The first truck mounted 105-millimetre howitzer was revealed to the media for the first time on September 22 at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan, Seoul.

The new weapon, developed by Samsung Techwin, the Samsung Group’s defence and precision machinery unit, was displayed at a weapon exhibition that was opened inside the ministry compound.

After being assigned as a project under advanced concept technology demonstration in 2009, Samsung Techwin started making the new wheeled howitzer from 2010 in an effort to enhance combat capabilities with other widely used artilleries.

“Since the 105-millimetre self-propelled artillery is being loaded on a fivetonne truck, the cost of the weapon is relatively cheap and it shows more outstanding performance than existing towed artillery,” said an executive at Samsung Techwin. “Shells have to be loaded manually. But firing control is operated automatically and radiation of heat can be selected either in automatic, manual and half automatic. The number of operating personnel can be reduced by three compared to existing towed artilleries.”