Unpacking the mystery of the CAESAR howitzer set to feature at World Defence Show 2024

There's been intriguing online chatter about the CAESAR howitzer due to appear at the World Defence Show 2024. Many Russian commentators insinuated that the specimen was seized from Ukraine, mainly due to the V symbol. However, this isn't the case, as this specific piece originates from one of the units of the Saudi National Guard.

Despite transparent desert camouflage and different chassis, Russians can still not identify the piece. The equipment sent to Ukraine by France embraced a Renault Sherpa chassis, excluding the Dan variant based on an eight-wheel platform and Saudi Arabian orders utilising a chassis from Mercedes-Benz Unimog.

CAESAR Howitzer — ideal for expeditionary warfare

CAESAR is an acronym for CAmion Equipé du Système d'ARtillerie or, loosely translated from French, an artillery system mounted on a lorry. Upon the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the conclusion of the Cold War, many countries, including France, began searching for methods to curtail defence budgets.

Due to France's military operations in Africa, the French sought an economical substitute for the F3 howitzer, which could be airlifted. Consequently, in the 1990s, the concept was conceived to mount a 155 mm calibre artillery system with an exceptionally long barrel (52 calibres) onto a standard military lorry, such as a Renault Sherpa or Mercedes-Benz Unimog.

This led to a system weighing only approximately 18 metric tonnes, attained through a series of compromises, such as utilising a semi-automatic loading system or lacking a factory-armoured crew cabin. This latter aspect is particularly undesirable in full-scale conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine. Still, an additional armour package from the manufacturer provides STANAG 4569 standard level 2 protection.

A second prominent drawback is the wheeled chassis, which has lesser mobility in challenging terrains than tracked propulsion used in Polish Crab artillery or the German PzH 2000.

Notwithstanding this, the losses of CAESAR howitzers in Ukraine are minimal, with four destroyed and two damaged units reported. However, the armoured cabin is a standard feature for the new CAESAR Mk II howitzers ordered by Lithuania.

The CAESAR howitzer crew comprises four or five soldiers, and the howitzer can fire up to 6 rounds per minute. Apart from standard fragmentation ammunition, the French howitzer also used intriguing projectiles intended to incapacitate armoured targets and guided Vulcano GLR projectiles with a range of approximately 80 kilometres. Furthermore, like any other modern CAESAR system, it can fire in a destructive MRSI mode and take or abandon a firing position in under a minute.