US Army to Sign Contract for New Self-Propelled Howitzer by July 2026

The US Army plans to sign a contract for the supply of new self-propelled artillery systems by July this year.

This was announced by a representative of the Artillery Systems Program Acquisition Office, according to Breaking Defense.

The project aims to replace the M777 towed howitzers in the 81st Stryker Mechanized Brigade and, subsequently, in US infantry units.

According to the agency, the request for prototypes of weapon systems will be published at the end of February, and the final version of the document will be published in March. The program’s implementation timeline is tight, as only ten months will pass between the collection of information from the industry and the signing of the contract. The start of the competition was previously postponed due to coordination with the new strategy for modernizing the ground forces.

The requirements for the future platform include a high level of armor protection and the ability to use American 155 mm caliber ammunition. One of the key conditions of the tender is the deployment of production facilities directly in the United States. The US Army wants to get ready-made solutions in order to conduct tests with the military as quickly as possible.

Companies participating in the US tender

South Korea’s Hanwha, Germany’s Rheinmetall, America’s Elbit America, and a joint project between Leonardo DRS and the European consortium KNDS may participate in the tender. General Dynamics and BAE Systems, which currently manufactures the M109A7 Paladin howitzer, are also expected to participate.

The decision to purchase existing models on the market was made after the termination of internal development of a promising long-range howitzer under the ERCA program in 2024.