Pointing to a key performance parameter (KPP) for the M777 as being a weight of 10,000 pounds, the external airlift of the Osprey, Gooding noted that eliminating the run-flats had saved around 120 pounds, providing “a little cushion” that had been sought by Marine Corps planners.
Canadian soldiers conduct a fire for effect mission using their M77A2 howitzer at FOB Sperwan Ghar, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, Feb. 2, 2011. The Canadian were the first to use the M777A2 in combat. Canadian Forces photo by Cpl. Jean-François Carpentier
“In addition to the U.S. Marine Corps and Army, there are 35 M777A2 howitzers under Foreign Military Sales [FMS] for Australia, with all of those already delivered, and 37 M777 howitzers – that’s in the basic ‘glass and iron sights’ configuration – that have also been delivered to Canada,” he continued.
Subsequent to the delivery of the M777s, the Canadians equipped the guns with their own digital fire control systems.
Canada’s rapid embrace of the program was also evident in the fact that the Canadians were the first to fire the M777 in the war.
According to Gooding, approximately 900 of the 1,071 currently contracted howitzers have been delivered to date, with current schedules reflecting the delivery of the final guns in November 2013.
“I do not foresee any additional production from the United States at this time,” he stated. “However, right now we have a Foreign Military Sales Letter of Request [LOR] from Australia for 19 additional guns. PM-TAS is currently working the LOA [Letter of Agreement] with a schedule to have these weapons on contract with BAE Systems by December 2012.
Marines fire an M777A2. PM TAS has been given added responsibility for an expanded portfolio of weapon systems. Marine Corps photo
“The Australians are on a fast track,” he said. “The self-propelled program was canceled in the May-June time frame. We received their LOR and we happened to have general officers meeting in Australia at that time – my Army PEO [U.S. Army Program Executive Officer Ammunition, Brig. Gen. Jonathan A. Maddux] – and Triple Seven became part of those discussions. One of the things to come out of that was a commitment by the U.S. government to expedite that LOA and to get it back within a month of our receipt of the LOR. And we’re on track to get the contract work completed before the end of the fiscal year – at the end of September 2012. So those guns will extend production a bit at our delivery rate of 10 guns a month.
“The Canadians and Australians have been such big supporters of this program that we have a Memorandum of Understanding, signed by Mr. Stackley, which allows the three nations – Canada, Australia, and the U.S. – to work cooperatively in the post-FMS world. So we have international meetings once or twice a year. We have monthly IPT [Integrated Product Team] teleconferences with each of the countries where we share lessons learned and what each of us are doing with the howitzers as we move into sustainment. And that’s been very helpful and successful,” he added.
Describing it as “a great long-term opportunity to continue the relationship between the countries and work together with our allies to support each other,” he said, “it’s also an interesting dynamic, because in the U.S., we have such a huge fleet compared to the other countries. Managing the U.S. fleet, compared to the Canadians with 37 guns and the Australians with eventually 54 guns, places different nuances on how you manage the program and things like configuration management.”