Cleared for Final Round of Future Artillery System Competition

The Swiss government has shortlisted BAE Systems’ Archer 155mm howitzer as a candidate for the final round of its programme to find the Army’s future artillery system, run by armasuisse, the Federal Office for Defence Procurement, the company announced on 10 June.

Archer is a fully automated system, purpose-built to keep pace with fast-moving land forces. It is designed for rapid deployment to quickly respond to threats and to deliver superior mobility, lethality, and survivability. Operators control the entire gun system from the safety of an armoured cabin, and the vehicle can halt and fire its first round in just 20 seconds. After completion of the fire mission, it moves off – again, within 20 seconds. Archer can fire a six-round mission, displace, move 500m, all in under two minutes, while the crew remains safely under armour. It is the ultimate ‘shoot-and-scoot’ system for platform and soldier survivability.

Archer can fire the Bonus anti-armour munition to a range of 35km, conventional munitions up to 40km, and the precision-guided munition Excalibur in excess of 50km – the automated magazines can hold a mix of different ammunition natures, and the modular charges needed to support any mission. The system is already in service in the Swedish Army with the highest technical and manufacturing readiness levels.

“Archer is the most advanced wheeled 155mm howitzer in operation today, and meets the requirements of the Swiss armed forces,” commented Stefan Löfström, Director of Marketing and Sales at BAE Systems Bofors. “Consistent with our long history of implementing industrial cooperation projects around the world, we are working with Swiss industry to establish a project plan to successfully fulfill all Swiss requirements.”

Archer will be on prominent display on the company’s stand at Eurosatory in Paris, 13-17 June.