Singapore Light weight 155mm howitzers

Just wish to share we u all somethings. Singapore cam up with a new heli-portable artillery. What ur comments feel free to comment on the potential or banes of it.

Auxiliary Power Unit (APU)
The APU is an independent engine unit on the Pegasus, which provides the gun with a short-range self-propelled capability. With the APU, the system is able to manoeuvre over terrain at a speed of 12 km/h. The Pegasus is the world’s first heli-portable 155mm howitzer with a self-propelled capability.

Ammunition Loading System (ALS)
Powered by the APU, the ALS automatically loads ammunition to reduce crew fatigue. This allows the gun crew to operate the Pegasus for a longer period while maintaining a burst rate of 3 rounds in 24 seconds.

Mechanical Sight
Each gun is also equipped with an advanced mechanical sight that can withstand firing shocks of up to 90Gs. This is critical for sustained operations given the system’s lightweight structure.

Ease of Deployment
As a complex system that needs to be readily deployed for mobility, firing and heli-lifting, the Pegasus is easy to configure without any lifting support in the field. Through a simple seesaw action that shifts the gun’s centre of gravity to suit the different missions, the Pegasus can be rapidly engaged for deployment in less than 2.5 minutes with a detachment of 8 men.

Lightweight Materials
The Pegasus employs lightweight materials like titanium and high alloy aluminium that provides the strength and stability required to withstand the recoil force of a 155mm system.

Innovative Recoil Management
The recoil of the Pegasus is a third lower than conventional 155mm howitzers. This is achieved through innovative recoil management design.

Technical and Performance Specifications

Range
Maximum Range: 19 km (Conventional); 30 km (Extended Range)

Rate of Fire
Burst Rate: 3 rounds in 24 seconds
Maximum Rate: 4 rounds per minute for 3 minutes
Sustain Rate: 2 rounds per minute for 30 minutes

Manpower
No. of crew: 6-8

Mobility
Self-Propelled: 12 km/h (maximum)
Towed (Cross-country): 50 km/h (maximum)
Towed (Paved): 70 km/h (maximum)
Towing Vehicle Type: 5 ton; 7 ton
Engine: 21kW Lombardini 9LD625-2

Air Transportability
Fixed Wing: C130
Rotary Wing: CH-47D/SD

Well i must say thats one weird looking howitser. It looks that it is quite fast to but in firing position, tough obviosly those front tyres requires manpower to move them, or at least helping the tyres getting to the right position. Also it seems that the driver uses the hydraulic from the the driving position, not like in many other APU guns where the hydraulic is used from different spot.

Also i noticed that it still uses optical sights. Electronic/computerized aiming system linked whit the positing system would increase this guns performance even further...

Here's nice site whit good pics on the gun....

One other funny thing with these pics is that these promotional shows where the gun is being sowed to public, the Gungrew always has the best gears and clohtes...During my army time, our batterys gunleaders had to go and demonstrate the 155K98 to some hihg Marocon military delegation. They had to wear the parade uniform (wich was also the holliday uniform) and use the fighting belt during the whole presentation...god that must be difficoult and clumsy, in real fire positions, the combat belt is the first thing taken off after the crew gets out from the trucks...

But back to this singaporean gun. For it's fault, or at least it's advertisors fault must be said that it certainly isen't the first helicopter-transportable howitzer. The M198 used by USMC can be lifted by CH-53 Sea Stallion, Also Brits has released new M777 ultralight howitser wich is also selected for the USMC, tough neither these are fitted whit APU.

how is this 'self-propelled' when it clearly requires alterior source of power to propel it?

propaply just translation error, they ment the APU system...

So many wire, buttons and electronics...I thought artillery is supposed to be simple.How would this thing work if some shrapnel or something else tears one of those wires off.Sorry but for me this thing doesnt look really reliable.

So many wire, buttons and electronics...I thought artillery is supposed to be simple.How would this thing work if some shrapnel or something else tears one of those wires off.Sorry but for me this thing doesnt look really reliable.

Click to expand...

