The AS-90 (Artillery System for the 1990s) is a lightly-armoured self-propelled artillery piece used by the British Army. It was first delivered in 1993. The AS-90 is used by five regiments of the Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Artillery: 1 RHA, 3 RHA, 4 Regt RA, 19 Regt RA and 26 Regt RA, replacing the 105 mm FV433 Abbot SPG, the M109 155 mm SPG or the FH-70 155 mm towed gun.
AS-90 was designed and built by the Armaments division of Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering (VSEL, owned by BAE Systems since 1999), who provided 179 vehicles from 1992-95 at a cost of £300 million.
In 2002 BAE systems were contracted to upgrade 96 British Army AS90s to a 52 calibre gun to push the unassisted range to 30 km and with long-range ERA ammunition to 60 to 80km. However, due to the inability of the selected bi-modular charge system from Somchem of South Africa to meet the requirement for insensitive munitions this project was terminated.| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Weight | 45 tons (100,800 lbs) |
| Length | 9.07 m (29.75 ft) |
| Width | 3.5 m (11.48 ft) |
| Height | 2.49 m (8.16 ft) |
| Crew | 5 (Commander, driver, three gun crew) |
| | |
| Armour | max. 17 mm (.66 in) steel |
| Primary
armament | 155 mm L31 39 calibre gun 48 rounds |
| Secondary
armament | 7.62 mm NATO L7 GPMG |
| Engine | Cummins VTA903T V8 diesel
660 hp (492.16 kW) |
| Power/weight | 14.66 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | hydropneumatic (Hydrogas) |
| Operational
range | 420km (261 mi)
on road |
| Speed | 53 km/h (33 mph) |
