Ukraine has received and is testing the 105-mm 2-CT Hawkeye self-propelled artillery system in combat conditions. So far, it has only been tested by the US Army, says Mike Evans, director of the AM General program.
According to Evans, Ukraine received the system in April this year, and in early May it was tested on the battlefield. Before that, the soldiers who used it trained for two weeks and tested it for another week. It is also interesting that the Hawkeye is being tested in Ukraine in real combat conditions and with real goals.
The full name of the system is "2-CT Hawkeye Mobile Howitzer System", it was created in 2019 and is the result of cooperation between AM General and Mandus Group. And in 2021, the US Army issued a contract for the production of two such self-propelled guns directly for testing.
In fact, it is a Humvee equipped with an M20 cannon with SRT soft recoil technology, which allows the vehicle to withstand the conditions of shooting and not fall apart after several uses.
Another feature of the vehicle is a modern digital fire control system. The vehicle can be deployed in just 90 seconds after stopping. The rate of fire is 8 shots in the first three minutes. The maximum range of conventional projectiles is 11.6 km, and the maximum range of active-reactive projectiles is 19.5 km.
It follows that the main principle of using self-propelled artillery systems is to throw shells at the enemy as quickly as possible and to disappear from the position. In the context of counter-battery warfare, this is a very effective way to avoid return fire.
Recently, RBC-Ukraine reported that Ukrainian troops are completing training with AS90 self-propelled 155-mm howitzers, which can destroy Russian targets at a distance of 45 km.