project has entered its last stage through completion of a functional demonstrator vehicle that will be thoroughly tested and fine-tuned to comply to ever-growing end user expactions and succeed in modern day artillery challenges.
The DITA self-propelled gun howitzer will be armed with a Nato-standard 155mm L45 gun with a maximum firing range of 39km with high-explosive base bleed (HE BB) shells. Equipped with automatic loading and firing mechanism, the gun can be operated in fully automatic, manual and emergency guiding modes. The gun will offer a maximum rate of fire of six rounds per minute, while its sustained rate of fire will be five rounds per minute.
The DITA self-propelled gun howitzer will feature a modern on-board control system (OCS), which comprises subsystems of diagnostics, navigation, automatic gun guiding, autonomous calculation of shooting elements as well as ammunition management. It can also support different firing modes such as single round, rapid-fire, programmed, as well as multiple round simultaneous impact (MRSI).The automatic guiding system will allow fast and fully automatic weapon adjustment into fire position.
The system features a terrific TATRA chassis, STANAG Level 1 protected cabin for the total of 2 crewmen, fully automated superstructure, 40 carried 155 mm grenades, cruising range of 600 km and full “shoot & scoot” tactical ability. DITA will be powered by a Tatra T3C-928-90 engine, which has a maximum power output of 300kW. It will also feature an auxiliary 24V hydraulic power unit, which will serve as the main power source for both weapon system and turret operation.
