WASHINGTON — Two weeks after the Army picked a winner to provide prototypes for its next-gen wheeled howitzer, the service’s fires acquisition shop is now seeking a tracked variant, according to a recent solicitation.
“Most recently, the US Army reevaluated its objectives for modernization and progressed to replacing the M777 howitzer with a wheeled self-propelled howitzer system,” the request for information posted Monday read. “This RFI, however, is focused on an additional capability, namely a tracked self-propelled 155mm howitzer for employment within armored formations. This RFI must be recognized as a new and distinctly separate effort from the MTC-W effort.”
According to the RFI, posted by Program Acquisition Executive (PAE) Fires, the service is asking vendors what potential production lead times would be for a tracked howitzer and coinciding resupply vehicle, maximum production capacity, how a vendor could onshore US production if the vendor’s facilities are abroad and more. The RFI requests interested parties provide a tracked howitzer, a resupply vehicle and ground support personnel to “support demonstrative and safety testing events” using American ammo.
The solicitation, which states responses are due Sept. 11, also states the government is seeking “sufficient technical data rights” for the system. The Army is set to hold an industry day for interested vendors next week, per the RFI.
A spokesperson from PAE Fires did not respond to a question by publication regarding why the service is looking for a tracked variant in addition to the wheeled program. Past howitzer solicitations for the howitzer modernization program did not ask specifically for one variant or the other and instead asked for the howitzer to be as heavily armored as the currently fielded M109A7, while also providing increased “mobility & transportability,” as Breaking Defense previously reported.
Traditionally, wheeled vehicles are lighter and built more for roads, while tracked vehicles are associated with heavier chassis that can more easily maneuver in muddy or rougher conditions.
Monday’s RFI comes after the Army awarded Hanwha Defense USA a deal up to $233 million to deliver K9 wheeled howitzer prototypes. The Army’s new howitzers are set to replace the towed M777 howitzers and the self-propelled M109A7s howitzers, with the latter originally fielded in the 1960s.