#Fire commander detroit diesel upgrade#

Army (the M109A7, built on the Bradley chassis) was already approved and so the M109 series will continue to serve, possibly for decades to come.

#Fire commander detroit diesel upgrade#

Nevertheless an upgrade of the Paladin for the U.S.

While a successful export item, the Paladin was lately replaced by several notable militaries by competing projects, the British AS90 and the German Panzerhaubitze 2000. However the failures to produce a suitable replacement prolonged the service of this venerable vehicle family to the 21st century. The M109A6 Paladin – or, rather the M109 series in general – was not supposed to be serving this long and numerous replacements were developed at one point or another by the U.S. The upgraded M284 howitzer has a sustained rate of fire of around 4 rounds per minute and the maximum range with special ammunition is over 30 kilometers. Additionally the Paladin can fire very advanced ammunition such as the M982 Excalibur ultra-precise extended range round that allows the Paladin to perform even danger close fire missions. This ability helps to protect the Paladin from counter-battery fire. This heavily modernized element allows it to rapidly aim – a Paladin can fire within 60 seconds from coming to full halt.

Compared to the older versions of the M109 series the Paladin is equipped with a sophisticated fire control and localization system.

It was produced between 19 with 992 vehicles built. The M109A6 Paladin is the last mass-produced service version of the venerable M109.