Next-generation artillery

United Defense Industries Inc. (www.uniteddefense.com) reports that it has fired the first round from its fully automated 155-mm Non-Line of Sight Cannon (NLOS-C) 12 months after the Army contracted with it to build the demonstrator. In August 2002, Congress mandated the Army to field a self-propelled NLOS-C by 2008, and the United Defense demonstrator signifies the Army's next-generation cannon artillery. A 23-ton, hybrid-electric self-propelled howitzer, the demonstrator features an advanced band-track system, a fully automated ammunition loading system, as well as a magazine capable of holding 24 100-lb artillery projectiles.