Artillery: April 2, 2002

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Singapore Technologies Kinetics has displayed the prototype for its new Lightweight 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer. Like others of this new breed of artillery, the howitzer is mounted on an unarmored truck, giving it greater mobility but not armor protection. The result is a very lightweight system (only seven metric tons), allowing it to be carried by a C-130 or slung under a CH-47 or CH-53. The 39-caliber weapon has a double baffle muzzle brake to reduce recoil. The gun fires a standard 155mm shell to 19 kilometers and a new base-bleed shell to 30 kilometers. The weapon can be put into action within one minute of stopping, and can move within one minute of completing its fire mission. It has a maximum road speed 80 km/hr and a range of 600 kilometer on one tank of fuel.--Stephen V Cole