Altouhg i have statet quite often that D-30 is more realible (at the moment) than 155K98, it aint due the wires and electronics...thrust me. It's called modern technology, even artillery can benefit from it. I snarpell hits a piece without any wires, it propaply will tear up and broke something else eq. aiming devises. If those electronic devises broke down, it's quite easy to replace and repairr them even in the field...the thing hat woryes me is when the APU brokes...we didn't even dare to think of it back in Rova...to use and move the 14ton "bich" whit manstrenght...

One other interesting feature with this singaporean howitser is that it seems to lack those slocks (or wedges...i'm bit confused of the proper english term) wich are hammered to the ground to prevent the gun from moving. It may be insignificant detail to you, but for anyone ever being in gungroup can identify me in here, it is whitout any doupt the worst thing in gunners hell (fireposition ). It's hard to even descripe it...imagine yourself hammering those 1 meter lenght slocks (weighting about 30 kg) whit this enourmous three-man hammer...and there are nine of them...it's hell even if the ground is shmoot and soft...so you can't even imagine what it is in rocky ground...or icy ground...or rocky AND icy ground as it usually are here in the norht...one group had to make 200 strokes whit hammer per slock...It always wonderes me why there aren't any pics or video clips of this hammering...and then again it dosen't, it propaply woudn't be printable material....

Gollevainen said:

One other interesting feature with this singaporean howitser is that it seems to lack those slocks (or wedges...i'm bit confused of the proper english term) wich are hammered to the ground to prevent the gun from moving. It may be insignificant detail to you, but for anyone ever being in gungroup can identify me in here, it is whitout any doupt the worst thing in gunners hell (fireposition ). It's hard to even descripe it...imagine yourself hammering those 1 meter lenght slocks (weighting about 30 kg) whit this enourmous three-man hammer...and there are nine of them...it's hell even if the ground is shmoot and soft...so you can't even imagine what it is in rocky ground...or icy ground...or rocky AND icy ground as it usually are here in the norht...one group had to make 200 strokes whit hammer per slock...It always wonderes me why there aren't any pics or video clips of this hammering...and then again it dosen't, it propaply woudn't be printable material....

Click to expand...

It probably has some kind of wedges, but since this was a demonstration and they obviously did not fire any projectile (no recoil justa puff of smoke) they did not use any.
pounding those wedges seems like hard work indeed. Makes you wish for a ceasar or atmos 2000. Or why not even that turreted k98 on a t-55 that patria developed for egypt.

You may be right...The trailing legs seems to lack spot where those wedges are transported (note. this may just be the case cos the guns are propaply pre-production models..) Tough i'm not sure how things are done when guns are moved via helicopters...it may well be a safety messures that nothing loose cannot hang on the sides of the gun. Also as there obviosly isen't much room for big equipment holdings, all lose stuff (and there are quite much of them whit even APU fitted guns) must be transported in the hauler (or in this case in the chopper...) I must say when it comes to helicopters and artillery, i'm quite cluelles...they should have teach us to helicopter assaults also..."hey did you check the wires connecting the howitser to the copter?".."Juu juu"..."you're sure?"..."yeas(?) "...."THEN WHERE THE FUCK IS THE HOWITSER????"........

Here's an article I found on the gun:



Lightweight Semi-Self-Propelled 155mm Howitzer
November 2, 2005: The Singapore Army has developed the Singapore Lightweight Howitzer (SLWH) Pegasus. Weighing in at a measly (for a heavy artillery piece) 5.4 tons (4898.9 kg), Pegasus is probably the world's lightest 155mm 39 caliber artillery piece with self-propelled capability, and was specially designed for helimobile operations. It's abilities were demonstrated at a media event to mark its official service introduction, when a CH-47D Chinook heavy-lift helicopter dropped off an underslung Pegasus and then landed to disembark an 8 man crew. The crew then used the Pegasus's Auxiliary Power Unit ( APU) system to drive it to a firing location, and then proceeded to bring the weapon to battery within 2.5 minutes.

