By Troy Turner
BAE Systems, a global defense company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, is partnering with the U.S. Army to advance the M109-52 Self-Propelled Howitzer prototype, and Anniston, Alabama, is among several sites where work on the weapon will continue to be developed.
BAE Systems employs nearly 41,000 across its major operations in the United States, United Kingdom and Sweden, and generated 2024 sales of $16.85 billion, company materials state.
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center is the Army’s command working in the M109-52 partnership. The Army has several ties to Anniston, including the Anniston Army Depot and the former Fort McClellan, which today hosts several military and federal government operations.
Anniston Army Depot has more than 15,000 acres of woodland; 3.5 million square feet of maintenance and production buildings; 419,029 square feet of administrative buildings; and 6.8 million square feet of storage buildings, with room to expand.
From its origin in 1941 as a storage depot, it has transformed “into a state-of-the-market maintenance facility and is most often recognized for its heavy combat vehicle, small arms weaponry and locomotive expertise.” The depot serves as the Department of Defense’s Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for combat vehicles (minus Bradley), assault bridging, artillery, small caliber weapons and locomotives, rail equipment and non-tactical generators.
Among the specifications listed with the M109-52:
- Provides critical additional range required in large-scale combat operations
- A mature 52-caliber system integrated into fielded M109 provides rapid development pathway
- OEM level systems engineering provides significant risk reduction in cost, schedule, safety, logistics, performance and growth
The Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between BAE Systems and the Army ensures further development to provide options that enhance long- range fires, enhance technology and improve artillery systems soldiers are using in operations today, BAE reported. “The M109-52 prototype delivers a low-risk technical solution and lower-cost approach that provides necessary core warfighting capabilities more rapidly.”
“We are working with DEVCOM-AC to continue modernizing the U.S. Army’s long-range precision-fires needs,” said Dan Furber, artillery product line director for BAE Systems’ Combat Mission Systems business. “We’re bringing together battle-proven systems with mature technologies to secure a significant leap forward in capability at a much lower cost. That’s the power in partnership.”
The agreement builds upon previous work and testing performed independently by both BAE Systems and the Army “to create a faster development pathway for new artillery capabilities and lethality upgrades.”
Continued work on the M109-52 will take place at Picatinny Arsenal and BAE Systems’ U.S.-based defense industrial base including Anniston; Elgin, Oklahoma; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Sterling Heights, Michigan; and York, Pennsylvania.
Troy Turner is the editor and senior consultant for AlaDefense.com. He can be reached at [email protected]. His bio can be found here.
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