BAE gets $97 million for Paladin production

BAE Systems has received a $97 million modification to its contract to build the Army's self-propelled howitzers, according to a Jan. 7 Pentagon announcement.

The company will produce and deliver M109A7 Paladin Integrated Management and M992A3 ammunition supply vehicles with the contract modification, according to the announcement. Funding will come from fiscal year 2020 and 2021 Army appropriations.

Work will be completed at BAE’s York, PA, plant, and will be finished in December 2024.

The A7 upgrade adds a new chassis, suspension and drivetrain to the M109, which has served as the service’s 155 mm self-propelled howitzer since the 1960s. Ammunition supply vehicles are fielded in pairs with the howitzers.

M109 upgrades would receive $446 million under the Army’s FY-22 budget request. This would be enough to buy 25 howitzers and ammunition supply vehicles, just above the minimum sustaining rate of two sets per month.

But the House and Senate Appropriations committees have proposed increasing funding for the M109 in their draft versions of the FY-22 spending bill. The House proposed spending $526 million in July, while the Senate would provide $663 million under a draft bill released in October.

Congress has yet to pass a defense appropriations bill for FY-22, and a continuing resolution lasts through Feb. 18.