BAE Systems's US Army artillery contract set to go into top gear

BAE Systems's contract to supply the US Army with long-range artillery units and their associated munitions carriers is set to win approval in January to begin full-rate production following the improvements put in place on the $10.0bn program.

The company had been producing at a low rate since 2013 due to persistent delays and welding errors which in 2017 required the return for repairs of 50 of 86 vehicles and led to a six-month production halt.

Since then, BAE Systems had invested $200.0m to improve its factory in York, Pennsylvania, with a continuous improvement in quality evident in the last few months of 2019.

The result was that now, “BAE has met all requirements to enter into full-rate production and we anticipate that happening during January”, Sam Tricomo, a spokesman for the weapon's Army progamme office told Bloomberg.

“Our confidence in BAE’s ability to deliver has increased month after month as we have seen continuous improvement in quality vehicles at increased production rates,” Tricomo added.

In 2018, the Army increased its requirement for the new howitzer and its minutions carriers by 109 vehicles to 689.

To date, $3.9bn of funds had been appropriated out of the total of $8.9bn of funds that the Army had slated for vehicle procurement under its Paladin Integrated Management program.

The Army wanted to increase production through 2023, not only for the howitzer system but also for the other major military vehicles that BAE built including the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and the M88A2 tank recovery vehicle.

Initial production of the howitzers takes place in York,followed by final assembly at a separate plant in Elgin, Oklahoma.