Libya is considering to place an order for the French-built Caesar truck-mounted 155-mm./52-cal. howitzer. The North African country's ruler Muammar Khaddafi has mentioned an interest in the rapidly-deployable, long-range howitzer system during a meeting with French defense industrialists in Paris recently, industry sources say.

France’s land systems powerhouse Nexter (the former Giat Industries) has delivered the first series-produced Caesar system for the French army in recent weeks. The company plans to build 40 this year, including six for Thailand, at a final assembly line in Roanne, central France.

The very first production Caesar (presented for acceptance testing in February) was one of the highlights of a visit by the international media to the Nexter Systems-operated plant in Roanne on April 17.

At the moment, a total of 163 of the wheeled light self-propelled 155-mm. howitzers have been ordered by three countries: 77 for France, six for Thailand and 80 “for a Middle East country,” says Evelyne Montet, Nexter’s artillery systems business manager.

That Middle East country is widely reported to be Saudi Arabia, which will assemble its Caesars locally for delivery in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The Saudi Caesars are to be integrated on Mercedes-Benz Unimog high-mobility trucks, a selection made because of the presence of a broad logistic support network for Unimog in Saudi Arabia.

In that sense they will be quite different from the French and Thai systems, which use a 6 x 6 military truck supplied by Renault Trucks Defense as the carrier platform. This vehicle has a self-deployment range of more than 600 km. without refueling and a road speed of over 80 km/h.

The 72 new Caesars for France (five pre-production systems have been in service since 2003) will be delivered by 2010, says Montet, adding that the first production-standard howitzer is to be in the hands of a frontline artillery battery as early as this summer.

The six pieces for Thailand will be produced and shipped out to the customer nation by the end of this year, she says, to be delivered to the Royal Thai Army at the beginning of 2009.

The 155-mm./52-cal. howitzer used by Caesar is produced by Nexter Systems in Bourges, central France, but there are other main subsystems, including the carrier vehicle, the interfacing platform, the spade and the travel lock.

Fire support command, control and coordination electronics (in the case of the French army: the Atlas fire support information system), electrical and hydraulic systems, and a Sagem-supplied Sigma 30 ring laser gyro inertial navigation unit are also part of the overall system, Montet says.

Caesar has a combat weight of less than 18 metric tons and is air-transportable in a C-130 in a single load, Nexter says.

The ordnance is designed for a firing rate of six rounds per minute, which was demonstrated to the visiting media during a dynamic demonstration in Bourges on April 14.

The howitzer can engage targets between 4.5 km. and 42 km. away using base bleed ERFB ammunition; and more than 50 km. away using rocket assisted munitions, the manufacturer claims.

Eighteen complete rounds can be carried on board, which are loaded semi-automatically. The howitzer can be brought into action within one minute after coming to a stop and can be on the move again within 40 sec. after firing, says Nexter. The crew is normally four to five.