British Army completes first live firing on exercise with Archer SPHs

The British Army has completed a first live-firing on exercise with its Archer 155 mm wheeled self-propelled howitzers (SPHs), the UK Ministry of Defence announced on 21 November 2024.

The first firing took place in freezing conditions on Finland’s Rovajärvi Training Area during Exercise ‘Dynamic Front 25’: the first time Finland has hosted a major international military exercise since becoming a NATO member in April 2023 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The wider ‘Dynamic Front’ exercise, which began on 4 November and runs until 24 November in Finland, Estonia, Germany, Poland, and Romania, demonstrates NATO’s ability to share fire missions, target information, and operational graphics from the Arctic to the Black Sea. The exercise includes 1,800 US troops and 3,700 personnel from NATO and partner nations, including 350 soldiers deployed by the British Army.

The Archer SPH can fire more than eight rounds per minute out to ranges of 50 km. The British Army acquired 14 Archer systems from Sweden between October 2023 and July 2024 as an interim replacement for 32 AS90 tracked SPHs gifted to Ukraine.

Also demonstrated in Finland during ‘Dynamic Front 25’ were the British Army’s Taipan artillery detection radar and M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System.

Exercise ‘Dynamic Front 25’ comes a month after the UK announced it will strengthen NATO’s eastern flank with a new defence roadmap signed with Estonia. The joint declaration will see thousands of UK troops held at high readiness, ready to defend NATO’s eastern flank, in addition to those deployed in Estonia.