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AHS Krab
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AHS Krab
The AHS Krab (Polish for crab) is a 155 mm NATO-compatible self-propelled tracked gun-howitzer designed in Poland by Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW), by combining a modified South Korean K9 Thunder chassis with a British BAE Systems AS-90M Braveheart turret with a 52-calibre gun produced by HSW and the Polish WB Electronics' Topaz artillery fire control system. "AHS" is not a part of the name, but the Polish abbreviation of armatohaubica samobieżna – gun-howitzer, self-propelled.
The 2011 prototype version used Nexter Systems barrels and UPG-NG chassis from domestic company Bumar-Łabędy.
For the production variant, since 2016, Poland decided to base the self-propelled howitzer on a modified K9 chassis with an STX Engine-MTU Friedrichshafen engine and, since 2019, uses barrels made domestically by HSW (earlier, the barrels were delivered by Rheinmetall).
The cannon was developed within the "Regina" research framework. The program's goal was to create a 155 mm (6.1 in) calibre long-range artillery piece for the Polish Army that would serve as a division-level asset. It was decided, that instead of buying a licence for a complete vehicle, only a licence for a modern L/52 gun and turret would be bought, and they would be mounted on domestically developed chassis.
In 1997 a competition for an artillery component, a complete turret with a gun, was announced. The British AS-90M won the competition, the other contestant was the PzH-2000. In 1999 its technology was transferred to Huta Stalowa Wola factory. The UPG-NG chassis was developed in Poland by OBRUM in Gliwice, from an SPG-1M chassis, itself developed from a Soviet MT-S tractor, using parts combined with the PT-91 Twardy tank. The first prototype was completed in 2001, and the second the following year.
The first two prototypes of the howitzer are fitted with turret systems supplied by BAE Systems. It was planned to complete the first squadron in 2008, but the program was delayed due to financial reasons, and not until 2008 did the Polish Army order the introductory batch of the squadron module, completed in 2012. It covers eight guns (six new-built and two upgraded prototype vehicles), command vehicles (on a much modernized MTLB chassis), as well as ammunition and repair vehicles for the ordnance and electronics.
In the introductory and series products, Nexter guns replaced the original British pieces. The trial firing of another gun supplied by the manufacturer continued every month through the end of the year. The third gun was tested on 10 August under the supervision of representatives of the Armament Inspectorate and the Head Office of the Missile and Artillery Force of the Air Forces, at the Dynamic Trial Center of the WITU, the Military Technical Institute of Armament, in Stalowa Wola.
The first firing of the third complete Krab, which also received new elements of onboard electronics developed by WB Electronics, occurred in July 2011. The concentration of fire was among the requirements tested. As of 2012, two prototypes and eight initial units, two artillery batteries each with four guns, had been built by Huta Stalowa Wola. In 2012–2013 eight new examples were used for tests conducted by the Polish Army as a part of a "Regina" battery command module.
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AHS Krab AI simulator
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AHS Krab
The AHS Krab (Polish for crab) is a 155 mm NATO-compatible self-propelled tracked gun-howitzer designed in Poland by Huta Stalowa Wola (HSW), by combining a modified South Korean K9 Thunder chassis with a British BAE Systems AS-90M Braveheart turret with a 52-calibre gun produced by HSW and the Polish WB Electronics' Topaz artillery fire control system. "AHS" is not a part of the name, but the Polish abbreviation of armatohaubica samobieżna – gun-howitzer, self-propelled.
The 2011 prototype version used Nexter Systems barrels and UPG-NG chassis from domestic company Bumar-Łabędy.
For the production variant, since 2016, Poland decided to base the self-propelled howitzer on a modified K9 chassis with an STX Engine-MTU Friedrichshafen engine and, since 2019, uses barrels made domestically by HSW (earlier, the barrels were delivered by Rheinmetall).
The cannon was developed within the "Regina" research framework. The program's goal was to create a 155 mm (6.1 in) calibre long-range artillery piece for the Polish Army that would serve as a division-level asset. It was decided, that instead of buying a licence for a complete vehicle, only a licence for a modern L/52 gun and turret would be bought, and they would be mounted on domestically developed chassis.
In 1997 a competition for an artillery component, a complete turret with a gun, was announced. The British AS-90M won the competition, the other contestant was the PzH-2000. In 1999 its technology was transferred to Huta Stalowa Wola factory. The UPG-NG chassis was developed in Poland by OBRUM in Gliwice, from an SPG-1M chassis, itself developed from a Soviet MT-S tractor, using parts combined with the PT-91 Twardy tank. The first prototype was completed in 2001, and the second the following year.
The first two prototypes of the howitzer are fitted with turret systems supplied by BAE Systems. It was planned to complete the first squadron in 2008, but the program was delayed due to financial reasons, and not until 2008 did the Polish Army order the introductory batch of the squadron module, completed in 2012. It covers eight guns (six new-built and two upgraded prototype vehicles), command vehicles (on a much modernized MTLB chassis), as well as ammunition and repair vehicles for the ordnance and electronics.
In the introductory and series products, Nexter guns replaced the original British pieces. The trial firing of another gun supplied by the manufacturer continued every month through the end of the year. The third gun was tested on 10 August under the supervision of representatives of the Armament Inspectorate and the Head Office of the Missile and Artillery Force of the Air Forces, at the Dynamic Trial Center of the WITU, the Military Technical Institute of Armament, in Stalowa Wola.
The first firing of the third complete Krab, which also received new elements of onboard electronics developed by WB Electronics, occurred in July 2011. The concentration of fire was among the requirements tested. As of 2012, two prototypes and eight initial units, two artillery batteries each with four guns, had been built by Huta Stalowa Wola. In 2012–2013 eight new examples were used for tests conducted by the Polish Army as a part of a "Regina" battery command module.
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