Potential Successor to NLOS Cannon Shown

Click for ginormous picture

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Looks like the Son of MLRS

Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) is showing its Donar 155 mm howitzer at the AUSA convention.

Based on a cursory read of Bill Sweetman's blog post, and my knowledge of MLRS, I spent some time crawling over the vehicles when I was at Lockheed-Martin Missiles & Fire Control^* in Grand Prairie, TX, it looks to me an awful lot like they modified the platform and chassis of the M270 MLRS, replacing the turret for the rockets with a (one would assume significantly beefed up to handle recoil) howitzer turret.

Of note, since the automated turret and loading systems are completely removed from the crewed area, there appears to be a significant reduction in weight, since the turret does not need the same level of armor if it is not in crewed space.

Additionally, there should be some cost savings involved in using an existing platform.

On the downside, as compared to the now defunct NLOS-C, this is never going to fit in a C-130, though it KMW is claiming that it will fit in an EADS A-400.

^*Yeah, I worked there too. I didn't work on MLRS, but on a British derivative, the LIMAWS-R, which required me to look at the vehicles regularly.