Size matters: KNDS pitches long-barreled artillery for 60-kilometer base range
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PARIS — KNDS, the French-German maker of the Leopard tank and the Caesar truck-mounted gun, pitched a new howitzer with a barrel longer than any NATO production artillery, which the company said gives the weapon a range of up to 60 kilometers (37 miles) with standard high-explosive shells.The howitzer uses KNDS Germany’s Artillery Gun Module mounted on a tracked Boxer chassis and fitted with a French barrel. The company has already fired a prototype of the gun, and aims for serial production between 2032 and 2035, KNDS France artillery engineer Pierre Septfons told a handful of journalists in a briefing at the Eurosatory defense show near Paris on Monday.The 155mm howitzer, named Loras for long-range artillery system, is equipped with a 58 caliber gun tube, about 12% longer than the 52 caliber barrels that equip most recent European cannons and compared with 39 caliber for the United States’ M109 Paladin. Longer barrels translate into longer range, and KNDS is also increasing the maximum powder charge to propel shells even farther.“The goal was to be able to do 60 kilometers using conventional ammunition, so as not to have to use rocket-assisted projectile munitions,” Septfons said.KNDS is self-funding development of the howitzer and the associated munitions, though the company received some help from France’s Directorate General for Armament in early-stage studies “to reassure us that we were on the right track,” according to Septfons.The U.S. scrapped its Extended Range Cannon Artillery program in March 2024 after the prototype ERCA howitzer fitted with a 58 caliber barrel suffered excessive wear of the gun tube despite a relatively limited number of rounds fired.While barrel wear increases with length due to greater forces, the KNDS gun has a larger combustion chamber than the ERCA howitzer, with a “much gentler pressure curve,” Septfons said.European artillery makers have steadily continued to develop 52 caliber guns, creating a body of expertise that better equ