Artillery: February 21, 2001

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The UAE recently upgraded its artillery, buying 85 used M109A3s from the Netherlands to join the 78 South African-built G6 6x6 self-propelled guns bought after the Kuwait War. All 163 of these guns are to be provided with a new South African fire control system that will improve their accuracy, as well as their speed in getting into action. On-board inertial navigation allows guns to locate themselves within 16m, and GPS receivers (also included) can refine even further. Without the need to "survey in", a moving gun battery can stop, conduct an accurate fire mission, and be on its way before enemy counter-battery artillery can return fire.--Stephen V Cole