The British Army has completed acceptance of the 14 Archer SPHs the UK bought from Sweden in 2023. (Crown Copyright)
The British Army has completed acceptance of the 14 Archer self-propelled howitzers (SPHs) it ordered from Sweden in 2023, the United Kingdom's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) organisation announced in a press release on 16 July. DE&S said it had accepted 10 more Archers and 13 ammunition resupply vehicles from Sweden.
The first four Archer 6×6 SPHs were handed over to the UK in 2023. The country signed a contract with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) in March of that year for the 14 Archer SPHs, training, and an initial ammunition package, allowing London to donate 32 AS90 SPHs to Ukraine.
DE&S noted in its 16 July press release that the Archer is an interim replacement for the AS90s donated to Ukraine until their replacement by the Boxer Remote Controlled Howitzer (RCH) 155. Fires, Infrastructure, and Manoeuvre Support Team Leader at DE&S Mark Bunyan said, “Archer provides the British Army with a highly capable artillery system to ensure we minimise any capability gap between gifting our AS90s and acquiring our long-term Boxer-based artillery solution.”
Colonel Stuart Nassé, assistant head of Military Capability Delivery at British Army Headquarters, said, “This acceptance marks the completion of the initial acquisition of the 14 Archers and is a significant milestone.” He reported that Archer non-firing training and testing had begun in the UK following live-firing tests of the SPH by the British Army in Sweden.
Colonel Stephan Sjöberg, artillery inspector of the Swedish Armed Forces, said, “The UK and Sweden are working together with Archer regarding support and best use of the system, [with] ongoing preparations for further activities together, such as Exercise ‘Dynamic Front' in Finland.”
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