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European defence contractor Rheinmetall has announced the placement of an order for artillery-propelling charges to the tune of over US$80 million, from an undisclosed international client.
Booked at the end of March by Rheinmetall Denel Munition, the order encompasses several hundred thousand Tactical Modular Charges (TCMs). These are to be delivered in 2021.
Made by Rheinmetall Denel Munition, TCMs are designed to propel 155mm artillery shells. The charges are tailored to customer specifications and include simplified logistics and handling procedures.
Moreover, their modular design simplifies logistics as well as handling procedures in self-propelled howitzer systems. Other positive characteristics of the Rheinmetall Denel Munition product cited by the company include:
- reduced barrel wear (RDM’s Barrel Wear Reducer/BWR); and
- lower muzzle flash (RDM’s Muzzle Flash Reducer/MFR).
The former results in longer barrel life, the latter makes the artillery system harder for the enemy to detect.
Rheinmetall possesses comprehensive expertise in the world of advanced indirect fire systems – those that meet the criteria contained in the NATO Joint Ballistics Memorandum of Understanding (JBMoU) as well as non-JBMoU systems. The group demonstrated its technological superiority in this field at the end of 2019.
During test firing at the Alkantpan proving ground in South Africa, three new maximum ranges were attained with different guns. A 52-calibre G6 howitzer hurled a shell 76 kilometres, the longest range ever attained by a conventional 155mm artillery projectile. The 52-calibre main gun of the PzH2000 self-propelled howitzer achieved a range of 67 kilometres, while a 39-calibre field howitzer reached 54 kilometres.
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