KNDS and Leonardo DRS offer Caesar to the US Army, is it a good fit?

The US Army has two in-service howitzers, the M109 and M777, but as it pivots to the realities of the Indo-Pacific, it must adjust how it provides fire support. Does the Caesar have what it takes to meet the force’s needs?

KNDS has teamed up with Leonardo DRS, the US component of the European prime, to offer the Caesar self-propelled howitzer to the US Army. In an October 13 press release, KNDS explained that Leonardo DRS would act as the prime contractor and that together, “The team intends to present the U.S. Army with a highly effective combat system that is proven in modern combat environments.” So far, so good. 

The press release emphasises Caesar’s combat-proven pedigree, with 120 howitzers deployed in Ukraine, although it notably does not emphasise the howitzer’s role in the fight against ISIS, where it served alongside US Army M109s. It adds that the howitzer could be integrated onto a US tactical truck, likely a reference to the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles. 

Further benefits that the howitzer could offer the US Army include its high levels of readiness and deployability. Curiously, the press release also claims that “CAESAR’s architecture demonstrated particular relevance in Ukraine against the UAV and Loitering Munition threat.” It is not entirely clear what this means, but could be a reference to the gun’s ability to shoot and scoot. If this is the case, it is worth noting that some Ukrainian users found this capability less than useful. 

One Ukrainian commander called “Nocturne” told Le Monde in 2023 that:

“Your Caesar self-propelled gun fires very quickly and with pinpoint accuracy. But I use it very little because it is very vulnerable and poorly adapted to the realities of war…If I take it out into the open to fire, it becomes the target of counter-battery fire after three to four minutes. I don’t have time to evacuate it from the danger zone . Whereas with the M777, I can fire 300 shells a day on average. With Caesar, if I fire five, it’s good. The M777 is easy to conceal, and I can install a metal casing around it to protect it from the Lancet.”

Furthermore, Russians are known to have employed a tactic to flush Ukrainian guns out of their hides and strike them whilst on the road. Several Caesars have fallen prey to this tactic. Nevertheless, Nocturne’s statements on the accuracy and range support the KNDS assessment that the system’s precision will be valuable to the US Army. 

What does Caesar have that the US Army doesn’t?

The US Army has an ongoing programme to modernise its howitzers and possibly replace them with a more mobile and longer-range version. Contracts were awarded to five companies in 2024 for demonstrations later that year. Those companies were, American Rheinmetall Vehicles, BAE BOFORS, Hanwha Defense USA, General Dynamics Land Systems, and Elbit Systems USA. This may mean that KNDS and Leonardo DRS are a little late in the competition, or that the US Army has not yet settled on a preferred solution despite those demonstrations.

At present, the US Army has two primary howitzers in service, the M109A7, a self-propelled howitzer, and the M777 towed howitzer. There are obvious differences in their ability to move, but there are also similarities. Both guns have ok reach for artillery systems, out to around 23 km with conventional munitions and up to 40 km with guided Excalibur munitions. They can both fire an extensive suite of ammunition giving operators options based upon the target type. The into and out of action time for the M777 is two minutes, and it takes a similar amount of time to displace. The M109A7 can fire within 30 seconds of coming to a stop and coordinate fire missions between dispersed guns, improving survivability. The key differentiator is in how they move, and how they are moved around. An M109 weighs 38 tonnes, requiring the biggest aircraft to move it between theatres. It is tracked, which gives it good off-road mobility compared to a wheeled equivalent, but means it is generally slower on roads. The M777 is towed, requiring a truck for support, but also weighs in at 4.4 tonnes, which means it can be carried by a range of helicopters and deployed into difficult locations.

Caesar brings an L52 barrel to the game, which means the barrel is 52 times the length of its bore diameter. The M777 has an L33 and the M109A7 an L39, and both have been presented with an L52 by BAE Systems at various exhibitions. Using extended range ammunition, Caesar can push shells out to 42 km, or up to 55 km using VLAP (Velocity Enhanced Artillery Projectile – a rocket-assisted round from Rheinmetall). KNDS also states that it can fire the Vulcano 155 mm round from Leonardo out to 70 km. It can also fire Excalibur and BONUS anti-armour rounds like US howitzers, and can reach 50 km with the former. At a weight of 26.7 tonnes, the Caesar Mk 2 is quite a bit lighter than the M109 and can be transported using aircraft like the A400M. It is also more mobile on roads, although it may struggle with off-road mobility, especially in wet soils. It takes 45 seconds to come into action, and 40 seconds to come out of it. 

Altogether, this suggests that the Caesar howitzer could fit into some form of middle ground for the US Army. The M777 could perform the same role to some extent, but that argument may come down to how the user sees survivability for artillery. Should guns move once they have fired, or stay in place and weather the storm? As long as trucks are available to move M777s around, then the two minute displacement time is unlikely to significantly impact operations compared to the Caesar. It is clear that the M109A7 is not deployable to the same extent, and would require large aircraft like the C-17 to get into theatre quickly, which also means large and well-looked after runways. So, the lighter weight and mobility could provide the US Army with something in between its two howitzers, as well as increased reach against high value targets. 

Calibre comment: Changing howitzer design

It is difficult to assess how transferable observations from Ukraine are to the rest of modern conflict. It is clear that Russia and Ukraine have persistent and ubiquitous ISR, which makes moving a gun a dangerous thing to do. However, it is unlikely that every war will look like Ukraine, and movement definitely provides protection from counter-battery fire if not from loitering munitions. There are also other elements to consider in howitzer design like the size of crew and magazine holdings, as these will tend to determine the length of time that a gun can support operations for. While there is a clear trend towards reduced crew complements, this must place much greater stress on that reduced crew, despite higher levels of automation. And, automation tends to reduce the onboard rounds available and precludes some guns from fighting from ground stocks. In this case, shoot and scoot becomes essential in order to reload. Caesar is not one of those guns, but does only carry 18 rounds, which would require frequent reloads. 

By Sam Cranny-Evans, published on October 14, 2025. The lead image shows a Caesar Mk 2 howitzer, which is the latest iteration of the Caesar family and developed based on several operational tours. Credit: KNDS.