The Philippine Army
Here is the basic specification of the Elbit-Soltam M-71 155mm/Towed 39CAL howitzers;
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"The M101 remained a fixture across Southeast Asia where it was continuously employed by the militaries of the Philippines, xxx. The Philippine Army in particular never let go of its Vietnam-vintage M101’s in its long battle against restive Muslims in Mindanao." "The M101’s career is far from over. It remains in the arsenals of at least a half dozen Latin American countries and is found throughout Asia. Whether marking a national holiday with a salvo or pounding terrorist camps in the Southern Philippines the M101 hasn’t become redundant. With its literal impact on modern history it is apparent the roar of the M101’s thunder will echo for years to come (http://www.military-today.com/artillery/m101.htm)."
The Philippine Army primarily uses 105 mm howitzers, the standard howitzers of the Philippine army are the M101 105 mm howitzer, a WW II howitzer of the United States of America first known as the M2 105 mm howitzer, the M2 105 mm howitzer was later on re-named after WW II, the howitzer is then made available for re-production after the war, and has been sold to allied customers throughout the world.
The Philippine Army also has some 155 mm howitzers but they barely use it on actual military operations, and they are not the newly acquired 155 mm Soltam howitzers, the 105 mm is not a bad gun, but the thing is it is not as powerful as compared to the 155 mm howitzer.
That is because a 155 mm howitzer has more power and it has a longer range as compared to a 105 mm howitzer, for that reason alone the Philippine Army could already fire artillery barrages to enemy forces that are positioned two times farther.
The additional fire power and range, is a changing factor in the war zone/battlefield, I am glad, and proud that our armed forces acquired the Soltam 155 mm howitzers, the camouflage patterms is also unique.
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| Elbit-Soltam M-71 155mm/Towed 39CAL howitzers, MaxDefense Philippine |
The Philippine Marines
The Philippine Marines will also receive their own 155 mm Soltam howitzers, in fact the marines already received their 155 mm Soltam and it is already deployed at Marawi to help in the fight against the Maute Group, according to a AFP Modernization Today member, the marines did operate some 155 mm howitzers once in the past, some were donated by the US armed forces to the Philippine Marines. The said howitzers are placed at a base at Luzon, possibly for storage, and display or for the war museum of the armed forces of the Philippines.
The primary operators of howitzers in the country are the Philippine Army only, that is the reason why we could not really tell that the Philippine Marines did operate any howitzers, however the Philippine marines uses mortars for artillery support, but all of that are about to change, because of the new 155 mm Soltam howitzers acquisition of the Philippine Marines. The gun is an added fire power for the marines, it is a good choice by choosing the Soltam 155 mm howitzers.
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| Elbit-Soltam M-71 155mm/Towed 39CAL howitzers, .gmanetwork.com Here you could spot a Elbit-Soltam M-71 155mm/Towed 39CAL howitzers that is already deployed at Marawi to help fight off terrorists and rebels, according to GMA news, the link to the said report is at the pictures' caption. |
| Main weapon caliber (mm) |
155
|
| Barrel length (calibres) |
39
|
| Weight (kg) |
9200
|
| Length (mm) |
7500
|
| Width (mm) |
2580
|
| Height (mm) |
2115
|
| Ground clearance (mm) |
380
|
| Track (mm) |
2200
|
| Elevation (degree) |
52
|
| Depression (degree) |
-3
|
| Track (mm) |
84
|
| Rate of fire (rds/min) |
5
|
| Firing range (m) |
23500
|
| Crew |
8
|
"The Soltam Systems towed 155 mm M-71 gun-howitzer is a further development of the Soltam Systems towed 155 mm M-68 gun-howitzer and uses the same recoil system, breech and carriage. The first prototype was completed in 1974 and first production units the following year. The main differences between the M-71 and the M-68 are that the former has a longer 155 mm/39 calibre barrel and is fitted with a rammer driven by compressed air. This permits rapid loading at all angles of elevation. The rechargeable cylinder for the M-71 is mounted on the right trail. The barrel has 48 grooves, length of rifling is 5.038 m, width of groove 6.6 mm, width of land 3.5 mm and depth of groove is 1.2 mm."
"Soltam systems is now concentrating its marketing on the latest 155 mm TIG 2000 artillery system which is available with a 39, 45 or 52 calibre ordnance. Details of this system, which is understood to have been developed for the export market, are given in a separate entry. Details of recent Israeli 155 mm artillery exports through 2006 are provided in the entry for the Soltam Systems 155 mm TIG gun-howitzer family."
The howitzers have already been tested at the 2017 Marawi seige at the Philippines. The Philippine-United States of America military exercises will help develop, and improve the skills of the Philippine soldiers on handling this type of weapons, the Philippine Armed Forces already did train with the most modern 155 howitzer in the world and that is the M777 155 mm howitzers of the US armed forces, although it would be better if both forces would train on the M71 soltam 155 mm howitzers next year at 2018, that is because such military exercises will improve further the skills of the Filipino artillery men, and soldiers on how to operate such devastating weapon. The acquisition of the M71 Soltam 155 mm howitzers is a moral boosters for the Philippine Army, and Philippine Marines, we are exited to see the M71 Soltam 155 mm howitzers of the Philippine Army, and of the Philippine Marines get tested during live military exercises.
Here is the report about the 155 mm howitzer acquisition of both the Philippine Army, and Philippine Marines, click the link for the report.
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