NLOS Cannon: Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon

Designed and built by BAE Systems, in partnership with General Dynamics, Land Systems and the FCS Lead System Integrator team of Boeing and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the NLOS Cannon is a fully automated, 38-caliber, self-propelled howitzer.

As the Army transitions to a Modular Force structure, the NLOS Cannon will give Soldiers unprecedented firepower, enabling fewer systems to achieve more on the battlefield. The revolutionary capabilities of the NLOS Cannon will help to ensure the U.S. Army remains the most dominant and responsive land force in the world.

On June 11, 2008, the Army unveiled the first NLOS Cannon prototype at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Army Chief of Staff, GEN George Casey said: "The NLOS-C can fire six rounds in a minute. That's a lot of firepower. You can process a mission in less than 30 seconds, so that also is a big benefit against moving targets. It is precision fire. It can hit an armored formation moving across the desert or it can hit a house with limited collateral damage effects on the other side."

This is great news in the artillery community as the NLOS Cannon eliminates the physical handling of projectiles and propellant and provides Soldiers with networked, extended-range targeting and precision attack capability.

U.S. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said that with the rollout of the first NLOS Cannon, “the United States once again retains for itself the greatest artillery piece in the world."

On June 18, 2007 the U.S. Army announced plans to produce 18 Non-Line-of-Sight Cannon initial production platforms. Production is set to take place in Elgin, Okla., which is located next to Fort Sill.

In September 2006, BAE Systems unveiled a NLOS Cannon Firing Platform. The 155-mm Firing Platform was the first step toward development of NLOS Cannon prototypes.

The NLOS Cannon Firing Platform, which features a 38-caliber length, fully automated 155-mm howitzer, was delivered to the Army’s Yuma Proving Ground to begin qualification of its ultra-lightweight cannon and breech. The Firing Platform will undergo testing through 2008. Data from these tests will support obtaining a safety release, which will allow soldiers to begin testing the NLOS Cannon prototypes.

The cannon assembly is integrated onto a lightweight surrogate chassis that provides performance similar to the full prototype vehicle chassis. The NLOS Cannon prototypes incorporate lightweight band track, a two person crew station and a hybrid-electric propulsion system that maximizes power and fuel efficiency.

To date, the fully automated, 155-mm howitzer has fired more than 2,000 rounds during platform testing and traveled more than 20,000 miles through its one-of-kind test center that evaluates the reliability of the NLOS Cannon in an operational environment.

“Through our specially designed Mission Equipment Vibration Table (MEVT), we are taking the NLOS Cannon through a 20-year life-span within 12-18 months,” said Jim Unterseher, BAE Systems vice president of Army Programs. “This enables us to pinpoint and correct any reliability issues on-site and apply design changes to the prototypes that will be rolled out this year so that soldiers will not experience reliability problems during tests in the field.”

The NLOS Cannon has reliability requirements that are 10-times higher than seen on vehicles operating in combat today. In order to thoroughly test NLOS Cannon mobility and firing, BAE Systems developed the MEVT in Sept. 2006 as a way to identify and mitigate system failures early in the design cycle to achieve unprecedented reliability for fielded NLOS Cannons.

The MEVT focuses on early identification of failures by replicating gun fire shock, vibration, thermal, humidity, and dust contamination all in one environment. The table is the first of its kind for combat vehicles and is capable of testing products up to 27,000 pounds. It emulates all types of future terrains such as trench crossings, ditches and blockades, as well as various climate conditions such as extreme heat and sub-zero temperatures.

The MEVT testing of the NLOS Cannon conducted on the design floor at BAE Systems allows designers to become involved in the testing process to identify problems as they occur and mitigate them on the spot. The MEVT testing allows for instituting 20 years of possible design fixes into the original NLOS Cannon design to help speed up the design and development process.

Much of the advanced technology being developed for the NLOS Cannon is being incorporated into the design and development of other vehicles in the FCS MGV family, such as the NLOS Mortar.

The NLOS Mortar is being designed to have an estimated 80 percent commonality with the NLOS Cannon chassis and mission equipment to reduce maintenance and logistics.

Play Discovery Channel’s NLOS Cannon Challenge.