Information on 'fielding to Ukraine' may be considered for Army self-propelled howitzer

The Army is asking industry to provide information about self-propelled howitzer systems that have a high level of maturity and could be in service as early as 2026 absent any government investment, according to a request for information the service issued Aug. 28.

Additionally, the notice states “information regarding fielding to Ukraine may be considered,” although the government is mainly interested in maturation that has been completed outside of the Ukraine war.

This past spring, the Army announced it was ending development of the Extended Range Cannon Artillery Program, however, service leaders have emphasized the extended-range requirement still stands.

The Army is attempting to replace its current M109 Paladin howitzers, which have a range of 40 km. With ERCA, the Army had set a goal of producing a howitzer capable of hitting targets more than 100 km away.

Secretary Christine Wormuth told attendees at the Defense News conference this week that the Army still believes there is a requirement for an artillery system with a range similar to the one pursued during ERCA.

“There are obviously companies that already make systems that don’t have quite the range that ERCA we hoped would give us but comes quite close. So, I think we’re going to be looking at those kinds of offerings,” she said.

The Army will also try to “innovate at the round” to increase the range of the new system, Wormuth added.

The main purpose of the Aug. 28 RFI is to gauge the maturity of howitzer systems from industry. The Army is mainly interested in systems “that have a high maturity and minimize or eliminate development time,” the notice states. Information from responses will be used to assess the “viability of potential future acquisition strategies.”

Responses to the RFI are due Sept. 27.