Gunners get new toys

A contract for the US Marine Corps and US Army Stryker brigade artillery compenents was signed last week:

BAE Systems has been awarded an $834 million dollar contract for full-rate production of the M777A1 howitzer. The M777A1 is a lightweight 155mm howitzer and a critical fire support component of U.S. Marine Air Ground Task Forces and U.S. Army Stryker Brigade Combat Teams.

Under the production contract, issued by the Joint Program Office, Picatinny, New Jersey, BAE Systems will manufacture 495 howitzers over the next four years.

"This is an excellent example of transatlantic partnership," said Andrew Davies, managing director of Land Systems for BAE Systems. "We're proud of the collaborative efforts of our integrated team and pleased to provide this critical capability to satisfy current and future Army and Marine Corps requirements."

As with all such contracts, the work is being carefully allocated to key congressional districts technical partners around the US and Britain. The main assembly will be done in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I stayed a couple of nights in Hattiesburg last week, but I didn't realize that BAE had a facility in or near the town. Perhaps I should have been looking for gleeful gunnery types. . .