French artillery system CAESAR deployed to Afghanistan
18:50 GMT, August 6, 2009 defpro.com | The French artillery system CAESAR has for the first time on August 1, 2009 been deployed to a military operation abroad. It is now being operated in Afghanistan with the 3rd artillery regiment of the French Marines. The French Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff had confirmed in June 2009 to the French newspaper that eight CAESAR systems will be sent to Afghanistan to support French operations. It was reported that the eight systems will be divided into four groups of two, sending two vehicles each in the three forward operating bases (FOBs) and keeping two as a reserve in Kabul.
The truck-mounted artillery system, CAESAR (French abbreviation for “CAmion Equipé d’un Système d’ARtillerie”), has been manufactured by the French company Nexter and has entered service with the French Armed Forces in July 2008.
CAESAR is a 155 mm/52-calibre artillery piece installed on a 6X6 Renault truck chassis. It is characterized above all by its speed (maximum speed 100 km/h; 50 km/h off-road) and its mobility. It is being operated by a crew of five people, which can be reduced to three if necessary. With a weight of 17.7 tons it may be transported by C-130, an A400M, or even by a CH-53 helicopter.
Its gun offers a high degree of precision in autonomous firing linked to the performance of its Sigma 30 inertial guidance system produced by Sagem Défense Sécurité. For the first time, an inertial guidance system has been mounted not on the vehicle carrying it but directly on the gun cradle. This means that when set up for autonomous firing a CAESAR is capable of firing six shells at the target and then moving away in less than two minutes, before an enemy has had the chance to set up a counter-battery.
With is large range of up to 40 kilometres, CAESAR will provide fire support for the deployed French soldiers throughout the entire French areas of responsibility comprising the Kapisa Province and the Surobi District.
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