The SLWH Pegasus is part of a recent trend by many armies to move from helimobile 105mm howitzers towards those of 155mm caliber, and it will replace GIAT 105mm Light Guns currently in service. The primary reasons for the shift to 155mm for 'light' guns is that this will allow armies to standardize all their gun artillery to one caliber, thus reducing supply complications, as well as providing helimobile forces artillery with greater range and lethality For example, the M1 High Explosive round used by the M119A1 105mm Light Gun, currently in US Army service, will deliver 7lbs (3.2kg) of explosives to a range of 7 miles (11.5km), while the M795 155mm HE round, when fired by a 39 caliber howitzer like the US Army's M198, will deliver 23.8lbs (10.8kg) of explosives to 14.3 miles (23km).

The US Army and US Marine Corps, for example, will soon field the British developed M777A1 155mm 39 caliber Ultralightweight Field Howitzer (UFH), which at 4.1 tons (3745kg) is more than a ton lighter than the SLWH Pegasus. While both these howitzers use light materials such as titanium and aluminum to keep their weights low, the Pegasus' 'extra' weight comes from an APU that not only gives it a short-range self-deploy capability, with a maximum speed of 12kmh (8mph) but also powers the Pegasus's ammunition loading system to reduce the manual workload of the Pegasus' crew.

The 155mm 39calibre SLWH Pegasus is actually the fifth homegrown 155mm artillery system that has been developed in Singapore since the 1980s by Singapore Technologies Kinetics (STK) and its predecessor, Chartered Industries of Singapore (CIS). The first weapon was the CIS FH-77, a 155mm 39 caliber towed howitzer. This was followed by the STK 52 caliber FH-2000 in the late 1990s, which also had an APU for short range self-deployment and automated ammunition loading. In 2002, STK unveiled a 7 ton wheeled vehicle mounted 39 caliber weapon called the 155mm Light Weight Self Propelled Howitzer (LWSPH), which never entered Singapore Army service, and in late 2003, the 23 ton 39 caliber Primus Self Propelled Howitzer (SPH) was unveiled. The SLWH Pegasus will join both the FH-2000 and the Primus SPH in Singapore Army service. -- Shawn Chung

For details on the Pegasus:


For details on the Primus:

For details on the LWSPH:

errr..... Gollevainen, I have asked one of the forumers in a Singapore military forum, he served in the artillery formation b4 maybe this will be a good answer

The opening of the front tyres is powered by the APU so that is not labour-intensive. The howitzer is capable of moving at 12 kmh on its own using the APU. It's not the first helicopter-transportable howitzer, of course, since the Russians have helicopters that carry more internally than a C-130 but it's the first self-propelled howitzer that can be carried by a medium-lift helo like a Chinook. The spades at the ends of the trail legs are self-embedding and are much smaller than on any other howitzer, since the advanced recoil system lowers the peak recoil so much -- no hammering needed. Indeed, the spades for all Singaporean howitzers since the FH88 have been self-embedding, due to the exact hammering problem the Finnish poster mentioned. An electronic laying system would of course be preferable to the optical sighting system, and can be added in the future if the requirement emerges. Singaporean guns have always been rather heavily automated, hence the complex look of the weapon -- this is to save manpower and reduce crew fatigue. The FH88 and FH2000 are also very automated, and the Primus even more so. There are indeed a lot of hydraulic and electrical systems on the gun, though the gun can be manhandled in an emergency like the FH88 and FH2000. Of course, completely manual operation of the FH88 or especially the FH2000 is unbelievably tiring . Hopefully the Pegasus is easier to deal with if all the powered systems break.

The Pegasus has no autoloader. Neither do the FH88 and FH2000. They just have power assist for some difficult tasks like ramming the projectile and laying the gun. Without power assist you'll have to take 5 minutes to bring the gun into battery and up to half an hour to embed the spades. With power assist the gun enters battery on its own, and you just drive the gun in reverse gear to embed the spades. On each shot without flick ramming, you will need to lower the gun and have two or three people ram the nearly 50kg projectile in with a ramming rod hard enough for the projectile to stay in the forcing cone. With a flick rammer, you just press a button and the round pops in. It makes a huge difference. Barrel overheating is rarely a problem, since the effort to prepare the ammo and bring it from the ammo point to the gun is so siong, even a very "on" gun crew will find it hard to keep up the sustained rate of fire for very long even with power assist. :roll: