UK reloads artillery plans with £1B remote-control howitzer order

Offbeat

72 Boxer-mounted RCH 155s due from 2028 as Britain fills the gap left by AS-90s sent to Ukraine

The British Army is to get 72 next-gen mobile artillery
units, in the shape of a remote-controlled howitzer (RCH) module that mounts
onto the Boxer armored vehicle already in service.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced a £1 billion ($1.35 billion)
contract to provide the Army with a modern mobile system capable of providing artillery
support against targets up to 70 km (44 miles) away.

First deliveries of the RCH 155 units are expected in 2028, with
a “minimum deployable capability” expected before the end of the decade. It follows a £52 million early capability demonstrator contract signed in December 2025.

The RCH 155 is basically a 155 mm gun housed in a turreted artillery module mounted on the Boxer drive module. It is an auto-loading
weapon, capable of firing eight rounds per minute. The unit features a fire
control computer with integrated ballistics calculation, plus radio data
transmission to a remote artillery control system.

Boxer is an eight-wheeled (8×8), all-terrain vehicle designed
to take a number of different bolt-on mission modules allowing it to fulfill various
roles. 

The British Army has initially chosen just a few of these types, primarily
the troop carrier variant, but also the ambulance module and command
vehicle unit.

According to the MoD, the barrel, breech, recoil system, and trunnions will be manufactured by German
defense biz Rheinmetall at its large-caliber production facility in Telford, using
British steel supplied by Sheffield Forgemasters.

The Boxer drive modules/chassis, engine, and drivetrain that the weapon system sits on will be manufactured by the UK division of pan-European defense firm KNDS in Stockport.
The Army is to receive a total of 623 of these.

A new mobile artillery platform was needed to replace the UK’s
aging fleet of AS-90 self-propelled howitzers. These could easily be mistaken
for a tank, thanks to their tracked chassis and turret-mounted gun. The last of
these were donated to Ukraine over the past few years to help it fight Russia.

The UK also procured a small number (14) of Archer mobile artillery
systems as a stop-gap while a successor for AS-90 was selected. This is an automated
155 mm gun mounted on a 6×6 articulated truck chassis.

“This major investment is defence delivering for the
battlefield and for Britain’s economy,” said Defence Secretary John Healey MP.

“By securing next-generation artillery with Germany, not
only are we rearming to strengthen NATO against growing Russian
aggression but also creating highly skilled jobs here in
Britain.”

Ironically, Britain was one of the earliest partners in the Boxer
joint venture, but withdrew from it in 2003 to focus on a different program,
the Future Rapid Effect System (FRES). 

One strand of FRES eventually led to what is now known as the Ajax family of armored vehicles. You
may have heard of it. The UK government announced it was rejoining the
Boxer program in 2018 in order to meet its Mechanized Infantry Vehicle (MIV)
requirement. ®