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Hawkeye 105mm Mobile Weapon System (MWS)

The Hawkeye 105mm Mobile Weapon System (MWS) is the lightest weight, most highly maneuverable self-propelled howitzer in the world today. The system consists of a U.S. Army standard M20 105mm cannon mounted on an M1152A1w/B2 HMMWV. The weapon includes the application of a digital fire control system and on board communication, eliminating the need for surveyed firing points, aiming circles, and wire lines.

The HUMVEE 2-CT (M1152 two-door cargo truck) that serves as the mobile platform, comes with a standard 14,100 lb. gross vehicle weight, 205 hp engine, and antilock braking system (ABS). While the U.S. Army conducts characterization testing of the 2-CT Hawkeye MHS over the next year, AM General and Mandus Group will continue to refine the technology for integration of the soft recoil technology onto other mobile platforms. Scalability is already being tested with a 155mm prototype. The group is also exploring integration onto other existing and future combat systems.

The 105MWS battery is organized to suppress, neutralize, and destroy both ground forces and structures in an indirect and direct fire mode. The system allows the weapon to move, shoot, and move again without relying on heavy equipment or large number of troops/logistic support. The HMMWV platform provides unparalleled off-road mobility over all types of terrain to support this mission.

Overall survivability is enhanced by the strategic deployability and flexibility of the system allowing it to quickly move and relocate (“shoot and scoot”) prior to any adverse effects from counter battery fire and other aggressive offensive engagements.

Simplicity of design allows for a small logistic “footprint”. Crew maintenance is minimal and critical components/assemblies can be simply changed using Line Replacement Units.

The patented soft recoil system has been successfully applied to the Humvee Hawkeye 105mm mobile howitzer system. The soft recoil system includes: a cannon barrel returning device mounted to a recoil device for absorbing a recoil force occurring when ammunition is fired, and configured to backward press a breech ring, such that the cannon barrel is fixed to a preset position; a cannon barrel fixing device installed at the recoil device, and configured to fix the cannon barrel when the cannon barrel returns to the fixed position; and a forward momentum generator connected to the recoil device and the breech ring, respectively, configured to forward move the cannon barrel by applying a force to the breech ring, such that the ammunition is fired while the cannon barrel forward moves, and configured to reduce a recoil force by partially attenuating recoil momentum resulting from the firing of the ammunition, by forward momentum.

In the process of firing ammunition, a force having the same intensity as that of a force which has been applied to the ammunition is applied to a cannon barrel according to the law of action and reaction. Due to such force, the cannon barrel moves in the opposite direction to the firing direction of the ammunition (recoil). Therefore, the cannon barrel which has backward moved, should return to the original position (counter recoil). Generally, a cannon mounted to a tank is fired in a stationary state. In this case, a recoil load occurring during the firing is about 100 tons based on a 120-mm tank gun, which always results in a backward motion of the cannon barrel by a considerable distance. Accordingly, used is a counter-recoil device for moving the cannon barrel to the original position.

In order to reduce a recoil force of a cannon, a method for delaying a firing impact force for a predetermined time may be considered. However, this method can be implemented only by increasing a recoil distance. Accordingly, may be considered a soft recoil system capable of reducing not only a recoil force but also a recoil distance against recoil, and a cannon having the same.

The soft recoil system comprises a cannon barrel returning device mounted to a recoil device for absorbing a recoil force occurring when ammunition is fired, and configured to backward press a breech ring coupled to a rear end of a cannon barrel, such that the cannon barrel is fixed to a preset position; a cannon barrel fixing device installed at the recoil device, and configured to fix the cannon barrel when the cannon barrel returns to the fixed position; and a forward momentum generator connected to the recoil device and the breech ring, respectively, configured to forward move the cannon barrel by applying a force to the breech ring, such that the ammunition is fired while the cannon barrel forward moves, and configured to reduce a recoil force by partially attenuating recoil momentum resulting from the firing of the ammunition, by forward momentum.

In May 2021 AM General, a global leader in military grade tactical vehicles and mobility systems, received a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contract from the United States Army to provide two HUMVEE 2-CT Hawkeye Mobile Howitzer Systems (MHS) for the U.S. Army’s characterization test. “AM General’s integration of Soft Recoil technology onto mobile platforms demonstrates our commitment to the innovation required to make future combat vehicles lighter, more survivable, and more lethal,” said Regis Luther, SVP Engineering and Chief Technology Officer. “We are honored to support the U.S. Army’s efforts to test and prove mobile howitzer systems.”

AM General and its strategic partner, Mandus Group, have been integrating the soft recoil technology (SRT) onto light, mobile, transportable, and survivable platforms without sacrificing firepower. SRT is a disruptive technology that will reduce the firing loads for direct and indirect weapons systems, enabling combat systems to meet emerging requirements. The technology is ready now and can be deployed on existing weapons platforms for an immediate effect on the battlefield. Soft recoil enables reduction in overall system weight, making systems more agile and responsive to benefit the supported maneuver commander.

Natty Bumppo is the main protagonist in the novel collection “The Leatherstocking Tales” - five novels written by James Fenimore Cooper thatwere published in between the interval 1823–1841. Classics of American literature, the Leatherstocking Tales set the standard for writers of western and frontier stories. Natty Bumppo is the first American Frontiersman character. Natty Bumppo is given in the novels as an adventurous character who knows the wilderness and landscapes of America. Bumppo is also known as Leather-stocking in The Pioneers, Deerslayer in The Deerslayer, Hawkeye in The Last of the Mohicans, etc...

Mark Twain described James Fenimore Cooper's character Hawkeye / Long-Rifle / Leather-Stocking / Pathfinder / Bumppo / Deerslayer as "a man who could hunt flies with a rifle, and command a ducal salary in a Wild West show to-day if we had him back with us." Cooper wrote "'Be all ready to clench it, boys!' cried out Pathfinder, stepping into his friend's tracks the instant they were vacant. 'Never mind a new nail; I can see that, though the paint is gone, and what I can see I can hit at a hundred yards, though it were only a mosquito's eye. Be ready to clench! The rifle cracked, the bullet sped its way, and the head of the nail was buried in the wood, covered by the piece of flattened lead."

Twain wrote "The recorded feat is certainly surprising just as it stands; but it is not surprising enough for Cooper. Cooper adds a touch. He has made Pathfinder do this miracle with another man's rifle; and not only that, but Pathfinder did not have even the advantage of loading it himself. He had everything against him, and yet he made that impossible shot; and not only made it, but did it with absolute confidence... How could he see that little pellet fly through the air and enter that distant bullet-hole? Yet that is what he did; for nothing is impossible to a Cooper person. Did any of those people have any deep-seated doubts about this thing? No; for that would imply sanity, and these were all Cooper people."

According to Ttwain, "The miracle is at last complete. He knew — doubtless saw — at the distance of a hundred yards — that his bullet had passed into the hole without fraying the edges. There were now three bullets in that one hole — three bullets embedded processionally in the body of the stump back of the target. Everybody knew this — somehow or other — and yet nobody had dug any of them out to make sure. Cooper is not a close observer, but he is interesting. He is certainly always that, no matter what happens. And he is more interesting when he is not noticing what he is about than when he is. This is a considerable merit."