The Army introduced the Pegasus, a 155mm Light Weight Howitzer,
as the latest addition to the SAFs artillery systems during a
commissioning event officiated by Minister for Defence Teo Chee
Hean this afternoon. The Pegasus is the worlds first 155mm light
weight howitzer that is both self-propelled and heli-portable. It
was jointly developed by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), the
Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and Singapore
Technologies Kinetics (ST Kinetics).
This new 155mm artillery gun, officially named the Singapore Light
Weight Howitzer (SLWH) Pegasus, is heli-portable by the SAFs
CH-47D Chinook helicopters. Its independent engine unit makes the
Pegasus a versatile platform that can be readily configured for
ground movement and deployment for field-firing. The Pegasus guns
will eventually replace the Singapore Artillerys ageing 105mm
light guns. During operations, the Pegasus will be deployed to
provide responsive fires to support the Armys heliborne
forces.
The successful development and commissioning of the Pegasus marks
another milestone in the close partnership among the SAF, DSTA and
ST Kinetics in delivering advanced technological and operational
solutions to enhance the SAFs capability to defend Singapore. They
had previously collaborated on artillery projects such as the
Primus, or Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer 1 (SSPH1 Primus), the
Field Howitzer 2000 (FH2000) and the Field Howitzer 88
(FH8
.
Technical
Specifications
Maximum Range: 19 km (conventional); 30 km (extended range).
Rate of fire: 3 rounds in 24 secs (burst rate); 4 rounds per min
for 3 mins (maximum rate); 2 rounds per min for 30 minutes (sustain
rate).
No of crew: 6 - 8.
Self propelled speed: 12 km/hr (max).
Towed (cross-country): 50 km/hr (max).
Towed (paved): 70 km/hr (max).
Towing vehicle type: 5 ton or 7 ton truck.
Engine: 21kW Lombardini 9LD625-2
Transportation: C-130 Hercules, CH-47D/SD Chinook
Adapted from
http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/news_and_events/nr/2005/oct/28oct05_nr.html
Pictures courtesy of
http://www.mindef.gov.sg/imindef/mindef_websites/topics/Weapons/slwh/multimedia.html