As part of the Northern Strike 19 exercise in northern Michigan, the US National Guard tested a new lightweight 105mm Hawkeye (Hawkeye) low-recoil howitzer on the chassis of a Humvee multipurpose army off-road vehicle. The Hawkeye howitzer system is still considered experimental, although it was first presented to the public back in 2011. In total, about 5 thousand soldiers of the National Guard, as well as military personnel of the US allies: Great Britain, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia and Jordan, take part in the exercises, which are held from July 22 to August 2, 2019.
Features of the 105mm Hawkeye Howitzer
The 105-mm Hawkeye self-propelled howitzer on the chassis of an all-wheel drive Humvee not only meets the needs of the American military, but also meets the requirements of foreign customers for such artillery systems. Today it is a unique opportunity to get a self-propelled howitzer at an affordable price. In this case, the artillery mount can be used by expeditionary forces and highly mobile units. The artillery mount meets the concept of fire support for airborne and air assault units. This artillery system is ideal for weapons of light infantry units, the role of which in the United States has recently been performed by the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) and 82nd Airborne Divisions.
This self-propelled artillery system is ideally suited to the concept of an artillery raid, which has been practiced by the field artillery of the above divisions for more than half a century. The main striking force in such an operation is field artillery, while very limited forces - a platoon or a battery - can be involved in the attack. This is sufficient to achieve most tactical or operational goals. At the same time, a self-propelled artillery unit with a 105-mm gun on a Humvee chassis provides quick movement of artillery weapons to the required positions both on their own and through the air. The main criterion for effectiveness here is not the power of 105-mm ammunition or the maximum firing range, but a good rate of fire combined with a high mobility of artillery installations capable of conducting a quick fire raid and quickly leaving firing positions.
The 105-mm Hawkeye howitzer based on the chassis of the well-proven Humvee SUV in the army significantly increases the level of mobility, lethality and fire efficiency of light infantry units. At the same time, the survivability of the installation also increases due to the ability to quickly change its location and maneuver with fire. This artillery system is especially suitable for airborne operations. At the same time, it is possible to transport the system by air by helicopters or transport aircraft and airborne landing method, and parachute landing method. The Hawkey artillery mount significantly increases the combat power and readiness of the airborne units, providing them with an effective artillery fire support tool, which is ready for battle almost immediately after landing. Thanks to the versatile 105-mm caliber and the use of the time-tested chassis, logistic operations for the use and maintenance of the artillery installation in the army are simplified to the maximum. At the same time, the installation can be easily mastered by fighters with the artillery skills they already have; long training is not required.
Self-propelled 105-mm howitzer system Hawkeye on the platform of a multipurpose army off-road vehicle is distinguished by the presence of technology of reduced recoil ("soft recoil", soft recoil). This technology is used to reduce the recoil force of the howitzer when firing. The essence of the technology lies in the fact that the rolling back parts of the gun are given a counter acceleration immediately before the ignition of the powder charges. Thanks to this, the recoil energy can be reduced by about 50 percent. In turn, this leads to a decrease in the load on the gun carriage through the trunnions, allowing the developers to significantly reduce the weight of the artillery system in comparison with conventional towed howitzers of the same caliber, but with a full recoil of the barrel.
The combination of the 105mm low-recoil artillery system with the legendary, time-tested and reliable Humvee chassis has created a dynamic artillery platform that allows you to quickly enter the required artillery positions and also quickly leave them if necessary. The self-propelled artillery system, tested in the Northern Strike 19 exercises, increases the combat capabilities of light infantry units and their tactical flexibility. At the same time, it is important that the calculation of such an installation is half that of the traditional 105-mm towed artillery systems available to the American military.
Technical capabilities of the Hawkeye 105-mm self-propelled howitzer
Hawkeye is a lightweight 105mm howitzer with reduced recoil technology based on the standard American M102 howitzer. The barrel length of the new howitzer is also 27 calibers, but at the request of customers this value can be increased. The firing range of the new artillery system is limited to 11.5 km when using standard ammunition and 15.1 km when using 105-mm active-rocket projectiles. It is worth noting that the entire range of 105-mm ammunition that is currently in service with the American army can be used for firing, including high-explosive fragmentation shells, smoke, lighting, cluster with ready-made striking elements, etc.
The maximum rate of fire of the installation is 10-12 rounds per minute. With a high rate of fire, the artillery mount on the chassis of the American Humvee multipurpose off-road vehicle (HMMWV) is ideal for realizing the "shoot and run" concept. Having fired several shells at the enemy, the installation can very quickly take off and change position, avoiding a retaliatory strike from the enemy. In this regard, the mobile version of the light American 105-mm howitzer is much more practical than the towed versions of the M102 and M119 howitzers. Another important difference is the reduction of the crew to 3 people, while in emergency cases only two fighters will be able to service the 105-mm Hawkeye howitzer. Placement on an open platform provides easy 360-degree horizontal aiming. In this case, the vertical aiming angles of the gun are from -5 to +72 degrees. All this together makes the new artillery mount an excellent alternative to the standard 105-mm towed artillery systems in service with the American army.
The combat weight of the Hawkeye self-propelled gun mounted on a Humvee chassis does not exceed 4.4 tons. The installation length is about 5 meters, the width is 2.4 meters, the height in the stowed position is 2.3 meters. At the same time, the reduced recoil, which is one of the main features of the Hawkeye 105-mm howitzer, allows the artillery system to be placed on various chassis. Previously, Mandus presented a variant of placing a howitzer on the chassis of a light tactical vehicle Mack Sherpa with an armored cabin. It can also be mounted on the chassis of conventional commercial pickup trucks such as the Ford F250 chassis. Due to its low mass, the SPG can be lifted into the air by a heavy CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter (transportation by slings) and easily fits into the C-130 Hercules medium-range military transport aircraft.
The artillery unit mounted on the Humvee chassis has good running characteristics. The maximum speed is up to 100 km / h, the cruising range on the highway is 400 km. The car is able to overcome vertical obstacles up to 0.3 meters high, trenches up to 0.5 meters wide and fords up to 0.76 meters deep (with preparation up to 1.52 meters). At the same time, the car has a standard all-wheel drive (4x4), which, together with a 190-horsepower diesel engine, provides the installation with good cross-country ability over most types of terrain.
