FIRTINA-II 155mm Self Propelled Howitzers (SPH)
T-155 Firtina II, which has a longer firing range and faster firing speed, is dubbed as a "next generation" equipment that "significantly enhances" the Turkish army's firepower. According to ASELSAN, a major contractor of the Turkish armed forces, the T-155 Firtina II howitzer "combines fire control" with fire direction capabilities that enable the military "to perform the missions fast, accurately and effectively." President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at a military event in the province of Sakarya on 202, witnessed the delivery of the first six units of the upgraded version of the weapon referred to as T-155 Firtina II. The government eyes at least 140 units of the military hardware.
Developed over the existing 281 FIRTINA-I SPHs, the FIRTINA-II SPH features some improvements over its predecessor including the new turret design with ammunition air conditioning unit - the most obvious external difference with the radiator on the front of the turret. The better climate control system was added because Firtinas used in Syria got hot as hell in the desert. Other upgrades include fully electrical and servo controlled turret & gun aiming and drive system (replacing a hydraulics based drive system), improved Fire Control System, increased firing rate, extended effective range, fully automatic ammunition loading system and integrated with Aselsan’s 12,7mm SARP RCWS for self-protection. RCWS gives it better situational awareness due to additional optics and a chance to fight back if an enemy squad manages to come close. It's like a last line of defense. The high degree of automation allows FIRTINA-II to react in a shorter timeframe to execute its mission, with reduced manpower. After receiving the fire command, FIRTINA-II is able to fire on target within 30 seconds, to complete the fire mission and to relocate in 90 seconds.
FIRTINA-I is equipped with electrically driven and an electronically controlled automatic ammunition loading system. The older Firtina did not have an autoloader even though K9 itself did, The Turkish military wanted it to be manual. After years of use in real combat situations and feedbacks, they wanted an autoloader. They are an advantage due to shell weight compared to a tank (where the consensus seemed to be that autoloaders were only really beneficial with poorly trained crew.) They can sustain their max rate of fire for much longer than human loaders, take up less space and don't care much how heavy the shells are. Human loaders need a lot of space and start to have problems when unitary cardridges get above the NATO 120mm calibers. Experienced human loaders can outperform a machine short term, but that's about their only major benefit in terms of loading the gun itself (other advantages include one extra man for doing maintenance, but that's besides the point). The same applies to SPHs with autoloaders, these can be more compact, have less crew and better sustained rate of fire. Especially handling the extended range charges,
Operated by a crew of five, the 155/52 calibre T-155 FIRTINA-II SPH has a maximum firing rate of up to eight rounds per minute thanks to its automatic shell loading system. The maximum range of the 155/52-calibre gun is 18km with M107 (HE), 30km with M549A1 RAP (HE) and 40+km with MKEK/Roketsan MOD 274 HE ER ammunition. The FIRTINA-II SPH’s 52 calibre ordnance is capable to use all NATO standard ammunition. In order to meet the Turkish Army’s long range HE type artillery munitions requirement, MKEK in cooperation with Roketsan (responsible for the base bleed unit of the ammunition), developed MOD 274 HE extended range (ER) 15mm 52 calibre artillery ammunition and received a contract for the delivery of the first batch of 5,020 MOD 274 ammunitions at the end of 2014. In 2017 follow on orders for an additional 9,000 (2,000 + 7,000) MOD 274 HE artillery ammunition were awarded.
Next Generation STORM K/M Howitzers are the product of RENK America Combat Propulsion Systems Company (former L3 Harris Combat Propulsion Systems business unit) AVDS-1790-9A Diesel Engine with a dry weight of 5,100lb (2,313kg) with a capacity of 1,200hp (895kW) and Allison It will be powered by the 'Turkish Power Group' consisting of the X1100™-5A4 Automatic Transmission developed by Transmission Company for the New Generation T-155 FIRTINA Self-Propelled Howitzer (FIRTINA-II) Program. The integration responsibility of the said power group is with BMC Power (ASFAT AS).
