The Camion Équipé d'un Système d'Artillerie (English: "Truck equipped with an artillery system") or CAESAR is a French 155 mm, 52-caliber self-propelled howitzer that can fire 39/52 caliber NATO-standard shells. It is installed on a 6x6 or 8x8 truck chassis. Equipped with an autonomous weapon network incorporating an inertial navigation system and ballistic computer, the CAESAR can accurately strike targets more than 40 km away using "Extended Range, Full Bore" (ERFB) ammunition with base bleed, or targets over 55 km away using rocket-assisted or smart ammunition. The CAESAR was developed by French defense contractor GIAT Industries (now Nexter Systems) and has been exported to various countries. Units manufactured for the French Army use a 6x6 Renault Sherpa 5 chassis, while some export customers have opted for systems integrated on a 6x6 Unimog U2450L or 8x8 Tatra 817 chassis. In February 2022, the French government awarded Nexter a contract for the development of a new generation CAESAR system. Marketed by the company as the CAESAR Mark II (also commonly referred to as CAESAR NG in France), 109 systems are to be delivered to the French Army between 2026 and 2030.

Development

In the early 1990s, the French Army operated two artillery systems designed and manufactured by the state-owned company GIAT: the AuF1 tracked self-propelled howitzer, which had reached the end of its production run, and the TRF1 towed howitzer, which was beginning to be delivered, but in reduced numbers. Absent further orders for its products, GIAT might have had to shut down its artillery program for unprofitability, permanently losing an important industrial capability. Since the French Ministry of Defence had expressed no interest in acquiring or funding new artillery designs at the time, the firm had to use its own funds to develop a 155 mm system that could attract export customers. Per the then-emerging NATO standard, the new design would need a 52-caliber barrel, which would offer greater accuracy and longer range than the 39-caliber barrels on GIAT's existing models. For strategic mobility, the system would have to be air-transportable on a C-130 along with an entire gun crew and 18 rounds of ammunition. Using the TRF1 and its usual tow vehicle, the Renault TRM 10000, as a baseline, the project team determined that mounting the gun directly on a truck bed would reduce overall material costs. After designing a subframe and a rear anchoring platform to filter and dissipate the gun's recoil, the team chose to adapt the Unimog U 2450 truck as the system's base. In cooperation with Unimog importer Lohr Industrie (now Soframe), which supplied the cab and helped design the interface between the truck and the subframe, GIAT produced the first prototype in less than a year and displayed it at the Eurosatory defense industry fair in June 1994. Four years later, a second pre-production model underwent trials with the French Army in 1998 and the Malaysian Army in 1999. Based on this early performance, the Direction Générale de l'Armement (DGA) ordered five additional prototypes for further testing in September 2000. After delivery was completed in June 2003, the French Army formed an "experimental" artillery section that used the prototypes to develop military doctrine for future CAESAR-equipped units. The findings convinced the French Army to order more CAESARs instead of continuing to upgrade its AuF1 self-propelled howitzers to the AuF2 standard. Thus, in December 2004, the DGA awarded GIAT a €300 million contract to produce 72 new CAESARs, upgrade the five vehicles already delivered, supply an initial amount of ammunition, and provide maintenance to the fleet for five years. The new systems would have a new purpose-built truck chassis, the Sherpa 5 by Renault Trucks Defense (RTD), instead of the Unimog-Soframe chassis of the prototypes. In 2006, the year that the company was reorganized and renamed to Nexter, GIAT received the first export orders for the CAESAR, from the Royal Thai Army (RTD chassis) and the Saudi Arabian National Guard (Unimog-Soframe chassis). Well before the French, Thai, or Saudi orders were completely fulfilled, the French Army began to use the CAESAR in combat, deploying eight systems to Afghanistan in 2009. In peacetime the production rate at Nexter was reportedly 10 CAESARs per year. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine boosted demand. By early 2023 Nexter's factory in Bourges was producing between two and four units per month in continuous operation. The next milestone expected is to produce eight CAESARs a month by December 2023.

Optimized ammunition

GIAT and its successor companies have developed and produced 155 mm rounds designed to maximize the range of the CAESAR, such as the LU 211, which is manufactured at Les Forges de Tarbes, within the confines of the town arsenal. The forge was privatized in November 2021 by a French firm which had recently been recapitalized by €100 million. In 2020, the Minister of the Armed Forces signed a contract worth €25 million for the plant to supply shells to the French Army for the decade. The privatization furnished €9 million each year for the 2021–2024 period. In autumn 2021, the firm supplied an extra €2 million to modernize the plant, which also produces 120 mm ammunition for the Leclerc tank.

Design

CAESAR 6x6 Mark I

The CAESAR is a wheeled, 155 mm 52-caliber self-propelled howitzer. It holds 18 rounds and is typically operated by a crew of five, though if necessary the CAESAR can be operated by a crew of three. It can be transported by a C-130 or an A400M aircraft. It has a firing range of approximately 42 km using an Extended Range, Full Bore (ERFB) shell, and more than 50 km using rocket-assisted shells. The CAESAR has an autonomous weapon system featuring an inertial navigation system (the SIGMA 30), a ballistic computer and an optional muzzle velocity radar; the system is adaptable to any C4I system (fully integrated with the ATLAS FCS). At Eurosatory 2016, the CAESAR was exhibited with an automated laying system based on the SIGMA 30. Tailored for shoot-and-scoot tactics, the CAESAR is fast to set up, taking around 60 seconds for the crew to be ready to fire and 40 seconds to leave after the shots. It can fire six rounds per minute.

