On 11 December 2023 a team comprising BAE SYSTEMS (BAE), Babcock and Rheinmetall BAE SYSTEMS (RBSL) announced that it would be offering the Archer weapon system carried on a Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV) 8×8 vehicle, which is in service with the British Army, into the UK Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) programme. MFP is intended to provide the Army with a 155mm Artillery capability, which is currently fulfilled with an interim procurement of Archer systems as the previous in-service AS90 weapon, along with much of the associated ammunition has been sent to the fight in Ukraine.
The other announced offering for MFP is the K9 Self Propelled Howizter, which is a tracked vehicle with a NATO standard 52 calibre weapon system. This system is supplied by Hanwha of South Korea and has been successful in securing export contracts in amongst others Australia, Poland and Norway. It perhaps ironic that the Archer systems that have been acquired by the British Army as an interim 155mm capability may have become available as a result of Norway switching to the K9 and abandoning the Archer, which was a joint programme with Sweden. For MFP Hanwha has assembled Team Thunder comprising Leonardo UK; Pearson Engineering; Horstman Defence and Lockheed Martin UK.
There is a suggestion that MFP will be split between wheeled and tracked systems. If that is the case then it looks like the competition may be over bar decisions of how many systems of each type will be acquired. This looks positive as it appears to provide, the British Army with a reasonable shot of fielding a 155mm system by the end of this decade. In the meantime it is questionable whether the interim Archer systems provide a meaningful capability.
As is perhaps always the case a cursory look at some of the details, informed by the open source information from the war in Ukraine, raises more questions that the press releases can answer. In the first instance how does MFP fit with NATO, and specifically the vital task of building a cohesive land force in the European NATO nations? An essential component of such a force, as the current crisis concerning supply to Ukraine confirms, is the industrial capacity to sustain the fight in terms of materiel, particularly ammunition and ordnance.
The Team Archer announcement speculates that BAE SYSTEMS will seek to re-establish an ordnance manufacturing facility in UK. How would such a facility be sustained? Can it be inserted into the European capability to increase capacity and resilience?
In a further recent announcement UK announced the purchase via BAE SYSTEMS of 155mm Modular Charge Systems (MCS) from Hanwha. Whilst the adoption of MCS, at long last, by the UK is to be welcomed, will a propellant manufacturing capability be established in UK? If so, once again, how would that be sustained? If not, will Hanwha build a facility in Europe, or will UK rely on a supply chain from Korea? It may be that procurement from Hanwha was necessary as the propellant plants in Europe are bursting at the seams and new capacity will take years to come on line.
The MCS procurement is presumably for the interim Archer 155mm capability, however it is designed to fit a NATO standard chamber volume of 23 litres (6 modules 52 calibre) or 18 litres (5 modules 39 calibre). The Archer chamber volume is 25 litres. There may be a specific charge system for Archer, however a NATO standard MCS may provide less than optimal performance from the Archer system.
In the event of a split procurement between Archer and a Joint Ballistic Memorandum of Understanding (JBMoU) weapon, such as the K9, the British Army may need to support two ammunition supply chains.
MFP appears, prima facie, to be another example of European nations acting in splendid isolation. A key factor in the weakness of European land capability is the fragmentation of equipment and the industrial base that produces it. The reset required by Russian aggression is an opportunity to increase cohesion and commonality. It is no longer sustainable to operate on an arms length buyer / supplier relationship with industries that are key to defence capability. An over-arching theme for UK MoD, and no doubt other nations, is integration. It would be helpful to adopt this approach to key areas of procurement such as ammunition and ordnance.
These comment are based on applying a dash of experience to open sources. I recognise this may be dangerous. There may be a cunning plan for MFP, that greatly improves cohesion and commonality, that will emerge in the coming months. Let us hope so.
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