The Spanish army will recover the 155mm towed howitzers, which are in service with artillery and coastal defense units.

The Spanish Infodefensa media reports that such a decision was made against the background of the war in Ukraine.

The Russian full-scale invasion has proven that artillery continues to be one of the main weapons on the battlefield and the course of modern armed conflicts often depends on it.

Santa Bárbara Sistemas was awarded a contract by the Spanish military.

It will now work over the next four years to upgrade artillery systems.

The cost of such a contract amounts to 36 million euros.

It provides maintenance and upgrades to the APU SBT SIAC towed howitzers which are in service with field artillery units and V07-type howitzers of the Spanish coastal artillery.

These 155mm howitzers have a 52 calibers barrel length. They are designed by Santa Bárbara Sistemas, manufactured at the Trubia arms factory, and acquired in the first half of the 2000s by the Spanish Army to upgrade and modernize artillery units.

The howitzer is equipped with an auxiliary diesel engine allowing autonomous travel at a speed of 18 km/h. It weighs 13 tons and has a maximum firing range of 40 km.

Both APU SBT SIAC and V07 howitzers versions have a rate of fire of eight rounds per minute. The volume of the charging chamber is 23 liters. The howitzer has a hydraulic ammunition loader that can be loaded at any angle.

Currently, the Spanish Army has 82 such howitzers: 16 in the V07 version, which are in service with coastal artillery units, and 66 in the SIAC version, which are used in field artillery units.

In December last year, it became known that the Spanish Ministry of Defense would create a strategic ammunition reserve.