In 2011 the contract with the Turkish company MKEK concerning the supply of 36 ACS T-155 Firtina to Azerbaijan, the cost of which is 200 million dollars, was blocked by the German company MTU, which refused to re-export MTU 881 Ka-500 engines to Azerbaijan. These power plants, whose power 1000 hp, were installed on the ACS T-155 Firtina of the Turkish army. By 2012, AzeriDefence reported the issue had finally been resolved, and the T-155 artillery systems will only be supplied by MKEK. On self-propelled artillery installations there will be an engine of a “very well-known company”.
At IDEF '19 Exhibition, the Ministry of National Defense (MSB) and Caterpillar Defense UK (Ministry of Defense) to develop a new power group consisting of a 12-cylinder (V12) diesel engine with a capacity of 1,200 hp and an automatic transmission based on the Allison X1100-5A3 for use in FIRTINA-II K/M Howitzers. The new diesel engine, to be based on the core of Caterpillar Defence UK’s existing diesel engine but would be developed with the participation of 1st Main Maintenance Factory Directorate engineers to meet FIRTINA-II-specific requirements and it will be an ITAR Free product so as to not face any export license problems as in the case with MTU’s MTU-881 KA 500 engine. Under the agreement, The new engine was coupled with Allison’s X1100-5 fully automatic transmission because according to Caterpillar Defence UK officials the Turkish end user is happy with the existing transmission. The deliveries of the 12-cylinder (V12) AVDS-1790-9A Diesel Engine with a capacity of 1,200 hp for the New Generation FIRTINA (FIRTINA-II) Self-Propelled Howitzers ordered for the Land Forces Command (KKK) began in June 2022, while the remaining engines will be delivered to Turkey by the end of 2022.
This new power pack with a capacity of 1,200 hp is also recommended as part of the modernization of the M60A3 Main Battle Tanks. Since the power pack is designed to be fully compatible with the M60 AMT power pack, that is, to fit into the space where the existing power pack is placed, no additional changes will be needed on either the chassis or the tank body as part of the integration work, thus minimizing the cost of improvement. The 1,200hp (895kW) AVDS-1790-9A Diesel Engine has the same dimensions as the 750hp (895kW) AVDS-1790-2C engine used in the M48 and M60 AMTs with a dry weight of 4,900lb and the common part utilization rate between the two engines is stated to be over 70%.
The Allison X1100-5A4 Automatic Transmission will still replace the older generation CD-850 transmission. Introduced as a cost-effective mobility/mobility improvement solution for the M60 AMT, the new power group (launched as the 'Turkish Power Group') consisting of the AVDS-1790-9A Diesel Engine and the X1100™-5A4 Automatic Transmission reduces the acceleration of the M60 AMT by 46%. It is calculated that there will be an improvement of 36% in speed, 47% in maximum speed, and over 40% in climbing ability. With the use of a common power group in M60 AMT and FIRTINA-II K/M Howitzers, significant savings can be achieved in life cycle costs and initial purchase costs, on the other hand, significant savings will be possible in expenses such as operation and maintenance spare parts, warehouse operations and maintenance training.
Speaking at the Aselsan Union of Forces Summit held on February 5, 2019 at the ATO Congresium Center in Ankara, Turkish MoND Hulusi AKAR, formerly Chief of the Turkish General Staff, disclosed that Turkey had signed a contract with Qatar for the sale of FIRTINA Self Propelled Howitzers (SPHs). MoND AKAR did not share any figures regarding the number of FIRTINA SPHs to be delivered to the Qatar Emiri Armed Forces (QAAF). It is believed that the contract covers New Generation FIRTINA (also dubbed FIRTINA-II) SPHs, which are under production at the 1st Main Maintenance Factory Directorate located in the Sakarya province of northwest Turkey. In October 2018 it was reported that after receiving assurance that there would be no export restrictions, state-owned Machines and Chemical Industries Board (MKEK) signed a contract to procure 20 powerpacks (including 5TDFMA-1 engines) from UkrOboronProm (Ukrainian Government’s Defense Industry Enterprise) for the FIRTINA-II SPHs. Probably these 20 powerpacks would be installed in the QAAF’s FIRTINA-II SPHs.
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