New Orders $118 Million in for BAE Systems M777 Howitzers

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New Orders $118 Million in for BAE Systems M777 Howitzers

By admin ⋅ May 31, 2009 ⋅

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The U.S. is buying 38 M777 Howitzer guns for the Marines and Army while Canada is acquiring 25 more through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program to add to the 12 it already has in service. BAE Systems has received orders worth around $118 million for 63 more M777 howitzers, taking the order total to exactly 800 guns. The weight of M777 is less than 4200kg, this is the world’s first artillery weapon to make widespread use of titanium and aluminum alloys, a half the weight of conventional 155mm systems.

M777s are widely used in Afghanistan, providing fire support to coalition forces for weapon’s ability to be airlifted to remote positions by helicopter. Low howitzer weight gives the system enormous operational flexibility and makes it ideal for a challenging environment like Afghanistan. The M777 fires the “smart” Excalibur round, co-developed by Global Combat Systems up to 40 km (25m) accurately enough to target individual rooms within a building, reducing the chance of innocent casualties and allowing supporting fire to be brought down much closer to friendly troops.