U.S. Army names its new Korean-designed cannon XM1776

The U.S. Army has given its new wheeled howitzer an official name, the XM1776 Mobile Tactical Cannon, and has raised its prototype order from Hanwha Defense USA to nine systems, with an option for nine more.

The Army and Hanwha unveiled the designation at a naming ceremony at the company’s booth at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting in Washington on Oct. 12. The XM1776 is the American version of Hanwha’s K9 Mobile Howitzer, an eight-wheeled 155 mm self-propelled gun the U.S. Army is testing as a replacement for the towed M777 in some units. The number in the name points to 1776, the year of American independence, and Hanwha tied the unveiling to the country’s 250th anniversary this year.

When the U.S. Army picked Hanwha in August, the agreement called for six prototypes delivered on an accelerated schedule, with options for 12 more, worth up to about $263 million in total. Hanwha now says the U.S. Army has ordered nine prototypes with an option for nine more, keeping the possible total at 18. Neither the company nor the U.S. Army disclosed the value of the added systems, when they will be delivered, or how many have already been handed over. The first prototype arrived earlier this fall and was shown at a U.S. Army event on Capitol Hill this month.

“The XM-1776 Mobile Tactical Cannon represents the launch of the U.S. Army’s new long-range precision fires modernization effort and its powerful partnership with HDUSA to produce this system at speed and scale,” said Mike Smith, Hanwha Defense USA chief operating officer and president of land systems.

The XM1776 is built around the same 52-caliber gun used on Hanwha’s tracked K9, which serves with South Korea and about 10 other countries. Hanwha says more than 2,500 K9 howitzers have been fielded worldwide. A self-propelled gun can fire and drive off before enemy counter-battery fire arrives, something a towed M777 crew cannot do as quickly, and the K9’s longer barrel gives it more range than the M777.

Hanwha is setting up an integration and test site in Opelika, Alabama, as the first phase of U.S. production for the XM1776 and other K9 wheeled variants. Company leaders are meeting with more than 70 current and potential American suppliers this week as part of an effort to build what Hanwha calls an Artillery Industrial Base Coalition, aimed at moving more of the supply chain to the United States.

The U.S. Army plans to field the new cannon first to Stryker brigade combat teams, followed by mobile and infantry brigades, and wants a ready version in units by 2031. It has also opened a separate competition for a tracked Mobile Tactical Cannon.