Soltam M-71

Soltam M-71
A deployed M-71
Type	Howitzer
Place of origin	Israel
Service history
Used by	See users
Wars	Yom Kippur War Lebanese Civil War South African Border War 1982 Lebanon War Gaza War Myanmar Civil War
Production history
Designer	Soltam Systems
Designed	1971–1974
Manufacturer	Soltam
Produced	1975–[1]
Variants	Soltam M-68
Specifications
Mass	9,200 kg (20,300 lb)
Barrel length	6.045 m (19 ft 10 in) L/39
Crew	8
Caliber	155 mm NATO
Breech	Horizontal sliding block
Carriage	Split trail
Elevation	-3° to 52°[2]
Traverse	±37.5° from centerline[2]
Muzzle velocity	820 m/s (2,700 ft/s)
Effective firing range	21 km (13 mi) (NATO standard ammunition) [3] 23.5 km (14.6 mi) (Tampella standard ammunition)[3]
Maximum firing range	28.5 km (17.7 mi)[2]

The M-71 is a 155 mm 39 caliber towed howitzer manufactured by Israeli company Soltam Systems.

Design

The weapon was based on the earlier Soltam M-68 and uses the same recoil system, breech and carriage but had a longer gun barrel (39 calibre versus 33 calibre of M-68). It is fitted with a compressed air-driven rammer to permit rapid and easy loading at all angles of elevation as well as having a rechargeable battery mounted on the right trail for auxiliary power.[4] It can fire a 43.7 kilograms (96 lb) high-explosive shell up to a maximum range of 23.5 kilometers (14.6 mi) at a muzzle velocity of 820 meters per second (2,700 ft/s).

The Soltam M-71 in travel/towing configuration

Deployment

In addition to Israel, this weapon is in service with Chile,[5] Singapore,[6] Thailand, Philippines, South Africa, Slovenia and Myanmar. A version of this weapon was developed to mount on a modified Centurion chassis (M-72), but this vehicle never reached production.

Operators

Map of M-71 operators in blue

•  Botswana[7]
•  Cameroon: 18[8]
•  Chile: 60 howitzers used by the Chilean Army, 36 Soltam M-68s acquired in the 1970s later upgraded to Soltam M-71 standard and 24 Soltam M-71 howitzers acquired in the 1980s.[9] 24 designated G-4 howitzers acquired by the Chilean Marine Corps in South Africa in 1992.[9][10]
•  Israel[1]
•  Myanmar: 72[11][12]
•  Philippines:
  • Philippine Army: 20[13][14][15]
  • Philippine Marine Corps: 6 [16][15]
•  Singapore: 13[11] or 38[17] - modified to the M-71S standard using less crew + addition of APU.
•  Slovenia: 18; M839 variant.[11]
•  South Africa: 32; designated G-4.[18]
•  Thailand: 32[11]

See also

• 155 K 83 – (Finland)
• FH-88 – (Singapore)
• Soltam M-68 – (Israel)
• ATMOS 2000 – (Israel)
• M777 howitzer – (United Kingdom)

References

1. Kinard, Jeff (28 March 2007). Artillery: An Illustrated History of Its Impact (2007 ed.). ABC-CLIO Publishers. pp. 301–302. ISBN 978-1-85109-561-2.
2. "M-71" (PDF). Elbit Systems. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
3. "155mm Soltam M-71". Weaponsystems.net. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
4. "Soltam Systems 155 mm M-71 gun-howitzer (Israel)". Jane's Armour and Artillery.
5. "M-68/-71 155mm". www.globalsecurity.org.
6. "Singapore artillery pieces". United States, Library Of Congress.
7. "Botswana". 7 February 2013.
8. International Institute for Strategic Studies (2021). The Military Balance. Taylor & Francis. p. 454. ISBN 9781032012278.
9. Ciranno Maureira, Antonio (2007). "La artillería de campaña en Chile". Tecnología militar (in Spanish) (2): 48–50.
10. García, Nicolás (23 August 2019). "The Chilean Marine Corps trains in the highlands and in Patagonia". Infodefensa.com. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
11. "Trade Registers". Armstrade.sipri.org. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
12. "Myanmar". Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
13. https://thediplomat.com/2016/03/aquinos-military-modernization-unprecedented-but-insufficient/
14. Solmerin, Florante (23 June 2013). "Army eyes hi-tech mounted artillery". Manila Standard Today. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
15. "PHL military gets 3 brand-new 155-mm howitzers, 9 more en route". Philippine News Agency. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
16. https://thediplomat.com/2016/03/aquinos-military-modernization-unprecedented-but-insufficient/
17. "Defense & Industries; - ST Kinetics ou les ambitions de Singapour dans l'armement". www.frstrategie.org. Archived from the original on 1 March 2017.
18. "Fact file: G6 L45 self-propelled towed gun-howitzer". 10 February 2011.

External links

• Chilean Army Profile
• Singapore Artillery Pieces
• Weapons of the Arab-Israeli Wars