During FEINDEF’25 defence exhibition in Spain, GDELS has displayed Piranha 10x10 vehicle and a ASCOD NEMESIS tracked vehicle with the Rch-155 turret.
KNDS’s Rch-155 155 mm artillery turret was previously seen on the Boxer 8x8 armoured fighting vehicle. This time, General Dynamics European Land Systems displayed the new modular turret on the 10x10 version of the Piranha armoured vehicle and the ASCOD NEMESIS armoured vehicle.
Piranha 10x10 is an extended version of the baseline Piranha 8x8 armoured fighting vehicle for support missions; including artillery fire support, vehicle recovery, and bridge laying. The vehicle was tested with the aforementioned Rch-155 turret.
ASCOD NMESIS, a development of the ASCOD armoured fighting vehicle specifically for using artillery systems, with a cabin extension, is a flat-bed configuration that can be described as a tracked truck rather than a vehicle for direct combat.
Rch-155
While there has been a rise in truck-mounted 155 mm artillery systems since the Russo-Ukrainian War, thanks to their higher mobility compared to tracked ones, the protection is an issue. Rch-155 could be defined as an answer to this, as something that can be fitted on armoured fighting vehicles with ease.
Most turrets for conventional tracked artillery systems are too large and heavy for armoured fighting vehicles to carry. Thus, Rch-155 was designed with a laterally smaller but taller profile to fit on armoured fighting vehicle hulls and carry the ammunition inside at the same time.
The usual way of integrating Rch-155 is having a trimmed compartment configuration of the vehicle and placing the turret, as seen with Boxer 8x8 and Piranha 10x10.
The turret carries a 155 mm L52 artillery gun as its main armament and an RCWS as back-up for close-range. The fire control system, as a newer one, is more compatible with guided ammunition such as VULCANO and Excalibur. The ammunition storage can hold up to 30 rounds in the turret, loaded to the gun by an autoloader.
About GDELS
General Dynamics European Land Systems or GDELS is a subsidiary of the U.S.-based General Dynamics, with the headquarters located in Spain. GDELS is well known fort he Piranha and ASCOD families of armoured vehicles. The firm has exported its armoured vehicles to various EU countries.
Author: Kaan Azman
Editor: Özgür Ekşi
