Archer - 155 MM FH 77 BW L52

[McPuff]

[Would you like to see this in-game?]

• Yes
• No

Archer, otherwise known by the manufacturer designation 155 MM FH 77 BW L52, is the Swedish Army’s current self-propelled howitzer. Archer is a thoroughly modern 155 mm artillery system featuring an autoloaded 155 mm L/52 howitzer. While perhaps appearing similar to truck based self-propelled howitzers at first glance, Archer is fully capable of direct fire and possesses a number of features which would make it unique in War Thunder. Besides being added to Sweden, Archer could also be added to the British tree in the future.

Background

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The development of Archer commenced in the early 2000s as an ambitious upgrade program for the FH 77B howitzer already in Swedish service. This was done on the basis of previous developmental efforts, including concepts for the use of an articulated hauler as a weapon carrier. Development was carried out by Bofors with the project being led by Sweden, although Denmark as well as Norway contributed funding, both having joined and subsequently left the program over the course of development. The upgrade of the FH 77B included the fitting of a new longer barrel, an autoloading system, and the howitzer being mounted to an armored articulated hauler manufactured by Volvo. The decision to move to serial production was taken in 2010, with the first pre-production models entering limited service in 2013. Initial deliveries of serial production models followed starting in 2016. Archer currently serves as the Swedish Army’s artillery system and has also entered service with the armed forces of the United Kingdom and Ukraine. Further variants of Archer have also been developed and the system has been combat tested.

In War Thunder

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Firepower

Archer is armed with an autoloaded 155 mm L/52 howitzer. This howitzer and its ammunition is positioned at the rear of the vehicle, entirely separate from the crew of four and engine at the front. While not capable of firing as fast as Bkan 1C, this howitzer still provides a high rate of fire and good ballistics. Moreover, unlike Bkan 1C, this is paired with a thermal sight and laser range finder. A unique detail of Archer is that there is no sight fitted coaxially with the howitzer. Instead, it is aimed via the remote weapon station (RWS) fitted on top of the crew can. This RWS features a day camera, thermal sight, and laser range finder. Moreover, it also sports a Ksp 88, Swedish designation of the 12.7 mm M2 heavy machine gun, which gives Archer good secondary firepower with traverse speed sufficient to engage some air targets. Another limitation of Archer is its inability to fire straight forward, but despite the rear position of the armament, the howitzer is capable of traversing 85 degrees to either side and depress.

Mobility

Perhaps the most visually striking aspect of Archer is that the vehicle is based on an articulated hauler, specifically a Volvo A30E. This means that the vehicle is split in two sections and steering is accomplished by turning the forward and rear sections in relation to one another. While this limits Archer’s top speed, it also allows for high off-road mobility and a small turning circle. In War Thunder, this type of steering would have to be introduced as a new feature. Hopefully, the good off-road performance of articulated haulers compared to conventional trucks would be reflected in Archer’s in-game performance. While slower than a lot of trucks, Archer’s top speed is still far higher than that of Bkan 1C, although speed is limited by a relatively low power to weight ratio.

Gameplay

Sweden’s only current self-propelled howitzer in War Thunder, the Bkan 1C, is limited by its low speed, limited traverse, and lack of modern systems. Archer would provide Sweden with a highly mobile self-propelled howitzer with thermal sight, laser range finder, better ballistics, and increased explosive filler. This could give Sweden a researchable self-propelled howitzer in the tech tree at a similar battle rsting to VIDAR.

Due to its unique sight arrangement, Archer’s ability to use the gun sight and aim the howitzer could be removed if this weapon station is destroyed as an electronic feature. However, given that War Thunder does not model the effect of damaged sights, this might only disable the thermal sight and laser range finder. While Archer would also be limited by its inability to fire straight forward, its rear armament would allow Archer players to peek around corners without exposing the crew or engine, enabling some unique play styles and gameplay scenarios, at least in Arcade and Realistic Battles where using the barrel as sight is possible.

Specifications

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Primary armament

Caliber: 155 mm

Name: 15,5 cm haub 77B or 15,5 cm ARCHER

Ammunition capacity: 21 shells

Autoloader: Yes

Rate of fire:

• Burst (according to BAE): 3 rounds in 20 seconds, equivalent to <6.7 second reload

• Intensive (according to BAE): 21 rounds in 3 minutes, equivalent to <8.6 second reload

• According to FMV: 8-9 rounds per minute, equivalent to 6.7-7.5 second reload

Ammunition:

Shell name	Shell type	Projectile weight (kg)	Explosive mass	Filler type	Maximum velocity (m/s)
155 SGR77	HE	43.4	8	Pressed hexotol (Composition B)	895
155 SGR77B BFL	Base-bleed HE	42.2	8.5	Hexotol (Composition B)	955
HEER	Base-bleed HE	44.4	9	Composition B	935

