For a long time, the global arms market overlooked a specific type of artillery weapon, the 155-mm Trajan howitzer, which was developed in collaboration between France and India. This model represents a hybrid of a modified carriage from the towed TRF1 howitzer and a 52-caliber barrel from the CAESAR self-propelled artillery system.
However, there is now a reason to pay attention to this intriguing hybrid, as reports have emerged that Armenia may become the first export customer for the Trajan howitzers.
As stated in a publication by Janes, the exact number of Trajan howitzers that Armenia may receive, along with other contract parameters, has not been disclosed. The supplier of these artillery systems for the Armenian order will be India, which has localized the production of Trajan within its facilities, although the Indian army does not currently have these howitzers in its inventory.
The range of the Trajan when using standard high-explosive fragmentation shells is 30 kilometers. With the use of ERFB-BB active-reactive shells, this figure increases to 42 kilometers, and with long-range VLAP shells, it can reach as far as 55 kilometers. Additionally, the Trajan can fire guided munitions such as SPACIDO (Système à Precision Améliorée par Cinémomètre Doppler).
The key takeaway here is that Armenia continues its course of cooperation with France and India to update and strengthen its artillery arsenal, which, as of early last year according to The Military Balance 2024, consisted of a total of 225 units. This includes two D-1 152-mm artillery systems, 34 D-20 units, 26 "Giacint-B" howitzers, and 28 2S3 "Akatsiya" self-propelled howitzers.
From Defense Express, we clarify that the primary difference between the Trajan howitzer and the TRF1 lies in the barrel length and shooting range, which for the TRF1 are 39 calibers and up to 24 kilometers with standard shells and up to 30 kilometers with active-reactive shells.
Moreover, the emergence of such a specific artillery hybrid as the Trajan can be explained by the following circumstances. In the early 2010s, the Indian army announced a tender for the supply of 155-mm towed artillery systems, in which Nexter (now part of KNDS France) created the Trajan and partnered with Larsen & Toubro Limited.
Work on this artillery hybrid began in 2011, and a bid to participate in the Indian army's tender for 1,400 towed 155-mm artillery systems was submitted in 2016. However, India chose to invest in ATAGS, and the first order for the Franco-Indian Trajan came from Armenia.
It is worth noting that in June 2024, Armenia signed a contract for the supply of an undisclosed number of French CAESAR self-propelled howitzers, in addition to already ordered artillery systems produced in India.
Previously, we also reported on the interesting DONAR self-propelled howitzer as a development of the PzH 2000, but it has surprisingly not found any buyers yet, and it is curious that no one has purchased the promising wheeled self-propelled howitzer T5-52 155-mm from South African Denel, which can now reach 61 km.