Babcock are teaming with BAE Systems and Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) to develop the ARCHER wheeled mobile artillery system for the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) as the replacement for the British Army’s legacy AS-90 (“Artillery System for the 1990s”) armoured self-propelled howitzer. From Babcock production facilities in Devonport and Walsall, the company will use significant vehicle manufacturing and maintenance capabilities to consolidate the Archer superstructure and ammunition resupply system. This strategic relationship between BAE Systems, Babcock and RBSL brings together some of the largest and most experienced British defense companies to deliver the UK’s most critical artillery programme in a generation.
The Archer Artillery System, or Archer is a Swedish self-propelled howitzer system. The main piece of the system is a fully automated 155 mm L52 (52-calibre-long) gun-howitzer and a M151 Protector remote-controlled weapon station mounted on a modified 6×6 chassis of the Volvo A30D all-terrain articulated hauler. The crew and engine compartment is armoured and the cab is fitted with bullet and fragmentation-resistant windows. The system also includes an ammunition resupply vehicle, a support vehicle, BONUS submunitions and M982 Excalibur guided projectiles. Well designed for counter battery strike purposes, the long range and the ability to fire three shells and depart the location before the first shell lands enables the crew to perform with low risk of detection.
Chris Spicer, Managing Director of Engineering & Systems Integration at Babcock said, “In line with the MOD’s Land Industrial Strategy, Babcock is pleased to be working with BAE Systems to bring to the UK and the British Army this market-leading capability. Our skilled teams and facilities in the South-West and West Midlands will deliver important elements of the engineering expertise, system integration and innovative technology required for system assembly that will enable the Archer Artillery Alliance to provide the British Army with this exciting capability.”
The Archer system is one of the contenders for the British Army’s Mobile Fires Platform program. The one offered is based on the Rheinmetall HX2 8×8 which is already in service. Among the competitors, there are: CAESAR (Nexter), the RCH-155 (KMW), the K9 Thunder (Hanwha Aerospace and Lockheed Martin) and the ATI (Artillery Truck Interface, a module based on a HX3 10×10, made by Rheinmetall) which could use a 155 L/60 calibre. On 16 March 2023, the Swedish Government asked for permission from the Riksdag to sell 14 Archer Artillery Systems to the British Army as an interim replacement for 32 AS-90 gifted to Ukraine. Ownership of the systems was transferred in March 2023, and they would be fully operational by the following April. The first Archer was delivered in October 2023.