CAESAR 8x8

The CAESAR 8x8 uses a modified Tatra 817 8x8 chassis, allowing a higher degree of mobility. It is fitted with an unarmoured forward control four-person cabin as standard, with an optional fully-armoured cabin. Gross vehicle weight would depend on the level of armour protection but is about 30 tonnes. It is powered by a 410 hp diesel engine and can hold 36 rounds. It was unveiled by Nexter at DSEI 2015.

New generation

CAESAR 6x6 Mark II

In February 2022, Nexter was awarded an initial €600 million contract by the French defence procurement agency (the DGA) for the development and acquisition of the CAESAR 6x6 Mark II new generation artillery system. The deal initiated a four-year development phase, after which the CAESAR Mark II (or CAESAR NG) is planned to enter production. In January 2024, the DGA announced that it had awarded Nexter an additional €350 million contract on December 30, 2023. 109 CAESAR NG systems are to be produced for the French Army. Nexter, the industrial prime contractor, will be working in particular with Arquus (chassis) and Safran (electronics), the main partners involved in the development and implementation of this program. From mobility to connectivity, and from ballistic protection to increased firing efficiency, as well as accuracy further refined by artificial intelligence, the improvements remain those set out in 2022 when the program was launched. The CAESAR Mark II will feature a new six-wheel chassis provided by Arquus, a new cabin with improved armor and, this time, four doors for improved agility. The system will also feature a new 460 hp engine, more than twice as powerful as the previous one (215 hp), as well as a new automatic gearbox. It will incorporate a new version of its velocity radar and new fire control software, as well as Safran's Geonyx inertial navigation system to replace the SIGMA 30, which promises enhanced geolocation and pointing accuracy in environments with no GNSS signal. Another differentiating feature is a more powerful hydraulic pump, enabling the stabilizer to be lowered and raised more quickly. This development could, in theory, shave a few precious seconds off engagement and disengagement maneuvers. Finally, the cabin will be predisposed to receive the vetronics of the SCORPION combat information network, such as the NCT-t (noeud de communication tactique - terre) software radio from the CONTACT program and the ECLIPSE anti-IED jammer from Thales, a technology that could be extended to anti-drone warfare, and which Belgium has chosen to integrate natively. The new armored cabin to protect against mines and ballistic projectiles is expected to raise the CAESAR Mark II's weight to 25 tonnes (27.56 tons) but the system will remain air-transportable, an indispensable French requirement. All 109 units ordered for the French Army are expected to be delivered between 2026 and 2030. Belgium and Lithuania are the first export customers of the new system and have respectively ordered 28 and 18 units.

Operational deployment

Eight CAESARs were sent to Afghanistan during the summer of 2009 to support French operations. They were deployed on 1 August 2009 by the 3rd Marine Artillery Regiment (3è RAMa), followed by five others, deployed as a firebase in FOB Tora, Tagab and Nijrab. They were fitted with cabin armor add-ons, with fireports. The French Army deployed this system in southern Lebanon as part of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force. During Operation Serval in Mali, four CAESARs were deployed by the 68e régiment d'artillerie d'Afrique (68th African Artillery Regiment). In April 2011, the Royal Thai Army used the CAESAR against Cambodia's BM-21. The Thai Army claimed that they destroyed two or more BM-21 systems. Several CAESARs were deployed in Mali by France during Operation Serval, in which they saw action in the Battle of Ifoghas, amongst others. France also deployed four CAESARs to Iraq for the Battle of Mosul, where French forces supported the Iraqi Army's operation to reclaim Mosul from ISIS from October 2016 to July 2017. Multiple CAESARs were deployed to Iraq on the Syrian border from 8 November 2018 to April 2019 to support the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Battle of Baghuz Fawqani, the ultimately successful operation to capture the final town held by the Islamic State group. They were deployed to Firebase Saham, a base freshly constructed by the United States Army to provide fire support during the battle, especially during cloudy days when U.S. aircraft could not see to conduct airstrikes. CAESAR howitzers may have been used by the Saudi Arabia National Guard during the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen along the Saudi-Yemeni frontier, conducting defensive shelling of Houthi forces as well as backing up Yemeni government troops and Saudi armed forces in their progression into Yemeni territory. France provided the CAESAR 6x6 howitzer to Ukraine from May 2022 onwards in the context of the Russo-Ukrainian War, delivering a total of 30 units. Denmark also announced that it had delivered all 19 of its CAESAR 8x8 howitzers to Ukraine by the end of April 2023. As of January 2024, 5 CAESARs were confirmed to have been destroyed (4 CAESAR 6x6 and 1 CAESAR 8x8) and a further 2 damaged and repaired.

Operators

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Current operators

Future deliveries

Potential operators

Former operators

Failed bids

Evaluation only

Gallery