On 21 January 2025, James Cartlidge, MP for South Suffolk, raised two written questions regarding the procurement and potential lessons from the use of the Remote-Controlled Howitzer 155mm (RCH 155) by the British Army.
Luke Pollard, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence, responded with insights into the collaborative approach between the UK and Germany.
In response to whether Germany’s decision to provide the RCH 155 to Ukraine would affect the UK’s certification process, Pollard stated:
“The Mobile Fires Platform project will deliver the Remote-Controlled Howitzer 155mm (RCH 155) Calibre Wheeled Artillery System through a jointly led collaborative procurement between the UK and Germany.”
He further confirmed:
“The project does not anticipate any direct impact to RCH certification following Germany’s decision to provide Ukraine with RCH 155.”
Pollard elaborated on the importance of the collaborative procurement process, noting:
“Underpinning the collaborative approach of the UK and Germany is the commitment to exchange project-related information that may afford a deeper understanding of the capability, to inform wider integration considerations.”
Cartlidge also asked whether lessons could be drawn from the RCH 155’s deployment in Ukraine. Pollard highlighted that this collaborative framework may include assessing “potential lessons from the training and use of RCH 155 by Ukraine.”
The excellent BFBS Forces News youtube channel has just uploaded an outstanding vid covering the roll-out of Ajax to the Royal Lancers and the Queens Royal Hussars.
Its seems that Ajax has been worth the wait
👍👍
Ah, cheers mate, I’ll have a look.
Collaboration in this case means buying German kit off the shelf with some bits made in the UK.
Sunak signed us up to this gun without the input of the RA! ‘Off the shelf’ has been the mantra of some on here so what’s it to be?
Good point, You are caught between buying an off the shelf (ish) design and buying a bespoke design and the costs of that. then you get people complaining it isn’t built fully in the UK.
Well said I always said it’s a Sunak deal . When has Sunak been a expert on Artillery, frist point of call British Army . Not a deal to make himself look good and to keep the Germans happy . 🙄
Not sure on Boxer artillery platform think it’s a quick fix has not originally planned as Artillery system. But hopefully it succeeds it would of been Archer for me personally. 😏
Any rethink of also getting a tracked spg system for a mixed fleet or is it still an “all wheeled” solution? Many allied countries are still going for tracked including the US and Australia and India are building the K9 under licence.
Arguments regarding the wisdom of which gun system would be preferable miss the key point here – i.e the fact of the matter is that AS90 is all but out of service with the British Army – donated to Ukraine. So, as I understand it, our tube artillery park will soon be reduced to a few recently delivered ‘Archer’ wheeled 155mm systems and old towed 105mm light guns of very limited effectiveness on the modern battlefield. While it has is blindingly obvious that the Ukraine needs everything it can get at the moment I don’t really understand how any of our mechanised brigades can be considered combat ready when there is so little heavy artillery available to them? Yes we still have MLRS and are investing in the modernization of these weapons, but tube artillery is still a vital battlefield capability is it not?
We need new 155mm artillery and we need it yesterday.