British Army’s commitment to L118 105mm light gun may be death knell for Light Fires Platform

The effort to replace the British Army’s 105mm L118 Light Gun may have come to an end with a source telling Shephard that there are no longer plans to replace the gun with the LFP being developed by Dstl.

The LFP had already progressed to the construction of a Technology Demonstrator Platform (TDP) which was subsequently completed and tested which included a number of innovative features.

The features included a 127mm ordnance fed by a 14 round magazine which fed the projectile and Modular Charge System (MCS). It used a high mobility electrically operated carriage and operated by remote control.

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Following the TDP there was a pause in development as the RA decided on its future weapon and mission requirements.

Shephard has now been told by a British Army spokesperson, however, that “there are no plans to replace the L118 105mm as the army’s light gun”.

When LFP was first conceived the RA fielded only two conventional tubed artillery systems, the VSEL AS90 155mm self-propelled howitzer (SPH) and the Royal Ordnance (now BAE) 105mm L118 Light Gun.

All of the AS90s have now been passed to the Ukraine leaving the 105mm L118 Gun as the force’s only conventional tube artillery weapon.

Other regiments are now being equipped with the 105mm L118 to bolster the RA’s firepower which will include three batteries.

One battery will go to 1 Royal Horse Artillery Regiment which was equipped with AS90), one for 19 Regiment RA which is currently equipped with Archer and one for 4 Regiment RA which is already equipped with L118.

The AS90 was to be replaced by the Mobile Fires Platform (MFP) was started as far back as 2019 with the original requirement being 135 platforms to equip four RA Regiments. To help fill the gap, 14 BAE Systems Bofors Archer 155mm 6x6 SPH have been acquired and these equip two batteries of 19 Regiment RA.

The KMW-Deutschland RCH-155 (Remote Controlled Howitzer 155) was selected to meet the MFP in April 2024 and this is now in production for the Ukraine with first units completed in early 2025.

The RCH-155 has also been selected by the Swiss Army but installed on a General Dynamics European Land Systems – MOWAG Piranha 10x10 and this could also be adopted by Italy and Spain.

It is not all bad news as the RA upgrades its Locked Martin Missiles and Fire Control M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) to the B1 standard and more recently to the B2 standard. Additional launchers are being introduced which will provide a step change in long range precision fire capability.

This includes the latest US Fire Control System which enables it to fire the latest guided missiles with longer range including Guided MLRS (GMLRS), Extended Range GMLRS and Precision Strike Missile.

If the LFP effort has fallen by the wayside it would join a list of programmes which attempted enhance the firepower of the RA but have been cancelled.

These include the Lightweight Mobile Artillery System (Gun), Lightweight Mobile Artillery System (Rocket), SMArt 155mm top attack artillery projectile, Joint Effects Tactical Targeting System MBDA Fire Shadow loitering munition and the Extended Range Ordnance/Modular Charge System.

The latter was tested on a battery of six AS90 and included a 155mm ordnance from Royal Ordnance Factory Nottingham which has now closed.

The RA also fielded the trolley mounted Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Exactor Mk 2 which used the Spike non-line-of-sight missile to hit targets at longer ranges. however, this has recently been phased out of service with the RA as has the Thales Watchkeeper uncrewed aerial vehicle.

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