The 155 GH 52 APU (which stands for ''155 mm

gun-howitzer Gun-howitzer (also referred to as gun howitzer) is a type of artillery weapon that is intended to fulfill both the role of ordinary cannon or field gun, and that of a howitzer. It is thus able to convey both direct and indirect fire. Modern gun-ho ...

, 52

calibers In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore matc ...

, auxiliary power unit''), Finnish designation 155 K 98 (''155 mm kenttäkanuuna 1998'' or "155 mm field gun 1998"; FDF terminology doesn't recognise gun-howitzers), is a Finnish towed

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

piece developed in 1998. It is largely based on the

155 K 83 The Tampella 155 K 83 is a Finnish towed 155 mm field gun (Finnish designation; technically it is a gun-howitzer), manufactured in the 1980s by Tampella. History The development process for the 155 K 83 began in 1960 when Tampella presented ...

with some major enhancements. It can be moved on the field short distances with its own auxiliary diesel engine, which is used in all 56 units used by the Finnish defence forces, is a 78-kilowatt Deutz diesel engine. The Egyptian units are not equipped with the APU. The 155 GH 52 is considered to be one of the most modern field artillery cannons to date and was originally manufactured by Oy

Tampella Oy Tampella Ab was a Finnish heavy industry manufacturer, a maker of paper machines, locomotives, military weaponry, as well as wood-based products such as packaging. The company was based mainly in the Naistenlahti district of the city of ...

AB industries (today a part of Patria, Patria Vammas Systems Oy). It has a high rate of fire (6 rounds per minute) and can fire all types of 155 mm ammunition.

Domestic operators

The

Kainuu Artillery Regiment Kainuu Artillery Regiment is an artillery unit of the Kainuu Brigade, which is the northernmost one of the three Finnish Defence Forces#Key wartime units, readiness brigades of the Finnish Defence Forces. In its peacetime military training for co ...

Kainuu Brigade Kainuu brigade (Finnish Kainuun prikaati) is a Finnish Army unit situated in Kajaani. The brigade is one of the biggest army units, training approximately 4000 conscripts annually. The Kainuu Brigade is one of the three readiness brigades in the ...

in Vuosanka shooting range and the

Artillery Brigade An artillery brigade is a specialised form of military brigade dedicated to providing artillery support. Other brigades might have an artillery component, but an artillery brigade is a brigade dedicated to artillery and relying on other units fo ...

Niinisalo Niinisalo is a village in the municipality of Kankaanpää in the region of Satakunta in Finland. It is known for the Niinisalo Garrison which is the base of the Finnish Army unit Artillery Brigade. The population of Niinisalo is 996 (2009). The ...

in Pohjankangas shooting range operate the guns in Finland. The artillery units train also at Rovajärvi shooting range in

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...

, Lapland. In Finnish practice one infantry readiness brigade has one organic artillery regiment consisting of two artillery fire battalions. Both of the artillery fire battalions have 18 cannons divided in three six cannon batteries, which means that an artillery regiment, which is an organic unit for a readiness brigade, should have 36 cannons in its two artillery battalions. Finland has three readiness brigades.

Export

In 2003 a gun was mounted on a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tank ...

chassis for use as a self-propelled gun prototype. This vehicle was designed primarily as a design study for the Egyptian Army. It was later sold to Egypt, but no deal of more units were made. On 21 May 2007, the Finnish

Yleisradio Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

revealed some problems with the 155 GH 52 APU, dealing with reliability issues of the towing system and barrel behavior when firing long-distance rounds. These facts had been withheld from the Egyptians at the time of the deal. The major challenges have been the accuracy of fire in the longest distances and barrel wear with same distances. The arms deal lead into a juridical process formally presented as an allegation of corruption. Inspector Janne Järvinen and state prosecutor Ari-Pekka Koivisto investigated if the 10% trade commission had been partly allocated to the directors of the buying organisation using the commercial agent.

Characteristics

The gun's deployment power is 78 kW and its driven speed (in terrain, to location) is 7.5 km/h or 15 km/h when pulled by a heavy truck. The cost of one system is 500,000 euros. After having encountered problems with firing at 35 km - 40 km, the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraf ...

concentrated its artillery gun development on the

M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (M270 MLRS) is an American-developed armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher. The U.S. Army variant of the MLRS vehicle is based on the chassis of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The first M270s wer ...

(in Finnish arsenal ''298 RsRakH 06'', later ''298 RSRAKH 06'') bought as Dutch surplus.

Operators

Current operators

* - at least 16 units, variant 155 GH 52 without the APU. * - 56 units.

References

External links

{{Commons category
155 K 98
(in Finnish) Tampella Field artillery 155 mm artillery

155 K 98 The 155 GH 52 APU (which stands for ''155 mm gun-howitzer, 52 calibers, auxiliary power unit''), Finnish designation 155 K 98 (''155 mm kenttäkanuuna 1998'' or "155 mm field gun 1998"; FDF terminology doesn't recognise gun-howitzers), is a Fin ...

Military equipment introduced in the 1990s