Having just entered service as an interim capability, Archer is eventually planned to be replaced by the Boxer RCH 155.
No one is making an argument to double down on Archer.
But, I am going to make one anyway.
I watched the various media from the MoD, BFBS, and others, about this recent live fire exercise in Finland, and after years of bad news stories, it was a positive.
A start, a turning of the tide, something to build on.
The Case for Doubling Down
Starting from scratch, would we go for a Volvo articulated hauler and Bofors FH77B, perhaps not?
An alternative universe might have seen us evolving the British designed and built M777, similar to the FCS era Lightweight Self Propelled Howitzer, on FRES.
Or even a longer barrel variant with autoloader, but one that retained a high level of commonality with the towed version, that also might have been in service as part of the LIMAWS(G) programme.
But we are not in that Universe.
Our universe is one that saw the British Army neglect its heavy artillery (arguably for reasonable reasons) and that led to AS90 becoming obsolete, with the remaining usable fleet gifted to Ukraine.
Archer is a stop gap until we can bring into service the Boxer RCH 155, a very advanced system.
Putting Archer on a MAN SV might have been a better option if we wanted an alternative to RCH 155.
But we are where we are.
That where is a place where the British Army is not awash with cash, it has gaps galore and not enough resources to fill them, a Strategic Defence Review (SDR) looming.
Let’s see what SDR brings, but I would not bet on the British Army being a major beneficiary.
With Tempest/GCAP and the deterrent refresh likely to consume the majority of the defence budget, the British Army must not only be Pound wise, it must be seen to be Pound wise.
And let’s be blunt, it doesn’t have the best of records for spending taxpayers’ hard-earned wisely, does it.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, Archer is in service now, the training and support pipeline is in place, we have people who are qualified on it, and we will have more.
Archer is currently in Ukraine, right now
I would argue, that in terms of specification, it is good enough, and if the British Army needs one thing, it is more of good enough.
Doubling down on Archer comes in two parts, buying more, and expanding out.
Buy More Archer
There may be a path to eventually moving the gun units over to a MAN HX2, but building mass is one of the things that seems to elude us of late. (Norway is doing just this, moving to HX2)
The articulated loader base vehicle is adapted from a class of vehicle made in quantity, about a thousand a year.
Spares are readily available, especially in the geographies the British Army is likely to find itself in during the upcoming years.
So, buy some more, build on an existing fleet to increase mass.
After purchasing more, spend on training, ammunition stocks, and novel natures such as BONUS (include this in the Land Precision Strike matrix of options), or Excalibur.
BAE contracted with Hanwha Aerospace for their Modular Charge System for use with their 155 mm ammunition, that will be manufactured in South Wales.
BAE are also working on the whole ammunition range, click here to read more.
All these things need investment.
People often forget that artillery is not just the gun, we have just withdrawn Watchkeeper, don’t have a UK range that supports Archer at max range (or RCH for that matter), and have many things within the Royal Artillery to spend finite budget on.
Expand Out
Articulated dump trucks (or haulers) are designed for rough terrain and heavy loads, they are not suitable for sustained or long distance road use as the method of steering articulates the two bodies instead of turning wheels.
On roads, tire wear can be significant, but some applications might benefit from adapting these vehicles, so it is probably best to view them as an alternative to tracks rather than an alternative to trucks.
Torque is significant, but speed, modest.
A Volvo A30 articulated dump truck forms the basis of the Archer self-propelled gun which has a 4 man armoured crew cab, but Volvo can also offer variations on the 4×4 and 6×6 theme, and different capacities
Volvo offers a solutions service for different transport options.
Volvo haulers are not made in the UK, unlike Caterpillar, who have been making articulated trucks in Peterlee (Northern England) for decades. The front end of the Archer is, arguably, military off the shelf, and doubling down means living with the fact that they are not made in the UK.
First on the shopping list would be to ensure that the Archer ammunition logistics system has the same mobility as the Archer
The vehicle can be fitted with either a hook lift.
Or, a side loader.
Read more at Volvo Defence
Anything you can containerise or put on a flat rack, you can shift with an articulated hauler, the Sky Sabre anti-aircraft missile system, a containerised Nemo 120 mm mortar, a water, or fuel tank, or just a load of pallets.
Given the importance of the C-UAS mission for mobile artillery.
Something like the Terrahawk Paladin starts to make a lot of sense.
The base vehicle can be used to haul trailers, with especially heavy payloads.
They could be used as a heavy transporter or recovery transporter.
To summarise, this is just an alternative thought, it isn’t ideal, but it is pragmatic.
Don’t take this one too seriously, by the way, just thinking out aloud.
Discover more from Think Defence
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Another great article but people just can’t/won’t look beyond the dump truck (or Boxer).
Keep up the good work.
Your opening salvo appeared also on defensepost.com, where they added that it was also the occasion fort the first live firing (a bit hard to believe, after the time elapsed on the project).
But as (no?) one would recall from my posts ten years back, been a great Archer fan… And surely the stability issues devaluing the multiple rounds for simultaneous impact capability have been resolved by now.
You didn't mention that one of the reasons for choosing the dumper truck platform was mobility in a meter of snow
…I hope Lapland had that much; just to prove the point
Peterlee is in County Durham, not Northern Ireland. Traveling by road it would be a case of a low loader and the British Army doesn't have that many so, the next option would be rail travel, like we did in Germany and judging by what I have seen still do. it's the same each time the Army get new kit there isn't enough of it , as a ex gunner we soldiered on with out of date kit IE: Abbot SPG , we were told the 'new gun' would be taking over , the SP -70 and nothing became of it . a lot of broken promises. So I hope that Archer fills the gap , but we shall see.
A few people spotted my cock-up on Peterlee Neil, have updated!
Really TD, if I was the def sec I would be banging down your door and hiring you and a few others that post great content.
The pragmatic approach has been totally lost by the British army as it tries to keep up with the US. We shouldn’t even try anymore.
Simple solutions are often the best, wilder with power trailer for light forces, drops units all round etc.
Keep up the good work