The Artillery Gun Module (AGM, ''Artillerie-Geschütz-Modul'') is an air-portable
self-propelled howitzer
Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled mo ...
designed by
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann
Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH & Co. KG (KMW) is an arms industry company based in Munich, Germany. The company produces various types of equipment as well as rail locomotives, tanks, self-propelled artillery, and other armoured vehicles.
KMW was ...
. It is based on technology used in the
German Army Panzerhaubitze 2000 (PzH 2000) system, to provide more air portable self-propelled artillery, transportable by
Airbus A400 aircraft.
The system is fully autonomous, the crew sitting in the cab, with similar performance to the PzH 2000, but with reduced cost, crew levels and weight. The AGM uses the PzH 2000 ballistic fire-control computer with integrated NATO Armaments Ballistic Kernel and the Krauss-Maffei Wegmann Artillery Command and Control System. It is a modular system, the gun module can be fitted on a tracked or wheeled chassis. Costs can be reduced by fitting it to a user's suitable chassis of choice. Current development vehicles use a
MLRS chassis. A vehicle independent auxiliary power unit (allowing the gun to be used with the carrier engine shut down) and an inertial reference unit with a
Global Positioning System (GPS) connection are fitted. During trials in 2006, a demonstrator vehicle fired a volley of ten 155 mm rounds in 2 minutes and 19 seconds with a crew of two being seated in the fully armoured protected cab.
Other platforms
Donar
A further development of the AGM was revealed in 2008 as the Donar 155mm self-propelled artillery system. The system uses a modified
ASCOD
The ASCOD (Austrian Spanish Cooperation Development) armoured fighting vehicle family is the product of a cooperation agreement between Austrian Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG and Spanish General Dynamics Santa Bárbara Sistemas ( both companies are now ...
2 IFV chassis with a newer, more efficient two-man turret with a fully automatic ammunition loading and handling system.
Boxer
In April 2014, KMW decided to integrate the AGM onto the
Boxer armored vehicle, with the system making an appearance at