The UK has signed a £52 million joint contract with Germany to acquire the RCH 155 mobile artillery system, a platform capable of firing while travelling at up to 100 km/h and striking targets at ranges of around 70 km.
The agreement, announced this morning, will see Britain receive an Early Capability Demonstrator, with two more systems going to Germany for shared testing and evaluation.
The purchase is intended to feed into the British Army’s Mobile Fires Platform programme, which is searching for a long-term successor to existing artillery capability. Current Archer systems were procured as an interim solution after the UK transferred AS90 guns to Ukraine.
Mounted on the Boxer armoured vehicle, the RCH 155 can operate with a two-person crew due to automated loading and fire control, deliver eight rounds per minute and reposition immediately without preparing a firing position. Its ability to shoot on the move, it seems, is being framed as a direct response to battlefield requirements highlighted in Ukraine, where artillery survivability depends on rapid post-engagement dispersal to avoid counter-battery fire.
Defence Readiness and Industry Minister Luke Pollard said: “The British Army will soon have new artillery that can fire on the move. This builds on lessons from Ukraine enabling our Army to hit targets 70km away and move fast away from returning fire so they can fire again.” He also argued the joint purchase offers better value through shared testing and faster delivery schedules.
The deal sits under the 2024 Trinity House agreement, a bilateral defence cooperation framework with Germany covering procurement, industrial policy and force interoperability.
Edward Cutts, the Army’s senior officer responsible for the Mobile Fires programme, stated: “By working hand-in-hand with Germany, we’re not only accelerating the delivery of world-class artillery capability for the British Army, but doing so more efficiently and cost-effectively than either nation could achieve alone.”
The Ministry of Defence positions the contract as evidence of the Strategic Defence Review’s “defence as an engine for growth” premise and of UK-German alignment within NATO’s collective deterrence posture. However, it represents an early-stage capability demonstrator rather than a confirmed production order, and the government has yet to outline firm numbers or timelines for full programme rollout.