Denel is back in business

Denel’s long-range T5-52 self-propelled, truck-mounted gun/howitzer displayed its capabilities at a demonstration which also involved the group’s Seeker 400 uncrewed aerial vehicle system. The event took place at the Alkantpan Test Range in the Northern Cape province, to show that Denel is back in business and, as the company said in a press release, “confirmed that Denel is still at the forefront of global technological advancement in the field of artillery and that it has recapacitated itself to be able to meet customer expectations in pursuit of world-class product offerings”.

The T5-52 is a 155mm, 52 calibre version of the G5 towed gun/howitzer, mounted on a Tatra 8×8 T815-7 truck which has excellent tactical and road strategic mobility with a range of 600 km without refuelling at speeds of up to 85 km/h. The system is powered by a 265 kW turbocharged diesel engine coupled to a 10-speed manual gearbox, and a 2-speed transfer gearbox.

According to Denel Land Systems, the indirect fire flexibility of the system ensures that it can be employed in the traditional gun, howitzer and mortar roles. Its combat mass is less than 30 tons. The ordnance consists of the monoblock barrel fitted with a double baffle muzzle brake, a swing and slide breech mechanism and an electrically activated firing mechanism. A panoramic optical-mechanical sight is mounted directly to the trunnion, incorporating a compensation system for the trunnion cant, which forms a backup for indirect fire.

The projectiles are the extended range type and when using base bleed projectiles, the weapon has a range of 43.4 km. The range when firing the Velocity enhanced Long-range Artillery Projectile (V-LAP) is 57 km at sea level. During the demonstration Denel reported that a range of 60.4 was achieved with the first shot, the second reached 60.9 km with the third reached 61.293 km.

The Command and Control System, consisting of the Automatic Laying and Navigation System, Telecommunication System, Muzzle Velocity Radar System and Gun Management Computer are used to lay the gun for indirect fire.