Source: Matsimus
Excalibur Army 'DITA' 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer
The DITA 155mm self-propelled gun howitzer is an artillery system being developed by Czech defence company Excalibur Army to meet modern-day artillery challenges. Derived from the Tatra 8×8 truck-mounted howitzer designs, the DITA howitzer features a fully automated superstructure, which will increase the rate of fire with only two crew members on board. The self-propelled howitzer entered the final stage of development with the completion of a functional prototype vehicle in January 2021. The prototype is set to undergo a series of tests to evaluate its performance. Excalibur Army partnered with EDGE Group, a UAE-based defence technology company, to exhibit its new howitzer at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) 2021 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) in Abu Dhabi. The DITA artillery weapon system will have a length of 13.02m, a width of 3.08m, a height of 3.12m and will weigh up to 29t. The fully autonomous superstructure will allow the howitzer to be mounted on different types of wheeled or tracked chassis, while enabling operation by only a two-member crew comprising a driver and commander. The superstructure will offer an emergency operation workplace to accommodate an additional crew member based on user preference. The ballistic crew cabin will be equipped with high-performance heating and air-conditioning system and nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) filtration system. The cabin will offer STANAG 4569 Level I protection to the occupants. Equipped with automatic loading and firing mechanism, the gun can be operated in fully automatic, manual and emergency guiding modes. It can also support different firing modes such as single round, rapid-fire, programmed, as well as multiple round simultaneous impact (MRSI). The gun can rotate through -3°/70° elevation angle and traverse through ±60°. The artillery system can carry 40 rounds of ammunition in conveyors within the turret.
