Israel invests in new artillery with ATMOS automatic howitzer guns by Elbit Systems.

Elbit officially announced that it has been awarded a $125 million (NIS 460 million) contract from the Israeli Ministry of Defense to supply fully automatic self-propelled howitzer gun systems to the Israeli Defense Forces.

The 8×8 and 6×6 variants of Elbit’s ATMOS self-propelled 155 mm howitzer (Picture source: Elbit Systems)

The contract, which also includes the supply of training simulators, will be performed over a 12-year period. The ATMOS automatic howitzer guns will replace the aging M-109 artillery guns that have been serving the IDF for the past 40 years.

About half the work will be done by Elbit’s subsidiaries and partners in the United States, a sign of how Israeli defense spending has shifted since Washington restricted its ally’s ability to spend US aid on non-US products.

Elbit Systems’ ATMOS is a 155mm/52 caliber truck-mounted howitzer that offers the advantages of superior fire power, enhanced mobility and rapid response time. Highly adaptable, the modular ATMOS system is compatible with any 6x6 or 8x8 high-mobility tactical truck.

ATMOS supplies fire support for all types of missions and can be easily interfaced with customers’ existing C4I systems.Part of Elbit Systems’ line of fully integrated, modular artillery solutions, ATMOS incorporates an embedded electronic suite, automatic laying system and automatic loading system. The advanced electronic suite effectively enables accurate navigation and autonomous operation, reduced crew size, increased fire power and high precision accuracy.