Seoul unveils truck-mounted howitzer

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SEOUL, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The first truck-mounted 105mm howitzer was revealed to the public recently by the South Korean Ministry of National Defense.

The weapon, developed by Samsung Techwin, the Samsung Group's defense and precision machinery unit, was displayed at a weapon exhibition in Seoul.

After being assigned as a project under Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration in 2009, Samsung Techwin begin making the new wheeled howitzer in 2010 to enhance combat capabilities with other widely used artilleries, the ministry said.

"Since the 105mm self-propelled artillery is being loaded on a 5-ton 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," the official said.

Other new weapons were displayed at the exhibition, including Signal Robot, which is embedded with bullets developed by Hanwha, and a portable Global Positioning System automatic warning device developed by Hyundai.