Horizontal guidance: ±85°

Vertical guidance: -1° to +70°

Sight: aimed via RWS

Secondary armament (RWS)

Caliber: 12.7 mm

Name: Ksp 88 in Vapenstation 01

Horizontal guidance: 360º

Horizontal rotation speed: 90º /s

Vertical guidance: -20º to +60

Vertical rotation speed: 70º /s

Stabilization: 4 Axis Fully stabilized

Thermal sight: Yes

Laser range finder: Yes

Mobility

Weight: 34 tonnes

Top speed: 70 km/h

Engine: Volvo D9

Horsepower: 340-338 hp

Drive: 6x6

Maximum steering angles: ±45°

Survivability

Armor: STANAG Level 2 or STANAG Level 3. Equivalent to protection against 7.62 mm AP ammunition.

Crew: 4

Photos

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Video showing rate of fire (note that the video features a pre-production Archer, not the final serial model)

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https://youtu.be/d8x8ITwd4Vg?si=NZhYDfWIhxUpKW5H

Sources

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BAE Systems. ARCHER. Mobile Howitzer 6x6. Brochure. Via https://www.baesystems.com/en/product/archer

https://www.fmv.se/armada/projekt/archer/

Artilleri & Luftvärn nr. 4 2007 by Höök Design AB - Issuu

Artilleri & Luftvärn nr. 2 2010 by Höök Design AB - Issuu

Svenska Archer – sätter pilen där det gör som mest ont – Teknikaliteter

Försvarets materielverk. 2014. Ammunitionskatalog Data och bild. Kalmar: Lenanders. 155 mm High Explosive Extended Range - Nammo | Nammo

https://www.kongsberg.com/globalassets/kongsberg-defence--aerospace/2.1.-products/defence-and-security/remote-weapon-systems/protector-mct/protector-rs4.pdf

A30E - Volvo : Volvo Construction Equipment

https://www.volvoce.com/-/media/volvoce/global/global-site/product-archive/documents/09-articulated-haulers/05-volvo/v-a25e/v-a25e-a30e-21b1003154-2007-12.pdf?v=_XxHPw

https://www.army.mod.uk/learn-and-explore/equipment/artillery-and-air-defence/archer/

Världens modernaste artilleri på plats i Ukraina - Försvarsmakten

[DMYEugen]

About time this one found its way here. Easy +1 for ALL versions of the Archer.

[WalletWorrier]

Unfortunately I don’t think an unmanned turret SPG would be very balanced. With such a huge separation between gun and crew you would be able to hide completely safe around a corner, and with ammo boxes never even have to move to resupply.

[McPuff]

Depends how it’s modeled really. Irl it uses insensitive ammunition but Gaijin could definitely justify having an ammunition be catastrophic as the vehicle would never survive a full detonation. As the shells and charges would always be exposed along with the howitzer, it would be far from invulnerable.

[Spr4yz]

The cab would be quite visible considering how tall it is compared to the gun’s pivot axis, and the gun can only traverse 85-degrees in each direction so you can’t reverse-shoot with it either. You’re gonna have to come up with the crew cab first and then adjust yourself slightly diagonally to use it, and then only in a limited field of degrees.

[RycotSS]

Huge +1

That RWS can carry other weapons as well, such as a 40mm grenade launcher with HEDP that has ~50mm pen or HE-VT if gaijin really wants to spice things up.

[Nike_Ajax]

ah the high tier flak 8,8cm. +1 lets get it

[McPuff]

Sadly, at least afaik, only the .50 has actually been fitted. So while possible, any such change would have to be according to Gaijin’s whims. The prototype however did feature a variant of Protector with smoke grenade launchers and was proposed with Bofors Lemur with a 30 mm M230, although the latter combination was never actually mounted. One of the trial guns (before the prototypes) also featured a Bofors Lemur as an alternate RWS option. Might make suggestions for them in the future

[RycotSS]

It’s a bit hard to tell, but this could potentially be one mounting the 40 mm based on the ammo box being both a lot larger than the ones for the 12.7 or 7.62, and it being placed perpendicular to the barrel which matches how the Mk 19 often has it’s ammo box placed compared to how the 12.7 and 7.62 often having the ammo box placed parallel with the barrel. The muzzle at the end of the barrel also matches the Mk 19 since it’s a lot bigger than the muzzle of the M2.

[McPuff]

99% sure that’s the Protector mount, just that the perspective that makes it look odd

[Arctic-Fox]

That’s definately the Protector
There are some pics where the RWS looks different tho, both have probably been used

Scratch that, i was thinking about something else

[McPuff]

I meant to say .50 cal in the Protector mount rather than 40 mm AGL but yes. Most images of the trial guns are with the Bofors Lemur RWS. It was only later on when most of the initial testing was already done that Norway joined the project and the switch to the Protector was made, as seen in the above pictures. The Lemur was never put on the prototypes or later Archers however