Soltam M-71

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

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]
- Philippine Marine Corps: 6 ^[14]
Singapore: 13^[11] or 38^[15] - modified to the M-71S standard using less crew + addition of APU.
Slovenia: 18; M839 variant.^[11]
South Africa: 32; designated G-4.^[16]
Thailand: 32^[11]

References

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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Soltam M-71 howitzers.